![]() In an email to Medical Daily, Poeppel explained that although it is difficult, if not impossible, to prove theories, the data ascertained in his research supports crucial aspects of Chomsky’s theory, namely that listeners build abstract, hierarchical constituent structures of linguistic information. He said, “The dynamics reveal that we undergo a grammar-based construction in the processing of language.” "Because we went to great lengths to design experimental conditions that control for statistical or sound cue contributions to processing, our findings show that we must use the grammar in our head," explained researcher David Poeppel in the release.Īccording to Poeppel, our brains lock onto every word to comprehend phrases and sentences. This showed that the subjects were able to process the grammar minus the obvious learned cues. Results revealed brain activity changed depending on whether the volunteers had listened to a sentence, a phrase, or a word list. The first measures tiny magnetic fields created by brain activity and the second measures brain activity in patients undergoing brain surgery. This ensured the only indication of grammar would come from the subjects’ own minds, not the sentences themselves.Īs subjects listened on, researchers measured their brain activity using two tools: magnetoencephalography and electrocorticography. These sentences were specifically designed so all obvious indications of grammar, such as voice intonation cues, were missing. However, researchers from New York University recently used new technology to prove Chomsky’s theory may have been factual all along (not unlike these other scientists whose ideas were ahead of their time).įor the study, the team recruited volunteers to listen to word phrases spoken in both English and Mandarin Chinese, including predictable sentences like “New York never sleeps,” grammatically correct yet less predictable sentences like “Pink toys hurt girls,” and word lists like “eggs, jelly, pink, awake,” a press release reported. ![]() This theory posits that our understanding of language is built solely on experience, not an internal language processing feature. ![]() The most commonly accepted viewpoint on language acquisition suggests humans learn language by observing and memorizing grammatical cues. Researchers have long failed to prove this same instinctual knowledge also exists for grammar. Chomsky’s original work, called universal grammar, is the reason why humans can recognize grammatically correct yet nonsensical phrases, such as “colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” Past research has shown our ability to distinguish words from nonwords even without an understanding of the language, is a skill that even non-verbal babies possess. Although humans learn by example, he proposed that we are all born with a fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanisms of language. In this respect, Chomsky taught that language is much like walking. ![]() However, walking is both innate and learned, and while every human child is born with the underlying mechanisms needed to do so, the skill will never manifest without proper guidance and examples, Slate reported. The ability to walk upright for long periods of time is distinctly human it sets us apart from our closest genetic cousins, the great apes. ![]() A new study presents compelling evidence to suggest Chomsky may have been right all along. The theory, however, has long been met with widespread criticism - until now. In other words, for humans, language is a basic instinct. In the 1960s, linguist Noam Chomsky proposed a revolutionary idea: We are all born with an innate knowledge of grammar that serves as the basis for all language acquisition. ![]()
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