Progress, but not a full solution to the logical problem of language acquisition

Bibliographic Data

ID20366995
AuthorsErika Hoff (0000-0002-5850-6958, Atlantic University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume31
Issue4
Pages923-926
Publication date2004-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Child Language (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-0009 • E-ISSN: 1469-7602
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0305000904006361
PMID15658753
OpenAlexW2116550128
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited9

MacWhinney argues that the logical problem of language acquisition is no longer. It was a problem back in the 1970s when the guiding premises of the field were that language structure is highly abstract, that the child's input is a poor source of information about grammar, and that the child's learning mechanisms are inadequate to bridge the gap between the input the child receives and the grammar the child acquires. Now, however, we have new linguistic theories which show that language structure is not abstract but arises from cognition, and we have evidence that input is a rich source of information, and we have reason to believe that the child has a powerful array of learning procedures at his or her disposal. The gap between input and acquisition thought to exist in the 1970s has been closed, and thus, MacWhinney argues, there is no need to attribute innate linguistic knowledge to the child

Cognition · Cognitive science · Grammar · Language acquisition · Linguistics · Logical reasoning · Second-language acquisition · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Philosophy · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Artificial Intelligence