First Language Acquisition: Theories and Evidence · Imitation vs. Rule Creation Inherent Difﬁculty ... (with no help or correction)? ... Human beings have an instinct to learn

First LanguageAcquisition:

Theories andEvidence

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Imitation vs. RuleCreation

Inherent Difficultyof LanguageAcquisition

UniversalGrammar andLanguageAcquisition

Summary

First Language Acquisition:Theories and Evidence



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Summary

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The following readings have been posted to the Moodlecourse site:

I Contemporary Linguistics: Chapter 10 (pp. 378-385)I Language Instinct: Chapter 9



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The Big Picture, Once Again

The Fundamental Question:What are the rules and mental representations thatunderlie our ability to speak and understand a language?

Another Fundamental Question:How does a child learn this system of rules and mentalrepresentations?

A Key Insight (Noam Chomsky; 1950s):This is a deep mystery of human biological development

I How does a brain go from not having language(newborn) to having one (six year old)?



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The Big Picture, Once Again

The Fundamental Question:What are the rules and mental representations thatunderlie our ability to speak and understand a language?

Another Fundamental Question:How does a child learn this system of rules and mentalrepresentations?

A Key Insight (Noam Chomsky; 1950s):This is a deep mystery of human biological development

I How does a brain go from not having language(newborn) to having one (six year old)?



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Language Acquisition and ‘Imitation’

A ‘Common Sense’ Answer:Kids learn language by imitating the people around them (duh)

The Truth:I Although ‘imitation’ is involved in language acquisition...I There is a lot more to it than just imitation...



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Language Acquisition and ‘Imitation’

A ‘Common Sense’ Answer:Kids learn language by imitating the people around them (duh)

The Truth:I Although ‘imitation’ is involved in language acquisition...I There is a lot more to it than just imitation...



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Language Acquisition is Not Just ‘Imitation’First Key Fact:Children say things that they’ve never heard before.

I Children make ‘mistakes’ all the time:‘goed’ [gowd]‘leafes’ [lif1z]

I These ‘mistakes’ are not random ‘sloppiness’.Rather, kids are over-applying a rule of the language:

I /-d/ as past-tense on ‘go’ (instead of ‘went’)I /-z/ → [-1z] / Cfricative (instead of ‘stridents’)

Conclusion:I Kids aren’t just ‘imitating’ / ‘copying’ what they hear.I Instead, they are hypothesizing rules

I Like linguists, they make a guess (sometimes wrong)I They adjust their hypothesized rules until they’re right.



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Language Acquisition is Not Just ‘Imitation’First Key Fact:Children say things that they’ve never heard before.

I Children make ‘mistakes’ all the time:‘goed’ [gowd]‘leafes’ [lif1z]

I These ‘mistakes’ are not random ‘sloppiness’.Rather, kids are over-applying a rule of the language:

I /-d/ as past-tense on ‘go’ (instead of ‘went’)I /-z/ → [-1z] / Cfricative (instead of ‘stridents’)

Conclusion:I Kids aren’t just ‘imitating’ / ‘copying’ what they hear.I Instead, they are hypothesizing rules

I Like linguists, they make a guess (sometimes wrong)I They adjust their hypothesized rules until they’re right.



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Language Acquisition is Not Just ‘Imitation’Second Key Fact:‘Competence (knowledge) Precedes Performance’

I Kids understand things long before they can say them.

An Example from Phonology:Kids hear phonemic distinctions they can’t actually produce.

I Kids hear the difference b/t [S] and [s] before they can say it:

I Kid: Gimme fis! [fIs]I Dad: Is this your fis? [fIs]I Kid: No! It’s my FIS! [fIs]

An Example from Syntax and Morphology:

I Some children can’t speak due to physical diabilityI When tested, these mute kids show (essentially) normal levels of

comprehension (Stromswold 1994).



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Language Acquisition and Rules

Major Conclusion:Language acquisition is a lot more than just ‘imitation’.

I Acquiring a first language involves the creation of rulesI Children hypothesize rulesI Over time, they adjust them to match adults.

I Kids acquire rules without actually using/practicing them.I Kids’ linguistic knowledge outpaces their speaking abilityI Mute children learn first language without ever using it



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Complexity of Rules

No Teaching or Correction

No Word Boundaries

Completion in Six Years


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Factors Complicating Language Acquisition

I If it weren’t already amazing that kids below 4 do all this...

I Various factors make language acquisition really hard.



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Complexity of Rules


No Word Boundaries



Summary

Factor One: Rules are Complex

First Complicating Factor:The rule system they’re trying to learn is incredibly complex.

I Just some of the English rules we’ve seen...

