Language Acquisition Julien Musolino, Rutgers University

General goal _____________________________

Step 1: Why language acquisition is interesting at all

Step 2: Why language acquisition is central to cognitive science

Give you a sense of the importance of the study of language acquisition and its place within cognitive science:

General outline _____________________________ Part 1: Why LA is interesting

Focus on the ‘sociological’ problem faced by those who study language acquisition

Break

Emphasis here will be on simple but powerful analogies to highlight the core issues

This part will be less interactive, but more entertaining!

Make sure that everybody is on the same page

General outline _____________________________ Part 2: why LA is central to cognitive science

Focus on the scientific problem posed by the study of language acquisition

Emphasis here will be on a particular phenomenon and its implications for some of the disciplines that make up cognitive science (i.e., theoretical linguistics, developmental psychology, and speech-language pathology)

This part will be less entertaining, but more interactive!

The sociological problem

Why study language acquisition? _____________________________

It’s a complete waste of time because the issues are trivial

So there is really nothing to ‘explain’

Language is simple, in fact so simple that it can be taught to an ape

Therefore it can easily be taught to children

The sociological problem _____________________________

Most people vastly underestimate the complexity of language

Most people do not realize that children aren’t taught language

Everybody has language (in some form)

Language comes to us naturally and seemingly effortlessly

You don’t even have to be particularly intelligent or motivated …

Not everybody can play chess

Chess doesn’t come to us naturally and effortlessly …

You’d better be intelligent and motivated …

Kasparov vs. Deep Blue

Computers beat minds at chess …

Computers are pathetic at language …

Child vs. Computer

A conversation with Eliza

Eliza: Hello, I am Eliza. How can I help you?

J: Could you tell me what a dog is?

Eliza: Oh, I tell you what a dog is.

A conversation with ElizaJ: Yes, please.

Eliza: You are sure?

Eliza: You are sure?

J: Yes, I’m pretty sure.

J: I said Yes!!!

A conversation with Eliza

Eliza: Could you elaborate on that?

J: I just want you to tell me what a dog is.

Eliza: Do you wish to just want me?

J: Are you going to tell me or not?

A conversation with Eliza

Eliza: Would you prefer if I were not going to tell you or not?

J: You just don’t understand a damn thing I say, do you?

Eliza: Oh, I [ ]

_____________________________Computers and language

Computers are terrible at language!

And it’s not for lack of trying …

- Loebner Prize

Ulysses, 4;6 years old_____________________________

Julien: “This Troll has magic powers. Do you know anybody else who has magic powers?”

Ulysses: “The only two people I know who have magic powers are God up there and the Power Rangers on the cartoon channel”

Ulysses, 4;6 years old_____________________________

Julien: “Does your nose grow when you tell lies?”

Ulysses: “I never tell lies!”

Julien: “Well, that’s great Ulysses!!!”

Ulysses: “See, I just told you a lie and my nose didn’t grow!”

Sarah, 5;2_____________________________

Dr. M: “I am a Prince. If you marry me, you’ll become a Princess”

Sarah: “I don’t want to get married!”

Dr. M: “You don’t want to get married ever??!!”

Sarah: “I’ll get married so that I can have kids. Then I’ll get divorced!”

Why study language acquisition? _____________________________

Language is an extraordinarily complex system and children are so good at it.

Why study language acquisition? _____________________________

Language is universal across the species

Language is a species-specific trait

A species-specific trait _____________________________

99% of our genes in common

They certainly look like us … _____________________________

But they don’t have language

Why study language acquisition? _____________________________

It is a very remarkable fact that there are none … without even excepting idiots, that cannot arrange different words together, forming of them a statement by which they make known their thoughts; while on the other hand, there is no other animal, however perfect and fortunately circumstanced it may be, which can do the same.

