首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Why does the professor mention the expressions "mother tongue" and "motherese"?
Why does the professor mention the expressions "mother tongue" and "motherese"?
admin
2013-04-25
38
问题
Why does the professor mention the expressions "mother tongue" and "motherese"?
Do you think we’re born with the skills to learn a language, or do you believe that we develop language skills through social interaction? You’ve read ... at least I hope you’ve read the reading assignment Language and the Mind by Noam Chomsky. So you’re familiar with his argument that we’re born with a device that helps us acquire a language intuitively. He calls it a language acquisition device, or LAD, for short. But psychologists like Jerome Bruner are highly critical of his theory, so today we’re going to examine both sides of the debate.
In reality, the dispute is connected to the broader debate of nature versus nurture. What do I mean by nature and nurture? Well, let me ask it this way. Is language development controlled by biology, or do we learn from our social environment? Think about these questions and then I’ll ask your opinion again at the end of the lecture, okay? But before examining Chomksy’s theory, I need to clarify one point first. Our discussion today will focus on the acquisition of a child’s first language, or mother tongue, as it is sometimes called. And more about that term later, let’s begin by discussing what Mr. Chomsky has to say about language development.
Well, his language acquisition device or LAD theory is based on three key assumptions about the process. The first assumption is that children have an innate ability for language development. In other words, they’re born with a set of skills that allows them to intuitively comprehend language. In fact, Chomsky claims that their brains are preprogrammed with what he calls a ’universal grammar.’ And that device allows them to understand the =~ structure and grammar of a language just by being exposed to it. Let me elaborate on this point. From Chomsky’s perspective, a child’s brain is like a computer. It has already been wired to process and store different kinds of information. Do you see what I mean? Yes? Good! Now this hypothesis leads us to the second assumption: young children can acquire their first language skills independently. That is to say, they don’t have to rely on parents or the social environment to teach them the grammar and structure of their language; they simply use the LAD to figure it out for themselves. The third assumption is that the LAD makes it easy for young children to learn a language.
However, Chomsky does admit that there’s a small window of opportunity for language development. He thinks, or rather he refers to this short time period as the ’critical period.’ And a recent study of language development in feral children--the children who’ve grown up in extreme isolation from humans--has provided persuasive evidence of the notion of a critical period. For example, when they were found, feral children couldn’t speak at all. In fact, they could only make grunting noises like animals. That’s why they’re called ’feral’. It literally means untamed or wild. In any case, researchers discovered that when these children returned to normal living conditions, they had great difficulty acquiring language unless they were exposed to language before the age of twelve. The argument was that the brains of these abused children hadn’t developed neurologically, so the LAD couldn’t function properly. You can read about the actual feral experiences of a young girl in the book, Genie: A Scientific Tragedy. But getting back to the issue at hand, as you can see from this discussion, Chomksy’s LAD theory leans heavily toward the nature side of the debate. In other words, he and other linguists who support this theory believe that biology predetermines our ability to acquire language. And you’ll notice that the LAD theory focuses on acquiring language, not learning it. But psychologists like Jerome Brunet argue that language development is also a learning process.
So what’s the difference between acquiring a language and learning it? Well, for one thing, learning a language requires ongoing social interaction, and that assumption forms the basis of Bruner’s theory of the ’language acquisition support system’, or LASS, for short. You see, according to Bruner, some type of LAD may exist, but parents and siblings also play a key role in a child’s language development. How? By involving young children in routine behaviors like saying ’hello’ and ’goodbye’ and daily rituals like meal times and bath times. So it’s probably no surprise that the expression ’mother tongue’ evolved. After all, we all remember listening to the familiar sounds and repetitive phrases our mothers used when we were young. In fact, a researcher named Moerk nicknamed this type of language modeling as ’motherese.’ The second assumption of Bruner’s theory is that language learning is developmental. In other words, parents or siblings create a learning environment that supports the child as he or she builds language skills. So in the beginning, they are quite vocal and the child is rather passive. But as children develop the language skills, they become more active. From this perspective, language learning is more a process of discovery, and children learn to construct new ideas by linking it with previous knowledge and experiences. Therefore, it’s evident that Bruner’s theory strongly supports the notion that nurture is as essential as nature in language development. Now based on what you’ve heard today, where do you stand?
