Instance theory and Universal Grammar in second language research
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11655739 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Truscott (0000-0003-2107-567X, National Tsing Hua University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 257-291 |
| Publication date | 1998-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Second language Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0267-6583 • E-ISSN: 1477-0326 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1191/026765898670205199 |
| OpenAlex | W2045519409 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 76 |
This article considers the possibility of applying instance theory to the study of language, second language in particular. Instance theory de-emphasizes the role of abstract principles in knowledge and its acquisition and use, focusing instead on the storage and retrieval of specific experiences, or instances. I argue that the application is feasible only if one also adopts a restrictive theory of Universal Grammar. I then present a sketch of a combined UG–instance theory approach, in which invariant aspects of UG are maintained and variability is allowed in exactly the same areas as in standard theories, but the variation occurs in pools of stored instances, not in abstract parameter values. This approach can be productively applied to various problems in language learning research, including noisy input to learners, undoing of errors during the learning process, transfer and fossilization, and the nondiscrete character of learning
Algorithm · Fossilization · Generative grammar · Grammar · Language acquisition · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Second-language acquisition · Sketch · Universal Grammar · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Artificial Intelligence
Principles and practice in second language acquisition
Parametric Syntax
Language Acquisition and the Theory of Parameters
The Acquisition of Syntactic Knowledge
Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development
Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition
Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition
Generalisation of regular and irregular morphological patterns
Controlled and automatic human information processing
Concepts and conceptual structure.
Adverb placement in second language acquisition
From meta-processes to conscious access
Recognition memory for syntactic and semantic aspects of connected discourse
The role of theories in conceptual coherence.
Parameters and Learnability in Binding Theory
Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Second Language Fluency
Alcove
Characteristics of dissociable human learning systems
Context theory of classification learning.
Controlled and automatic human information processing
Toward an instance theory of automatization.
Syntactic subjects in the early speech of American and Italian children
"Schema abstraction" in a multiple-trace memory model.
New horizons in linguistics
Restructuring
The Role of Consciousness in Second Language Learning1
The Dangers of Dichotomy
Long and Short Verb Movement in Second Language Acquisition
Knowledge of language
Resetting Universal Grammar parameters
Language Learnability and Language Development
How to set Parameters
Information, Language and Cognition
Cognition and the Symbolic Processes
Formal Principles of Language Acquisition
The Structural Syllabus and Second Language Acquisition
Connectionism and the Mind
Categories and Processes in Language Acquisition
Categories and Concepts
Explaining language universals
The Structure of a Semantic Theory
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,23 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2020 (8) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |