The role of universal grammar in first and second language acquisition
- 1. THE ROLE OF UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR IN FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION By: Lal Sajjad
- 2. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR AS A CONCEPT Universal Grammar (UG) is the theory that Noam Chomsky popularized in 1976 as "the set of principles, situations, and rules that constitute aspects or qualities of all human languages" (Cook et al, 1996). Cognitive awareness of language is universal among humans. Regardless of the languages they speak, all humans have one thing in common when it comes to acquiring a language Universal grammar is not a grammar in and of itself, but rather a set of requirements that must be met by all possible grammars. It's just an abstract framework for grammar building in any language.
- 3. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR AND FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION First language acquisition happens when a learner especially a child acquires a language for the first time in which he/ she will use to communicate his/her needs and wants as he/ she grew up. The learning of a first language is bound with the child’s cognitive and social development. Because of this, there are a number of differences between first language acquisition and second language learning (Klein, 1986). When it comes to cognitive development, it can be concluded that the production of grammatical utterances does not mean that the speaker has already mastered the language because even when the speaker has already displayed a competence in the language the language, there is a tendency that these utterances will be given by the speaker different meaning. It can also be inferred that the speaker has already acquired the cognitive categories which is the reason why they are able to express themselves in the language.
- 4. The second language learning is one of the child's gateways in becoming a fully-fledged member of a particular society. In terms of social development, learning a native language is an important part of a child's social development (Klein, 1986) and social skills. Because of language, a child is able to acquire cultural, moral, religious, and values of the society. Noam Chomsky also proposes the LAD notion in connection to the UG. For the past 30 years, researchers on LAD have argued that any normal child has a cognitive device that allows it to quickly master the grammar of its native language. The UG would only constitute a number of general principles and there are still specific features that are unique in every language. For instance, there are features that would differentiate Urdu from English such as vocabulary, morphology, and syntax
- 5. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION According to Chomsky, Universal Grammar (UG) refers to the universal principles and characteristics of human language. Through a succession of supporting ideas. UG plays a limited role in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). These ideas are: 1. the knowledge of second language was acquired through some other senses of human brains, which was not through language sense—Universal Grammar 2. (2) Native Language (NL) plays a major in SLA, and 3. (3) Bley-Vorman’s Fundamental Difference Hypothesis.
- 6. Chomsky’s theory “Principles and Parameters” applied UG in the research of SLA, which aimed to indicate the common principles and features of human language (1981). Because of the differences of learner’s first language (L1) and second language (L2), whether UG plays a major role in SLA or not is still a main issue for linguists.
- 7. SOME THEORIES 1. L2 knowledge is not acquired through language function; 2. Native language has large effect to SLA; 3. The fundamental difference hypothesis
- 8. THE OTHER SENSES OF THE BRAINS FOR SLA Clashen and Muyken (1986) indicated that UG could not influence L2 acquisition. the knowledge of second language was acquired through some other senses of human brains. Rod Ellis (1994: 454) presented two points of view: (a) there were extremely differences between adult’s L2 acquisition and L1 acquisition (b) The reasons of the differences were that L2 learners acquired language knowledge through learning strategies and instructions while L1 learners learned their native language by language sense—UG.
- 9. NATIVE LANGUAGE'S DIRECT EFFECT TO SLA Clashen and Muyken (1989) and Schachter (1989) pointed out the unconscious knowledge that the second language learners learned could not be acquired through UG directly, but got from NL grammar. In other words, the UG cannot act on SLA directly, but L2 acquisition can be affected largely by L1 knowledge that is constrained by UG. The reason why the L2 knowledge that the L2 learners acquire can reflect some principles of UG is that they have learned these principles when they acquired L1 knowledge that was constrained by UG. Thus, this theory supports that NL plays a major role in SLA.
- 10. FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE HYPOTHESIS (BLEY-VORMAN, 1989 AND 2009) It can be proved that adult foreign language learning (L2 acquisition) is quite different from child language development (child’s first language acquisition) by the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vorman, 1989). Thus, the role that UG plays in SLA cannot be the same as UG in L1 acquisition. Robert Bley-Vorman identified the fundamental characteristics of foreign language learning (L2 acquisition) in 1989, including lack of success (the most striking), general failure (the rarity of complete success), variation in success, course and strategy, variation in goals, fossilization, indeterminate intuitions, importance of instruction, negative evidence, and the role of affective factor. According to the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vorman, 1989), there are differences between children's language acquisition and adult foreign language learning. Children learn language knowledge primarily through "universal grammar" and "domain-specific learning procedures," whereas adults learn a second language through "native language knowledge" and "general problem-solving systems."