Chomsky's Language Acquisition Theory

With a brief introduction of the theoretical background and content of Chomsky's Theory of Universal Grammar, this dissertation emphatically examines the major assumptions of the theory concerning language acquisition and brings forth three questions for discussion: 1) Is language a human-specific ability? Is intelligence involved in language acquisition? 2) Does the language acquisition device wired for the universal grammar truly exist in our brain? 3) Do environments only play a role of "triggering" the maturity of the language organ in the brain of infants when they acquire their languages? Is the universal grammar devoid of empirical content? A new objective evaluation is made based on analyzing Chomsky's theory, comparing it with other language acquisition assertions and examining the latest achievements in current researches in psychology, linguistics, anthropology and neurology. Chomsky is not the first linguist to converge linguistics and psychology, but he pioneers carrying out his research into the language so as to propose an explanation of the psychological properties of the human mind and develop his theory out of his linguistic assumptions, which is radical and revolutionary and exerts powerful influences on the study of linguistics and psychology. It is of epoch-making significance that Chomsky's critique of Skinner's Stimulus-Reinforcement Theory demonstrates a breakthrough against the behaviorist doctrine which has governed American psychology for nearly half a century. So far, however, the Theory of Universal Grammar is considered mere hypothetic assumptions resting on no sufficient evidence and exiguously actual speculation, though it is still under revision today. When contradicting the behaviorist ideology, Chomsky develops his theory to the other extreme by confining the language system within narrow limits and underestimating the function of environments in language acquisition. There will be more challenges and controversies as psychological and linguistic researches continue.