P And a recent study of language development in feral children--the children who’ve grown up in extreme isolation from humans--has provided persuasive evidence of the notion of a critical period.
What does the professor imply about the idea of a critical period?
选项
A、To prove that mothers are better language role models than fathers.
B、To illustrate how parents provide a support system for language learning.
C、To compare normal speech patterns with the baby talk that parents use.
D、To argue that second language learning is more difficult for adults.
答案
B
解析
结构题 要正确回答这道题,需要知道mother tongue和motherese这两个单词是在哪个部分出现的。在这两个词出现之前.教授提到,布鲁纳的“语言习得支持体系”里,父母和兄弟姐妹在孩子的语言发展中起了很重要的作用(…but parents and siblings also play a key role in a child’s language development.)。因此B项是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/9cyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
AccordingtoMrSingh,onwhichthingdomanypeoplemakesuperficialobservations?AccordingtoMrSingh,whatareyoungIndia
WhichthreeforeignlanguagesaretraditionallytaughtintheUSA?ApartfromChinese,theNEPfocuseson______.
Whatpercentageofthestudentsaremature?Thewebsitealsohasresponsesto______.
Theprofessorsaysthatsuperhighways______.Thestudentbelievesthathighways______.
WhatisthepurposeofJaneandRick’smeetingwiththetutor?
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.HydropowerRenewable—constantsource(31)fromnatural
CompletethefollowingnotesaboutthethreecateringcompaniesBobandCindydiscuss.ParisKitchen•lackofvarietyoffood•
Completethelecturenotes.UseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.PurposeoftheminilectureToexperience【T32】______
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.TheTawnyOwlMost【L31】______owlspeciesinUKStronglynocturna
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.JOBENJOYExampleAnswerTypeofjobrequired:part-
随机试题
A、Hedoubledthereward.B、Hesethimanexample.C、Hecheeredhimonalltheway.D、HehadtheeventcoveredonTV.A
根据我国《劳动保障监察条例》的规定,劳动保障监察的公开原则的“公开”是指()
患者,男,25岁。5天前劳动后出现右下后牙区胀痛,进食,吞咽时加重,昨日起出现局部自发性跳痛,张口受限,低热头痛。检查:右下颌角区稍肿胀,无压痛,张口度两指。近中阻生,牙龈红肿充血,挤压可见远中盲袋内少量脓液溢出,相当于颊侧前庭沟丰满,充血,压痛明显,有波
李女士被确诊患有滴虫性阴道炎,准备用自助冲洗器灌洗阴道,护士应指导她将醋酸冲洗液的浓度配置为
患者,女性,20岁,1型糖尿病患者,出现恶心、厌食2天,神志不清1小时,查体面色潮红,呼吸深快,意识障碍。诊断方面最可能是
A.影响酶的活性B.作用于受体C.干扰核酸代谢D.影响细胞膜离子通道E.影响生物活性物质及其转运体抗高血压药依那普利的作用机制是()。
1.背景某省政府研究考虑扩建省会机场,报请上级主管机关审批;并请某机场规划设计院进行规划设计。该机场规划设计院经研究后认定,机场的扩建将导致机场净空保护区扩大,并明确提出:(1)附近山坡上的A磨料厂(私人企业)位于机场净空保护区域内,且烟囱超高;同时,
()是指员工在劳动合同期未满时决定提前结束合同关系,主动离开企业组织的行为。
累计工作满20年以上的职工,请病假累计()以上的,该职工不再享受当年年休假。
现在社会出现一种现象,大城市人才过多。学生大多喜欢报考大城市的警察职务,却很少有人愿意报考中小城市特别是偏远山区的职位,你怎么看待这个问题?
最新回复
(
0
)