Linguistics

1) Do linguists think that all of one’s language is nature (innate, built in, part of the genetic code), or
all nurture (learned from the input), or some combination of these? What is the role of the input
language in language learning?
2) The speech of young children leads linguists to conclude that children do not leam language purely
by imitation of their parents or caregivers. Why do they think that? (Don’t just repeat what
Chomsky believes. Genetic research has not yet supported his claim that language is encoded in our
DNA). What is the reasoning behind this position. based on the actual speech of children? Give
evidence for this position by giving an example from the actual speech of children that is clearly
not imitation.
3) Methodology: describe one of the experimental methods illustrated in the video and say what they
showed about children’s language acquisition (i.e., what were the results?) (The ones I have in
mind show something about children‘s syntax.) If you wish. you can use one of the following
sentences as a hint.
Examples:
When did the boy say he hurt himself? vs. When did he
Big Bird is feeding Cookie Monster
4) The ‘gavagai” example is a metaphor for how children might learn new words. What problem does
it illustrate? What assumption do all children seem to bring to the task that helps eliminate the
problem?