How is possible for children to achieve the final state of L1 development.
Universal Grammar
Children’s knowledge of language goes beyond what could be learned from the input they receive
This is essentially the poverty-of-the-stimulus argument
Constraints and principles cannot be learned
Children’s access to general constrains and princilpes
Innate principles lead children to organize the input they receive only in certain ways and not others.
Children acquire a first language at an age when such abstractions are beyond their comprehension
Universal patterns of development cannot Bree explained by language-specific input
Language universal s are not only constructs derived from sophisticated theories and analyses by linguists,but also innate representations in every young child’s mind
The logical problem of language learning
Children have an innate language ability
Children often say things that adults do not
Children use language in accordance with general universal rules of language even though they have no yet developed the cognitive ability necessary to understand these rules.
Patterns of children’s language development at pre not directly determined by the input they receive.
Frameworks for SLA
Linguistic
Internal focus
The first linguistic framework with an internal focus is Transformational-Generative Grammar(Chomsky 1957,1956)
Claimed the necessity of assuming that children begin with an innate capacity which is biologically endowed
External focus
Functionalism
Emphasizing the information content of utterances,and in considering language primarily as a system of communication
Psychological
Language and the brain
Lenneberg(1976) generated great interest when he argued that there is a critical period for language acquisition
Learning processes
Information Processing
L2 is a highly complex skill,and that learning L2 is not essentially unlike learning other highly complex skills
Connectionism
The study of SLA not considering language learning to involve either innate knowledge or abstraction of rules and principles, but rather to result from increasing strength of associations between stimuli and responses.
Learner differences
This framework calls for consideration of emotional involvement in learning,such as affective factors of attitude, motivation,and anxiety level.
This focus also considers biological differences associated with edge and sex,as well as some differences associated with aspects of processing.
Social
Microsocial focus
Language acquisition and use in immediate social contexts of production,interpretation,and interaction.
Macrosocial focus
Focus relate language acquisition and use to broader ecological contexts,including cultural,political,and educational settings.
