This article proposes a formal model of the human language faculty that accommodates the possibility of 'attrition' (modification or loss) of morphosyntactic properties in a first language. Modeling L1 grammatical attrition entails a quite fundamental paradox: if the structure of the language faculty in principle allows for attrition of…

I review the classic literature in generative grammar and Marr's three-level program for cognitive science to defend the Evaluation Metric as a psychological theory of language learning. Focusing on well-established facts of language variation, change, and use, I argue that optimal statistical principles embodied in Bayesian inference models are…

This paper analyzes "wh"-questions in the English Language based mainly on Chomsky's Minimalist Programme of transformational grammar as the theoretical model. The four main objectives of this paper are as follows: first, it undertakes a cross linguistic typological analysis of "wh"-questions and it then discusses the derivation of…

Speech and language therapist and teacher practitioners need particular knowledge to work effectively together to support the needs of individual learners. Using the frame of modes of knowledge (Gibbon, Limoges, Nowotny, Schwartzmann, Scott, and Trow, "The new production of knowledge", London, Sage Publications, 1994), the necessary…

The notions of categorical selection (c-selection) and semantic selection (s-selection) as outlined in recent research on generative grammar are discussed. The first section addresses the type of selectional constraint imposed on English small clauses (e.g., "John considers [Mary smart]"). In the second section, it is suggested that the constraint…

In vocabulary testing, whether to adopt context is a heat-debated topic. In the article, an experiment is designed to investigate what is the effect of zero context and sentence context on the vocabulary testing? And how do the different kinds of context in vocabulary affect the subjects' performance? The experimental result demonstrates that…

A proposed model for an interim grammar between a first and second language, an autonomous rule-governed system based on the Extended Standard Theory, is presented and discussed, focusing on the motivations for choosing a generative model and the determination of structure for an interlanguage system, and using a comparison of the auxiliary system…

Each language is a unique tool for analyzing and synthesizing the world, incorporating the knowledge and values of a speech community. According to Sapir (1931), linguistic "categories [including] number, gender, case, tense, mode, voice, "aspect", and a host of others ... are not so much discovered in experience as imposed upon…

This examination of Richard Montague's grammar as it is manifested in his study, "The Proper Treatment of Quantification in Ordinary English" (PTQ) proposes that the theory contains significant flaws and raises fundamental methodological questions about the aims of logic and linguistics. The first part of this discussion presents the…

An analysis of English sentences containing noun phrases (NPs) with extraposed complements argues that the extraposition (EX) is base-generated and not derived by any applications of the Move-alpha principle. A Move-alpha analysis is subject to substantial technical difficulties, and there exist cases of EX for which there is no plausible source…

Chafe's theory of generative semantics, which uses spoken language for illustration, can be applied to American Sign Language in two ways: to combat the erroneous assumption that sign languages simply represent spoken language in visible form and to explain various parts of the grammar of American Sign Language. (MSE)

The authors of a previous paper on aspects of generalized phrase structure grammar respond to criticism of that paper and clarify elements in the discussion. The original paper addressed the problem of expressing relevant generalizations about the order of complements that a lexical item subcategorizes for. (MSE)

Since its inception, proponents of Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG) have claimed the superiority of the analyses that the theory makes available for certain problematic constructions in English. Two examples of such constructions are (1) rightward unbounded dependencies (including right node raising) and (2) parasitic gaps. However, as…

This paper provides an overview of recent developments in the science of linguistics, and considers their relevance to the teaching of Spanish in Puerto Rico. First, three significant trends are explained and summarized: (1) structuralism, which emphasizes phonetics, pattern, and distribution, and rejects meaning as a tool of analysis; (2)…

On the basis of evidence from general linguistic theory and psycholinguistic research, it is argued that the working hypotheses of the audiolingual habit theory are inconsistent with studies of human verbal learning tasks, and that transformation grammarians have shown convincingly that structuralist views of language are too narrow in scope. It…