Noam Chomsky said that behaviorism was inadequate for explaining how children learn their first language. What is behaviorism and why is it an incomplete model for explaining L1 acquisition?

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1.1 Discussion Forum: Cognitive Functionalism in First Language Acquisition

Micahel tomasello constructing a language

https://learning.fresno.edu/pluginfile.php/2541622/mod_page/content/18/Chapter%20O%20N%20E%20Constructing%20a%20Languagedocx.pdf?time=1651694964470

Lectures:

Generative Grammar
The lecture describes how children generate grammar in different contexts. Choose one of the arguments below and postulate the grammar that might be generated from these experiences. Use details from linguistics in your answer.
Argument-Structure Constructions
• People acting on objects
• Objects changing state or location
• People giving people things
• People experiencing psychological states
• Objects or people being in a state
• Things being acted upon

Answer the following in about half a page.

Children Learning Words
Using the information from the lecture, describe the factors needed for learning words. Have you seen these factors in action with children you know?

Behaviorism
Noam Chomsky said that behaviorism was inadequate for explaining how children learn their first language. What is behaviorism and why is it an incomplete model for explaining L1 acquisition?

In your discussion, explain why you chose the article, then describe how you might use (if you can) in your future classroom.

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Ola

https://oasis-database.org/?locale=en
Go to the website and search for studies related to:

  • first language acquisition
  • age of learner in language acquisition
  • critical period
  • something similar

When you have found your summary, I would like you to upload your chosen summary and provide your own description (paraphrase) of the summary. In other words, read it, set it aside, then write about it.

In your discussion, explain why you chose the article, then describe how you might use (if you can) in your future classroom.

The following sentences have certain presuppositions that ensure their appropriateness. What are they?

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Presuppositions

The following sentences have certain presuppositions that ensure their appropriateness. What are they?

Example: The minors promised the police to stop drinking.

Presupposition: The minors were drinking.

  1. It is an atrocity that the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11,2001.
  2. It isn’t tolerable that the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11,2001.
  3. Mary drank one more beer before leaving.
  4. Jack knows who discovered Pluto in 1930.
  5. Mary was horrified to find a cockroach in her bed.

Write a brief—1 page maximum—summary of the piece you have read. Use proper MLA citation and then post the summary under the citation.

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Summary of AAVE Semantics

Write a brief—1 page maximum—summary of the piece you have read. Use proper MLA citation and then post the summary under the citation.

Each of the following single statements has at least one implicature in the situation described. What is it?

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Week 3: Implicatures

Each of the following single statements has at least one implicature in the situation described. What is it?

  1. Statement: You make a better door than a window.

Situation: Someone is blocking your view.

 

  1. Statement: It’s getting late.

Situation: You’re at a party and it’s 4 A.M.

 

  1. Statement: The restaurants are open until midnight.

Situation: It’s 10 o’clock and you haven’t eaten dinner.

 

 

  1. Statement: I thought I saw a fan in the closet.

Situation: It’s sweltering in the room.

 

  1. Statement: If you’d diet, this wouldn’t hurt so badly.

Situation: Someone is standing on your toe.

 

  1. Statement: Mr. Smith dresses neatly, is well groomed, and is always on time to class.

Situation: The summary statement in a letter of recommendation to graduate school.

 

Presupposition

The following sentences have certain presuppositions that ensure their appropriateness. What are they?

Example: The minors promised the police to stop drinking.

Presupposition: The minors were drinking.

  1. We went to the ballpark again.
  2. Valerie regretted not receiving a new T-bird for Labor Day.
  3. That her pet turtle ran away made Emily very sad.
  4. The administration forgot that the professors support the students.

 

Entailment –

Describe the entailment relationships (A entails B, B entails A, synonymous, contradictory) between the following groups of sentences.

 

  1. A) My mom lives in Toronto.
    B) My mom lives in Canada
  2. A) Josh kissed Emily.
    B) Emily was kissed by Josh.
  3. A) Tony goes to school every day.
    B) Tony didn’t go to school last week.
  4. A) Jack and Jill went up the hill.
    B) Jack went up the hill.
    C) Jack didn’t go up the hill
  5. A) Nick plays sports
    B) Nick plays baseball
    C) Nick doesn’t play baseball

 

Compositional semantics –     

  1. Suppose that the reference (meaning) of swims points out the set of individuals consisting of Anna, Lu, Paul, and Benjamin. For which of the following sentences are the truth conditions produced by Semantic Rule I met? (i.e., is the member of NP is a member of the meaning of VP?)
  2. Anna swims.
  3. Jack swims.
  • Benjamin swims.
  1. Suppose the reference (meaning) of loves points out the set consisting of the following pairs of individuals: <Anna, Paul>, <Paul, Benjamin>, <Benjamin, Benjamin>, <Paul, Anna>. Determine what is the meaning of the verb phrase (e.g., loves Anna à the meaning of the VP loves Anna is the set of individuals consisting of Paul)
  2. loves Paul
  3. loves Benjamin
  • loves Jack

 

  1. Given the information in (B), for which of the following sentences are the truth conditions produced by Semantic Rule I met?
  2. Paul loves Anna.
  3. Benjamin loves Paul.
  • Benjamin loves himself.
  1. Anna loves Jack.

