Home page

Linguistics and Language Learning

Frames Linguistics and Language Learning

Description Linguistics and Language Learning

Comments Linguistics and Language Learning

Did Chomsky mean by universal grammar unified grammatical rules for all languages or just innate capabilities to acquire language in childhood that's why animal can not produce systematic language like human its something complex and biological and gift from God this is the way professor explain this theory to us at college I don't know Comment from : Eman Samir

I'm studying linguistics and I have to disagree with you Just because you were able to learn a language without linguistics, does not mean it will not help Comment from : Adamender909

Hi, I incline to agree with you Comment from : Manso Luemasani

Hi steve, glad to listen your explanation 😃 Comment from : Aravel Alba

I think you like to hear yourself talk If you would be quiet for awhile and think, you might understand Chomsky! Comment from : Irene McNamara

Oh my god ! That music initially played was so soothing , can someone tell me where I can get it or it’s name please Comment from : saumya

"I've never studied linguistics" nuff said Comment from : The BAR Strategy

You were wrong Steve, more likes than dislikes Comment from : Some Dude

As an ESL teacher, SLA Applied linguistics can be very helpful because it explains mistakes that are universal, due to over-generalization, L1 interference, fossilization etcYou posited the power of attitude, but what are the other factors, such as cognitive ability, quantity and difficulty of input, interest and the output effect? For eg in teaching reading you'll learn the top down approach versus bottom up, the schema effect and in phonology, the communicative role of intonation and how phonetic sounds are created with the tongue/lips/mouth/throat I have a TESL diploma, BEd and MA in Applied linguistics and if I had to do one again to improve my teaching, it would definitely be the MA Comment from : Deganawidah Ayenwatha

We all know of the difference between languages but Chomsky is talking about mental grammar, not so much variation of word order so it is more about what binds things together I think you may be underestimating the power of what seems second nature in all language,s such as why are subjects bound to objects and subjects bound to verbs from left to right? Why do we all have function words that are always distinguishable from content words Consider this - morphology is far more different from one language to another than syntax Why, if there are no universals? Comment from : Deganawidah Ayenwatha

You just need to study this more deeply You admit you've never studied linguistics and that's ok because by virtue of your teaching and language learning, you are an applied linguist I think you might be confusing Chomsky with SLA, but even if you are challenging him on FLA, please realize you are not the first and won't be the last, but you still have to understand it and I don't think you actually do His theories have been remarkably resilient and explain a lot more than the alternative theories For example, besides the "Poverty of Stimulus" how do you explain: br1) I agree there is a lot of input from 0-4 yrs old but it doesn't explain infinite creative use of language - children use endless language creatively with sentences they have never heard before It would just seem unrealistic to think it is a result of statistical input to create these endless types of communication given limited input br2) The way pidgin turns to creole in one or tow generations (ie word lego becomes grammatical without instruction)br3) The development of new sign language grammar by born deaf children that is remarkably similar to spoken language (no instruction) br4) Cognitive impaired students that are still as fluent in language as cognitively normal childrenbr5) The discomfort young children feel with certain complex structures that have a small grammatical error br6) Why nonsensical grammatical sentences are more comfortable to us than sensible grammatical sentences even among young childrenbr7) Why children that miss out on the early stages of language (by cruel isolation) can never seem to catch up as teenagers, even when they are drummed with input as teens to compensatebr8) Why irregular verbs act from memory but children inflect using regular verb patterns even though irregular verbs are proven to be more common in speech Comment from : Deganawidah Ayenwatha

I do agree that linguistics is not necessary to learn a foreign language But honestly, to base one's opinion about linguistics as a whole on Chomsky's theory, by the way quite misinterpreted? I am no fan of Chomsky, the fact is that he relies heavily on English, so is Pinker, but there are many other linguists and other theories, and more importantly more FIELDS of linguistics, and dissing linguistics only because Chomsky doesn't make sense is just ridiculous to me Comment from : likelyowl

Hello from Peru! Thanks for your advicesI am studying at university to be an english teacher :) Comment from : Rosie Flores Sánchez: Education

hi anyone here plzzz i need a short summary about Linguistics and Language Learning plzzz Now !! help me Comment from : sad life

Hi my friend steve, i just listend carefully what you say about linguistic and learning languages, i most say i disagree cause on own experience i've seen that only have been able to identify words when hearing after starting to pronouncing words by using the right places of articulation and it was possible only after studing linguistics, maybe there is lack of deepening in the respect thanks very much Comment from : JORGE MARIO FERNANDEZ FUENTES

