Deck 17: Chomksys Theory of Language Development

Question 1

The text describes 4-year-old Adam's tag questions to illustrate

A) the various kinds of transformations
B) the amazing nature of young children's accomplishments
C) the role of parental feedback in grammar development
D) the interactions between logical and linguistic development

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Chomsky proposes parameter-setting to explain

A) learning the rules of particular languages
B) Universal Grammar
C) the acquisition of structure dependence
D) the transformation of deep structure to surface structure

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Chomsky argued that grammar acquisition

A) is primarily the result of parental modeling
B) is guided by an innate design
C) varies with the ability of parents to teach grammar
D) depends solely on the society's particular language

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The text suggests the educational implication of Chomksy's work is

A) to speak clearly to young children
B) to increase children's vocabulary through lots of talk to them
C) to admire children's spontaneous achievements
D) to keep language spoken to children one step ahead of their spontaneous speech

Question 5

Chomsky's position differs from that of

A) Piaget on the extent of genetic control
B) Bandura on the influence of models
C) Werner on the specialized nature of language
D) all of the above

Question 6

Which research has most seriously challenged Chomsky?

A) parents' simplified speech to young children
B) parental feedback to children's errors
C) studies of pidgins and creoles
D) research on operant conditioning

Question 7

In Chomsky's view, children's mastery of grammar

A) is best explained by Piaget's theory
B) is best explained by Bandura's theory
C) occurs in clearly defined maturational spurts
D) is a remarkable achievement

Question 8

One of Chomsky's basic disagreements with Piaget concerns the extent to which language

A) involves symbols
B) is spontaneously created by the child
C) is a specialized activity
D) possesses universal properties

Question 9

Research with the bonobo chimpanzee Kanzi shows that

A) bonobos can learn some human language
B) grammar is unique to humans
C) sentence production outpaces comprehension
D) language instruction should be like formal classroom instruction

Question 10

Which of the following is given little weight in Chomsky's theory?

A) species specific faculty
B) genetic program
C) structure dependence
D) general cognitive capacity

Question 11

Which of the following does not seem to be universal?

A) early babbling
B) structure dependence
C) overregularizations
D) transformations

Question 12

In Chomsky's theory, structure dependence is

A) an example of the child's helplessness
B) proof that languages vary from society to society
C) an example of surface structure
D) an example of an innate constraint

Question 13

When discussing the innate factors that might guide language learning, Chomsky emphasizes

A) universal deep structures
B) universal transformations
C) constraints
D) all of the above

Question 14

Which of the following develops after all the others?

A) negatives
B) transformations
C) agent-action-object categories
D) pauses that show a sensitivity to phrase structure

Question 15

Derek Bickerton argues that creoles

A) refute Chomsky's general theory
B) are full grammars created by children
C) demonstrate the importance of parental input
D) all of the above

Question 16

Chomsky

A) is an innovative linguist
B) is a foreign affairs scholar
C) was initially bored in college
D) all of the above

Question 17

Chomsky's theory includes the concept of

A) universal grammar
B) vicarious learning
C) systematic conceptualization
D) the zone of proximal development