 

  1. CHALLENGE QUESTION:

Consider the sentence Jack kissed Laura. How would the actions of Semantic Rules (I) and (II) determine that the sentence is false if it were true that:

  1. Nobody kissed Laura.
  2. How about if it were true that: ii. Jack did not kiss Laura, although other men did.

 

What is Meredith implying? What maxim creates that implication, and why? What maxim creates that implication, and why?

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Maxims of conversation exercises:

Exercises Each problem presents a short dialogue. You must identify which a maxim is being used or violated. You may be asked to figure out the implication, or it may be given to you.

  1. LAURA: Come on, I’m taking you to the gym.

MEREDITH: Yeah, and pigs can fly.

What is Meredith implying? What maxim creates that implication, and why?

 

  1. CARSON: What happened?

MEREDITH: He got attacked by a giant bug, and he passed out.

Implication: He passed out because he was first attacked (in other words, the order in which the events occurred is: (1) he got attacked; (2) he passed out.)

What maxim creates that implication, and why?

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  1. LAURA: Do you have any pets?

CARSON: I have two wee baby turtles.

Implication: Carson doesn’t have any other pets besides the two turtles.

What maxim creates that implication, and why?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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  1. JOHN: We just have to fly real close to the corona of the sun!

MEREDITH: You’re lucky you’re pretty.

What is Meredith implying? What maxim creates that implication, and why?

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Why did you choose this article? Consider the researcher’s premise. Are the key arguments logical? Is it clear enough for anyone to understand? How can you connect what you learned to your future career as a teacher? If you enter a different profession, is the information still valuable?

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How Language Interacts With Culture: Academic Research

In this activity you will select and share an article relating to the interaction of Language and Culture from the Online Accessible Studies in Second Language Research (OASIS) database. The OASIS summaries are one-page descriptions of research articles on language learning, language teaching, and multilingualism that have been published in peer-reviewed journals. The summaries provide information about the study’s goals, how it was conducted, and what was found, and are written in non-technical language. Where relevant, they also highlight findings that may be of particular interest to language educators, although the initiative is not solely aimed at research with immediate practical implications. The summaries are generally approved, and often (co-)written, by the author(s) of the original journal article.

https://oasis-database.org/?locale=en

Go to the website and use the search term “culture” or “cultural identity”. Scroll through the options and select a summary that interests you. Create an Entry including, the title of the research, the APA citation and describe your selection. Answer the following questions:
1. Why did you choose this article?
2. Consider the researcher’s premise. Are the key arguments logical? Is it clear enough for anyone to understand?
3. The primary aim of the author is to deliver useful information. Did you find new insights? Were these insights relevant and valuable?
4. How can you connect what you learned to your future career as a teacher? If you enter a different profession, is the information still valuable?

Think about a situation where you observed some instance of communication go amiss or in which you participated in a conversation where something went awry. After you identify this instance, think about Grice’s Maxims and determine if a violation of the Maxims may have caused the miscommunication.

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Meanings, miscommunications

For this assignment, think about a situation where you observed some instance of communication go amiss or in which you participated in a conversation where something went awry.

After you identify this instance, think about Grice’s Maxims and determine if a violation of the Maxims may have caused the miscommunication. If so, write about this. If not, think more about the communication and what caused it to go wrong, and write about what went wrong and how you or those involved could have made the course of conversation go more smoothly.

Consider two similar miscommunications to ensure that you cover this topic thoroughly.

Identify the word that interests you. Locate the history or etymology of the word; provide this in your response. Briefly state what the influences were which caused this word’s meaning to change–was this driven by in-group/slang usage, was there some historical event which drove the change, did occupational jargon influence the change?

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Words Origins and changes

1. Identify the word that interests you.  –MY WORD IS RATCHET

2. Look up the original meaning of the word using the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) (look in Databases at the Watson Library). If the word isn’t in OED, then you may use Dictionary.com. Provide this in your response.

3. Locate the history or etymology of the word; provide this in your response.

4. Consider the newer definition of the word–you may use the Urban Dictionary, OED, Dictionary.com or any other scholarly source for this. Share information about the new way this word is used.

5. Finally, briefly state what the influences were which caused this word’s meaning to change–was this driven by in-group/slang usage, was there some historical event which drove the change, did occupational jargon influence the change? You may discuss any aspect that you wish related to the word in addition to those elements mentioned.

Watch the following video ”How language shapes the way we think by Lera Boroditsky .”’ What do you think is the “take away message” of this talk?

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How language shapes the way we think

  1. Watch the following video –

How language shapes the way we think by Lera Boroditsky

  1. What do you think is the “take away message” of this talk?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKK7wGAYP6k&t=1s

Put a star (*) after those that do not seem to conform to the rules of your grammar, that are ungrammatical for you. State, if you can, why you think the sentence is ungrammatical.

  1. Robin forced the sheriff go.
  2. Napoleon forced Josephine to go.
  3. The devil made Faust go.
  4. He passed by a large pile of money.
  5. He came by a large sum of money.
  6. He came a large sum of money by.