I Syllabification AlgorithmI Allophonic Rules (e.g. Aspiration, V-length)I Morphophonemic Rules (e.g. /d/ → [t], etc.)I Morphological Rules

(Right Hand Head Rule; ‘Freakin’-Infixation)I Syntax Phrase Structure Rules

I But, these rules barely scratch the surface...

I And, somehow, kids below 6 reliably figure out all the rules.



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Complexity of Rules


No Word Boundaries



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Factors 2 & 3: No Teaching or Correction

Second Complicating Factor:Kids have to learn the rule system passively.

I Kids don’t get explicit, easily-digestible grammar lessons

I Instead, they have to figure it out entirely on their own.

Third Complicating Factor:Children don’t get reliable ‘negative feedback’

I Children’s errors aren’t reliably corrected (Lecture 2)

I And, when they are, they ignore it anyway (Lecture 2)

I So how do they know when their hypothesis is wrong?



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Complexity of Rules


No Word Boundaries



Summary

Factors 2 & 3: No Teaching or Correction

Second Complicating Factor:Kids have to learn the rule system passively.

I Kids don’t get explicit, easily-digestible grammar lessons

I Instead, they have to figure it out entirely on their own.

Third Complicating Factor:Children don’t get reliable ‘negative feedback’

I Children’s errors aren’t reliably corrected (Lecture 2)

I And, when they are, they ignore it anyway (Lecture 2)

I So how do they know when their hypothesis is wrong?



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Complexity of Rules


No Word Boundaries



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Factor Four: No Word Boundaries

Fourth Complicating Factor:Natural speech does not have word boundaries.

I We perceive our language as broken up into words

I But there are no real phonetic breaks between words

I “Do you want a cookie” = [dujuwAnt@kUki]

I But, to figure out the rules of morphology and syntax, you firsthave to know what the words are

Fun Fact:I Kids do make mistakes about word boundaries (Pinker 1995):

I Parent: We’re going to MiamiKid: I don’t want to go you your ami [æmi].

I Parent: Behave!Kid: I am have [hejv]

I But it’s a miracle how few such mistakes they make...



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Complexity of Rules


No Word Boundaries



Summary

Factor Four: No Word Boundaries

Fourth Complicating Factor:Natural speech does not have word boundaries.

I We perceive our language as broken up into words

I But there are no real phonetic breaks between words

I “Do you want a cookie” = [dujuwAnt@kUki]

I But, to figure out the rules of morphology and syntax, you firsthave to know what the words are

Fun Fact:I Kids do make mistakes about word boundaries (Pinker 1995):

I Parent: We’re going to MiamiKid: I don’t want to go you your ami [æmi].

I Parent: Behave!Kid: I am have [hejv]

I But it’s a miracle how few such mistakes they make...



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Complexity of Rules


No Word Boundaries



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Factor Five: Finished by Age 4-6

Fifth Complicating Factor:This whole process must be complete by age 4-6

I Kids essentially have their 1st language down by 4-6

I So, however they’re doing it, it’s gotta be all wrapped up by then



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UniversalGrammar andLanguageAcquisition‘The Language Instinct’

Universal Grammar

Evidence: Limits to Kids’Mistakes

Evidence: Limits toLanguage Variation

Summary

Language Acquisition and Language InstinctThe Burning Question:How does a child below 4 figure out all the rules of their 1st

language all by themselves (with no help or correction)?

Key Idea from the First Week:Human beings have an instinct to learn a first language.

I Learning a 1st language is ‘hard-wired’ into our DNA.

Key Consequence of This Idea:If we have an instinct to learn language, then...

I We must have some in-born knowledge about what (human)language is like...

I And, since language is a system of rules andrepresentations...

I What we know = the rules and representations alanguage can have!



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Universal Grammar



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Language Instinct Aids AcquisitionThe Burning Question:How does a child below 4 figure out all the rules of their 1st


An Exciting Answer:Children are born knowing what linguistic rules andrepresentations (generally) look like.

I Our brains come preloaded with a kind of ‘template’ for linguisticrules and representations

I To acquire language, kids just need to fill in these ‘templates’

Some support for this also comes from Computer Science...



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Universal Grammar



Summary

Language Instinct Aids AcquisitionThe Burning Question:How does a child below 4 figure out all the rules of their 1st


An Exciting Answer:Children are born knowing what linguistic rules andrepresentations (generally) look like.

I Our brains come preloaded with a kind of ‘template’ for linguisticrules and representations

I To acquire language, kids just need to fill in these ‘templates’

Some support for this also comes from Computer Science...



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Universal Grammar



Summary

Learning Rules Without Assumptions

Gold’s Theorem:No system can reliably learn a (human-like) language withoutany starting assumptions (‘priors’) about what the rules are like

I Without such starting assumptions, there are infinite ‘dead ends’to fall into:

I Stating syntactic rules about specific words:(S → the + dog + ran)

I Stating syntactic rules without using phrases:(‘Nouns can come before Vs’, ‘Vs can come before Ns’...)

