Prof. Gregory TIUA

Spring 2001

 

Guest Lecture by Prof. Miho Fujiwara

Topic: First Language Acquisition

 

  1. Article - Please read the following summary of the article by R. L. Trask and Bill Mayblin, entitled: Where Does Language Come From? Please ask the professor if you have any questions about the meaning or any particular vocabulary words in this summary.

    2. In this short article, Trask and Mayblin try to give an overview of how children acquire their first language. They start with a brief historical review of two very important theories about language acquisition: those of B. F. Skinner and Noam Chomsky. They continue by giving some specific examples of how children acquire a first language which support the ideas of Chomsky that children actively construct the rules of language because they have a biological disposition to acquire language.

     

  2. Vocabulary: The following are some key words from the text that you may find difficult. Please look them up in an English dictionary and write the simple definition beside each word.

    3.  

    Vocabulary

    Definition

    Barbarous

    Isolation

    Essential

    Acquisition

    Imitate

    Vocabulary

    Definition

    Reinforcement

    Utterly

    Conjectured

    Random

    Approximations

    Frequency

    Invariable

    Complicated

    Striking

    Effortlessly

    Memorization

    Profound

    Linguistics

    Innate

    Disposition

    Faculty

    Stimulation

     

     

     

  3. Reading: Please read the article and answer the following questions as completely as possible. Do not copy the information directly from the article. Put the answers in your own words. Use a separate sheet of paper is necessary. The answers need to be detailed and specific.

 

Comprehension Questions

  1. What is essential for acquiring a first language?

    2.  

  2. Summarize B. F. Skinner's ideas about how children acquire their first language.

    3.  

  3. If Skinner's ideas were correct, how should children acquire speech?

    4.  

  4. Explain how children's acquisition of past tense helps to support Chomsky's ideas?

    5.  

  5. Explain how children's acquisition of English plurals helps to support Chomsky's ideas

    6.  

  6. In summary, explain (in your own words) Chomsky's ideas about how children acquire a first language.