You are so correct on universal grammar I've heard many linguists who are so dismissal of the complexities of grammar and believe that it's superficial in our language cognition processes, and think it's only our expectations of the culture that shape how we think in the language This just isn't true The research done in linguistic relativity, for example, by Lera Boroditsky, has found done some fascinating research in this field, which shows just how much language can affect our thought Comment from : Alexander Jaggers

Steve Kaufmann talks about linguístics as an religiouns man that atributes to God the capacity of an airplane to fly Comment from : geraldo sobreira

I liked this video a year ago Now when I watch it again I wish I could click the ''like'' button more times again brI love your videos Comment from : Victoria Aghazaryan

Christoph Clugston doesn't know what he talks about, he is only a slave of the system Thanks Steve Comment from : Tommaso Lemma

Great video !!!brI thought about those issues for a long timebrYour explanation makes clear how to go to progress Comment from : Victoria Aghazaryan

I'm a linguist and totally agree cause I'm also a language learner I speak 5 languages yet it's interesting to study that science Comment from : Jafet Batalla

I think evolutionary and historical linguistics would be fascinating to study As far as learning a language I wouldn't turn to linguistics for that I would go with whatever gets results Immersion works and I don't need a BS or Phd (BS Piled higher and deeper) to tell me immersion works :-) Comment from : floodland99

This guy is abusing the word linguistics This guy is just another parrot trying to mimic another language and desperately make himself nice amounget stupid YouTubers And alas, youtubers are so gullible Linguistics is a field of science, which this guy has no particular knowladge Comment from : ilwisdom

It's always very pleasant listening to your ideas I live in Brazil, and here we have a college course called "Curso de Letras" in which we study linguistics, literature, language learning and sometimes translation I do a "Curso de Letras" focused on Japanese and I have had many times to deal with linguistics and Chomsky theories But when i was strugling in learning japanese it was clear that this kind of theories don't help anyway What help me was your "attitude, time and noticing" ideas Comment from : GC

Phonetics is definitely helpful! It also has the advantage of being based on sound anatomical and physical knowledge Neither is true of, for example, government and binding theory Comment from : Shmaristotle

The term "genitive" is over 500 years old The science of "linguistics" is much more recent Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

When you explained the usage of case with Russian numerlas, you were using linguistic terminology yourself! "Genitive", "plural", etc Comment from : Jake

Chomsky has revised his theory many, many times He has already dismissed the notion of a "deep" and "surface" structure For me, linguistics helps a lot in the language learning process, epecially in the beginning with pronunciation I bet if 100 people spent a week learning about phonetics, at least 80 could pronounce so-called "difficult" sounds, like the two Czech ř-sounds or click sounds Comment from : Jake

What is possibly wrong with arguments and differences of opinion? I like arguments They force us to think Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Not my intention at all I mean look at the dislikes bar and all the arguments this is stirring up Comment from : CJayEnglish

Sort of like "I don't like what you're saying so please stop saying it, or I will stamp my feet" Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

How about you just stop talking about linguistics as it stirs up more annoyance than anything productive Comment from : CJayEnglish

Yup,good thing i thought of getting out off my comfort zone and expose myself as much as i can to the language Comment from : JohnathanS

Cristophe Clugsten is acting more and more like a bully I'm glad that you are ignoring his comments! Comment from : cuinn837

I agree & disagree on various aspects I do think linguistics and field-linguistics is important in an academic world For intellectuals to study and breakdown a language But I do agree for the person learning a new language it is relatively unimportant Exposure will fill all the gaps on a side note, hilarious that Clugston trolls other ppls channels in the same way he calls out others on his Also in my opinion he hasn't proved anything so his opinion is equally invalid Comment from : iNBungs

Thanks Comment from : Matija

Thank you To err of course is human Comment from : peter browne

Sorry my mistake, yes this is the same person and his name is spelled Gethin Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Your first language is not hardwired into your brain When you are born you can learn any language The vast majority of adult learners don't succeed in learning a second language for reasons having to do with attitude, motivation, time on task and the method of instruction used in most classrooms Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Rubem Alves Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Could someone please tell me the name of the educator mentioned @ 08:30, Thanks Comment from : Matija

Turks must be able to learn Turkish quickly as children because they have a separate set of genes with an incoded innate SOV sentence pattern Something similiar must occur in the case of the Japanese Finns must have even more remarkable genes in order to manage 15 different cases effortlessly and even swiftly (Also sprach the offspring of Chomsky) Comment from : peter browne

Would this be the Amorey Gethin who coauthored THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LEARNING LANGUAGES? I like this book I ask because you spell the last name Geithin above Comment from : peter browne

I have no comments "relative to the points" that you raised, because whatever it is you're arguing against in this video, it certainly isn't linguistics Comment from : Electrophants

