On Chomsky's View Of Language

Chomsky's theory of generative grammar is considered to be one of the most significant contributions to the field of linguistics made in the 20th Century. The publication of Syntactic Structure in 1957, which announced the outset of generative grammar, revolutionized the study of linguistics. Ever since then, linguistics has been regarded more as a natural science than as a classifying science. To Chomsky, linguistics is the science of language and linguistic investigations are to be carried out within a scientific paradigm, in which deductive method will do better than the inductive method. He has introduced formalization into general linguistics and suggests that a genuine theory of human language should satisfy three levels of adequacy: observatory adequacy, descriptive adequacy and explanatory adequacy.Reinstating rationalist ideas that go back to Descartes and Humboldt, Chomsky hypothesizes that language acquisition is biologically programmed and that innumerable languages are variations on the single theme. He proposes that language arises in the mind of the child through a realization of a language faculty, which begins in an initial state S₀, also called Universal Grammar, goes through a series of intermediate stages, S₁, S₂, S₃…and finally reaches a steady state S_S. In other words, human language ability is a genetic endowment. Nature is more important than nurture,and language input is only necessary in order to activate the language acquisition device.For half a century, Chomsky and his followers have been working on the explanatory hypothesis concerning the nature of language. His theory has developed from"the first linguistic model"to"standard theory","extended standard theory", "revised extended standard theory","the theory of government and binding", and recently to"minimalist program", and all these revisions are supposed to be a step closer to his goal—to find out the internal mechanism of language, and further, that of the mind.Though it has changed the long traditional way of studying language, generative grammar provokes controversy. There are people who speak highly of this theory, and there are ones who express disagreement on the innateness hypothesis, the research method, and the technical devices Chomsky has employed.This dissertation holds that the negative evaluation results from misunderstanding and misapprehensions of Chomsky's view of language. Therefore, it attempts to explore the nature of Chomsky's linguistic theory from the perspectives of philosophy, cognitive views, social studies, biological findings, and language acquisition.Firstly, through a discussion of the philosophical foundations of Chomsky's linguistic theory and a comparison of the similarities and differences of two generations of cognitive science, the dissertation aims at getting a holistic and objective view and a full understanding of the nature of his mentalistic approach.Secondly, since Chomsky is as influential in politics and social studies as in linguistics, the dissertation introduces his political opinions and tries to analyze the tenuous connections between his social studies and linguistic studies with a view to proving that his political views and linguistic views are driven by the same philosophical ideas. By doing so, it helps deepen our understanding of the nature of Chomsky's view of language.Thirdly, with a study of the biological findings supporting Chomsky's UG hypothesis, and an exploration of the rules governing language acquisition and the findings of sign linguistics, the dissertation attempts to find evidence to prove the validity of Chomsky's hypothesis that language is biological programmed.Fourthly, by tracing the developmental route of Chomsky's linguistic theory, the dissertation leads us to believe that Chomsky's pursuit in linguistics has never changed.Finally, the dissertation discusses the milieu that formed Chomsky and the milieu that Chomsky has helped to create. Various factors contribute to his success: his family background, his school education, the influence of Cartesian linguists, the development of science and so on. But for all these, Chomsky might not be the man that he is. Chomsky is successful in the field of linguistics, and he has also helped spark the cognitive revolution in psycholinguistics. He has demonstrated his influence in other disciplines, such as philosophy of linguistics, computer science, medicine, and language teaching.