I Listing the exact number of As an NP can have:(NP → (D) (A) (A) (A) (A) ... N ...)



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Universal Grammar



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Gold’s Theorem:No system can reliably learn a (human-like) language withoutany starting assumptions (‘priors’) about what the rules are like

I Without such starting assumptions, there are infinite ‘dead ends’to fall into:

I Stating syntactic rules about specific words:(S → the + dog + ran)

I Stating syntactic rules without using phrases:(‘Nouns can come before Vs’, ‘Vs can come before Ns’...)

I Listing the exact number of As an NP can have:(NP → (D) (A) (A) (A) (A) ... N ...)



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Universal Grammar



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Main Conclusion:Given how fast and accurate first language acquisition is:

I Kids must have some innate assumptions about how linguisticrules look

I These assumptions serve as a guide, leading kids to the rightrules very quickly



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Universal Grammar



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Universal Grammar

Vocabulary:Universal Grammar (UG) is the assumptions (knowledge)about linguistic rules that humans are born with.(Noam Chomsky; 1960s)

I It’s universal to all human beingsI It’s about the grammar (linguistic rules) of human languages

Evidence for Universal Grammar:I It helps explain how language acquisition is possible.I There are limits to the kinds of mistakes kids make.I There are limits to the kinds of rules languages can have.



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Universal Grammar



Summary

Universal Grammar

Vocabulary:Universal Grammar (UG) is the assumptions (knowledge)about linguistic rules that humans are born with.(Noam Chomsky; 1960s)

I It’s universal to all human beingsI It’s about the grammar (linguistic rules) of human languages

Evidence for Universal Grammar:I It helps explain how language acquisition is possible.I There are limits to the kinds of mistakes kids make.I There are limits to the kinds of rules languages can have.



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Universal Grammar



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Limits to Kids’ Mistakes, Example 1

Morpheme Ordering Constraint (MOC):

I Derivational affixes can’t go on words that have inflectional ones

I The first word in a compound can’t have inflectional affixesI cookie-eater, *cookies-eaterI mouse-eater, mice-eater (‘mice’ does not have plural suffix)

Fun Fact: Kids below 3 never violate the MOC (Pinker 1995).

I Experimenter’s Question:‘What do you call a monster that eats mice?’

I Kid’s Answer 1: ‘Mouse-eater’.I Kid’s Answer 2: ‘Mice-eater’

I Experimenter’s Question:‘What do you call a monster that eats cookies?’

I Kid’s Only Answer: ‘Cookie-eater’I Kids Never Answer: *Cookies-eater



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Universal Grammar



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I Derivational affixes can’t go on words that have inflectional onesI The first word in a compound can’t have inflectional affixes

I cookie-eater, *cookies-eaterI mouse-eater, mice-eater (‘mice’ does not have plural suffix)








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I Derivational affixes can’t go on words that have inflectional onesI The first word in a compound can’t have inflectional affixes

I cookie-eater, *cookies-eaterI mouse-eater, mice-eater (‘mice’ does not have plural suffix)








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Limits to Kids’ Mistakes, Example 2Stromswold 1990:Many imaginable syntactic errors are never made by kids.

I Linguists drew up several dozen ‘plausible’ mistakes kids couldmake with English auxiliary verbs.

Adult Pattern Imaginable MistakeDoes he seem happy? *Does he be smiling?He did go / He didn’t go He did it / *He didn’t itHe likes going *He cans go.He is not happy *He ate not something.Is he happy? * Ate he something?

I Examined 66,000 sentences of recorded child speech wherethese mistakes could happen.

I Virtually none of these mistakes occurred anywhere.

I Kids do make mistakes with auxiliary verbs.I But, they don’t make these kinds of mistakes.



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Limits to Kids’ Mistakes

Conclusion:I There are certain kinds of linguistic errors kids never make.

I Morpheme Ordering ConstraintI Stromswold’s Imaginable (but Unattested) Errors

I So, kids never hypothesize rules that would lead to these errors.I So, kids somehow know that such rules would be wrong.I So, kids seem to be born knowing how their rules should look...I And so, it seems that there is a ‘universal grammar’.

(assumptions about linguistic rules that humans are born with)



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Universal Grammar



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I So, kids never hypothesize rules that would lead to these errors.

I So, kids somehow know that such rules would be wrong.I So, kids seem to be born knowing how their rules should look...I And so, it seems that there is a ‘universal grammar’.




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Universal Grammar



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I So, kids never hypothesize rules that would lead to these errors.I So, kids somehow know that such rules would be wrong.

