Language Acquisition Studies and a Feasible Theory of Grammar

Abstract

There are various ways to construe the relationship between linguistic research and studies in language development. They can range in principle from strict dependence (one domain being parasitic on the other) to complete independence. Thus, it is now commonplace to find some developmental psycholinguists turning to generative linguistics for models through which to interpret child language (Chomsky 1969; Roeper 1973, 1982; Goodluck and Solan 1978,inter alia). This is not simply a matter of descriptive convenience. Research in grammatical theory and developmental psycholinguistics has grown increasingly interconnected since Chomsky first argued (1965:27) that hypothesized grammatical models within linguistics should be justified on the basis of their relation to a theory of language which specifies the innate abilities that make language acquisition possible. Hence the claim that linguistic theory is responsible for the “logical problem of language acquisition” (Baker 1979; Hornstein and Lightfoot 1981), i.e., gross properties of learning (relative rapidity, relative ease, overall lack of variability, general success, all on the basis of restricted input).