René Descartes, Discours de la Méthode

Why study language acquisition? _____________________________

It is a very remarkable fact that there are none … without even excepting idiots, that cannot arrange different words together, forming of them a statement by which they make known their thoughts; while on the other hand, there is no other animal, however perfect and fortunately circumstanced it may be, which can do the same.

René Descartes, Discours de la Méthode

Why study language acquisition?_____________________________When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “human essence”, the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. Noam Chomsky, Language and Mind

What makes language such a unique and complex system?

It’s the closest thing that we have to telepathy!

Thoughts Thoughts

The power of language_____________________________

Talk about characters who only exist in our collective imagination …

Talk about things that happened 2000 years ago, that are happening now, or things that will happen in 20 years …

Give you specific instructions on how to cook an elaborate meal …

Language allows us to convey a potentially infinite number of

thoughts

Infinity_____________________________

Guinness book of Records: longest English sentence, 1,300 from William Faulkner novel

They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Infinity_____________________________

They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Faulkner wrote, “They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Infinity _____________________________

Musolino wrote that Faulkner wrote, “They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Faulkner wrote, “They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Infinity_____________________________

Musolino wrote that Faulkner wrote, “They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Who cares that Musolino wrote that Faulkner wrote, “They both bore it as though in deliberate flagellant exaltation …

Consequences of infinity_____________________________

You can’t possibly have memorized all the sentences of

your language …

Consequences of infinity_____________________________

1030 sentences under 20 words

If you memorized 100 of these per minute …

It would take you a billion trillion years to memorize just 1% of this set …

However, you can …_____________________________

Produce sentences you’ve never uttered before

Understand sentences you’ve never heard before

Conclusion_____________________________

Then, there must be in your head a finite code or set of rules that enables you to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences.

( 3 x 2 ) + 4

5 = ?

Analogy_____________________________

Back to language_____________________________

The set of mental rules (i.e. the code) that enables us to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences is what linguists call a GRAMMAR.

What linguists do is try to find out what the rules of grammar are.

_____________________________Distinction

Prescriptive rules of grammar

Descriptive rules of grammar

_____________________________Prescriptive rules of grammar

Don’t use ‘ain’t’

Don’t use double negatives

Never end a sentence with a preposition

Don’t split infinitives

_____________________________Prescriptive Rules

An arbitrary set of conventions dictating how people should talk

_____________________________Descriptive Rules

The rules that enable us to speak and understand in the first

place!

_____________________________Descriptive rules of grammar

(1) John ate a sandwich

(2) John ate (something)

(3) John grows tomatoes

(4) John grows (something)

These missionaries are _______ to eat.

(1) eager

(2) ready

(3) easy

Descriptive rules of grammar_____________________________

The interpretation of pronouns

Pronouns = he, she, her, him etc.

Bill thinks that he is intelligent

Rules_____________________________

Bill thinks that he is intelligent

Pronouns seem to be able to freely refer to someone mentioned in the sentence or somebody else

Homer Bill

Bill promised Homer to pay him

Homer Bill

Bill persuaded Homer to pay him

Analogy: the rules of chess

_____________________________Analogy: the rules of chess

You can’t wear a hat while playing

You can’t chew gum while playing

You have to wear a tag with your name on it

_____________________________Analogy: the rules of chess

You move a pawn by …

You move a knight by …

If you want to castle you …

You win the game when …

Implicit (tacit) knowledge_____________________________

Why can’t him refer to Homer in ‘Bill persuaded Homer to pay him’?

10 + (3 x 5)

5 7

“Language acquisition is one of the most important topics in cognitive science. Every theory of cognition has tried to explain it … It is not hard to see why. Possessing a language is the quintessentially human trait: all normal humans speak, no non-human animal does … Every time we speak, we are revealing something about the nature of language, so the facts of language structure are easy to come by – facts that hint at a system of extraordinary complexity. Nonetheless, learning a first language is something every normal child does successfully, in a matter of a few years and without the need for formal lessons”

_____________________________

Steven Pinker

Why study language acquisition?