I So, kids seem to be born knowing how their rules should look...I And so, it seems that there is a ‘universal grammar’.




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Universal Grammar



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I So, kids never hypothesize rules that would lead to these errors.I So, kids somehow know that such rules would be wrong.I So, kids seem to be born knowing how their rules should look...

I And so, it seems that there is a ‘universal grammar’.(assumptions about linguistic rules that humans are born with)



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Universal Grammar



Summary




I So, kids never hypothesize rules that would lead to these errors.I So, kids somehow know that such rules would be wrong.I So, kids seem to be born knowing how their rules should look...I And so, it seems that there is a ‘universal grammar’.




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Universal Grammar



Summary

UG Predicts Limits to Language Variation

Another Exciting Prediction:

I If we’re born with a ‘template’ for linguistic rules (UG),then all human languages must conform to it.

I So, all languages should show similarities in rules.

I So, there are some rules that no languages will have.

The Prediction is Accurate:Human languages can be very different from oneanother, but...

I There are some logically possible things you never find.I There are certain things that all human languages share.



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Universal Grammar



Summary

UG Predicts Limits to Language Variation

Another Exciting Prediction:

I If we’re born with a ‘template’ for linguistic rules (UG),then all human languages must conform to it.

I So, all languages should show similarities in rules.

I So, there are some rules that no languages will have.

The Prediction is Accurate:Human languages can be very different from oneanother, but...

I There are some logically possible things you never find.I There are certain things that all human languages share.



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Universal Grammar



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Limits to Language Variation, Example 1

Some Things No Language Does:I Many languages mark questions by altering word order

I Example From English:(“Dave is a nice guy” → “Is Dave a nice guy?”)

I However, no language marks a question by:I Reversing the word-order of a sentence

(“Dave is a nice guy.” → “Guy nice a is Dave?”)I Switching the first and last word of the sentence

(“Dave is a nice guy.” → “Guy is a nice Dave?”)



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Universal Grammar



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Limits to Language Variation, Example 2

Some Features Common to All Human Languages:

I Lexical Categories(All have Vs and Ns, though many lack As)

I The Morpheme Ordering Constraint(Some seem to violate the MOC, but it’s complicated)

I Word Order Universals



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Universal Grammar



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Word Order Universals in Human LanguageFun Fact:All languages obey certain rules about the ordering of:

I Subjects (“Dave likes John”)

I Verbs (“Dave likes John”)

I Objects (“Dave likes John”)

The Rules, In Order of Importance:1. Subject (S) precedes object (O)2. O is next to the verb (V)3. O is not first in the sentence.

Accurate Prediction:Frequency of word-orders in the world’s languages:

I Most Common: SVO, SOV (satisfy all three rules)

I 2nd Most Common: VSO (satisfies 2 rules, including #1)

I 3rd Most Common: VOS (satisfies 2 rules, but not #1)

I 4th Most Common: OVS (satisfies only 1 rule, #2)

I 5th Most Common: OSV (satisfies no rules)



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SummaryAnother Fundamental Question:How does a child learn this system of rules and mentalrepresentations?

The Centrality of RulesI Kids don’t just ‘imitate’ the speech they hearI They actively hypothesize rulesI Gradually, they adjust the rules, to match the language they hear

The Difficulty of the Task:A number of factors make learning linguistic rules very difficult:

I The rules are extremely complex

I Kids don’t get explicit instruction or correction

I No word-boundaries in fluent speech

I Learning must be complete in 4-6 years!

I If nothing is known about how the rules look, it’s impossibleto find the right ones...



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One Key Hypothesis: Universal GrammarLanguage acquisition happens so quickly and accuratelybecause we’re born knowing how linguistic rules look:

I This knowledge of how the rules look is universal grammar.

I With universal grammar, most of the work of figuring out therules is done for us!

Some Evidence for Universal Grammar:I There are certain kinds of errors kids never make.

(This suggests they know not to try those rules.)I There are certain kinds of rules languages never follow.

(This suggests we can’t learn those kinds of rules.)



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Summary


One Key Hypothesis: Universal GrammarLanguage acquisition happens so quickly and accuratelybecause we’re born knowing how linguistic rules look:

I This knowledge of how the rules look is universal grammar.

I With universal grammar, most of the work of figuring out therules is done for us!

Some Evidence for Universal Grammar:I There are certain kinds of errors kids never make.

(This suggests they know not to try those rules.)I There are certain kinds of rules languages never follow.

(This suggests we can’t learn those kinds of rules.)

First Language Acquisition: Theories and Evidence · Imitation vs. Rule Creation Inherent Difﬁculty ... (with no help or correction)? ... Human beings have an instinct to learn

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