single, unanalyzed unit, rather than creating it from underlying rules), and
‘prefabricated patterns’ (i.e. phrases similar to routine formulas but which have at
least one slot which can be filled by alternative items, thus allowing a certain degree
of creativity) adopts a similar view but stresses that this happens only as an initial step
since the learner soon becomes able to break such patterns into their constituent
components and use them separately with increasing flexibility and creativity.
1.2.2 Nativist theories
Nativist theories were developed as a reaction to the behaviouristic notion of
language learning as a process which is mechanical and external to the learner.
According to Brown (1987: 19), the term ‘nativist’ is derived from the fundamental
assertion that language acquisition is innately determined and that we are born with a
built-in device of some kind that predisposes us to language acquisition. As Ellis
(1999: 128-129) comments, nativist theories emphasise the contribution of learnerinternal factors and consider that the linguistic environment acts as a trigger to the
whole process of acquisition. According to Brown (1987: 22) nativist theories
contributed to a description of the child’s language as a legitimate, rule-governed, and
consistent system.
Among the most influential nativist theories are those proposed by Chomsky
(in the area of first language acquisition) and Krashen, (in the area of second language
acquisition) which are briefly discussed below.
1.2.2.1 The Theory of Chomsky
Chomsky (1959) attacked the behaviourist notion of language as a set of habits
which are transmitted to the learner through a process of stimulus-response, as this
could not explain the creative characteristic of language, i.e. the speakers’ ability to
produce utterances which they have not heard before. As he stated (Chomsky, 1966:
153), ‘ordinary linguistic behaviour characteristically involves innovation, formation
of new sentences and new patterns in accordance with rules of great abstractness and
intricacy’. In doing so, Chomsky minimized the importance of external factors such as
imitation and reinforcement and stressed the role of internal processing mechanisms,
which are specifically linguistic. As Littlewood (1984: 5) stresses, these processing
mechanisms are, according to Chomsky, the ones which allow the child to acquire an
abstract knowledge of rules (or competence) by being exposed to people’s speech (or
performance).
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