My comment was not meant as an attack, as I assumed that you would agree (or at least acknowledge) that this is precisely what you're doing in this video You've made it very clear, in this video and in several others, that you have never studied linguistics and that it's something you're very proud of My comment was meant to express my disappointment both that you think this is something to be celebrated, and that despite your unfamiliarity, you've chosen to denounce the entire field of study Comment from : Electrophants

Just to be clear, I did not speak about learning nor tried to compare programming and natural languages It was just one example where some knowledge of grammar can be useful Perhaps, a better example would be natural language processing In any case, it is not about developing everyday skills In fact, most science is not about developing everyday skills Comment from : atf300t

You are right that Chomsky does not have proof, but he has some evidences, which are widely debated IMHO you focus solely on differences (ie things that you find difficult to learn) but completely ignore things that are "easy" The question is whether those things are objectively easy or due to some generic endowment that humans have and apes don't Comment from : atf300t

Linguistics is a large and diverse field Computational lingustics is very rooted in math Some other fields are closed related to logic and math Obviously, there are some fields on the "soft" side of the spectrum Comment from : atf300t

Glad to see this video, Steve I think too many people study the humanities and other soft sciences in university today I am tired of Linguistics, Sociology and other such studied being equated to some hard science Historically, the field of linguistics was considered for those who studied and were able to learn and apply several different languages separate from their maternal tongue Now its saved for monolingual students who study grammar and Sociology on the taxpayers' dime Comment from : scenecore12

It's a shame I've wasted all this time collecting and analyzing numerical data Linguistics is largely misunderstood, even on occasion within itself, but there is, in fact, a large amount of definitive research, largely resembling computer science If you require numbers to be satisfied, I would look at research in cognitive, neuro-, or psycholinguistics Comment from : jacquisaysno

I think Chomsky's theory is rather misunderstood, largely because of it's name, but I think at its root you would agree with it The idea is, fundamentally, a innately human series of patterns that each language is built from Chomsky's theories of syntax are far, far more complicated than any other outlook on grammar, involving word features, phrase movement, and many other operations Syntax is not for the light-hearted, and I do agree that it's not useful to the average learner Comment from : jacquisaysno

We have discussed linguistics, Chomsky and UG before You are convinced that you have a thorough and correct understanding of those things, and nobody can convince you otherwise This time, your description of UG was doing pretty well up to the point where you said that UG had to be language-specifric and not part of any other mental process I remember last time I gave you an excerpt from Chomsky talking about how this is explicitly not the case Comment from : Bortrun

I think you may be conflating several things Theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics have basically nothing to do with each other, and people with applied linguistics degrees are not typically called linguists Most applied linguistics folks have little or no training in theoretical linguistics This the same for TESOL teachers Comment from : Bortrun

One subfield of linguistics is the study of language structure, or grammar This focuses on the system of rules followed by the users of a language It includes the study of morphology, syntax, and phonology Phonetics is a related branch of linguistics concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds and nonspeech sounds, and how they are produced and perceived (From the Wikipedia entry on Linguistics) Comment from : raven lord

I don't know the answer to your question It depends more on where you will be working and which languages you are more motivated to learn Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Steve, at the moment I study english and spanish I want to know your opinion about which languages are more important for an engineer, besides english? Comment from : Marcelowow

Yes, but linguistics is a very soft science in the sense that it is not very amenable to mathematics It is a science in the same way that evolutionary psychology is a science (one might even consider it to be a branch of philosophy) It is great at forming hypotheses but it is not so great at testing them and isolating variables, etc Comment from : raskolnikov1873

I agree Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

I doubt that the linguisticians understand how language works better than the average speaker of that language What the linguistician does is unnecessarily complicated and obfuscate Language is much simpler than that It's about people communicating meaning Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

The surface differences are so great as to make your underlying deep structures meaningless, in my opinion Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

And other than trying to attack me, what specific comments do you have relative to the points that I raised Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Interesting Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

I know that for me the complexity of a language like a Russian, with its multiple different rules for using the genitive case, the dative case, etc , not to mention vocabulary and idioms, is far more complex than any common principles that cut across all languages Chomsky has nothing to go on that would justify claiming that a child can't learn its native language without some innate universal grammar, nothing No observation, no proof Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Which straw man? Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Programming language, which is a very specific technical skill, cannot be realistically compared to learning a language which surrounds us every day like the air we breathe Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Chomsky’s theory is that language learning is facilitated by a predisposition that our brains have for certain structures of language Chomsky and other generative linguists like him "have shown" (my quotation marks" that the 5000 to 6000 languages in the world, despite their very different grammars, do share a set of syntactic rules and principles These linguists believe that this “universal grammar” is innate and is embedded somewhere in the neuronal circuitry of the human brain Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Grammar is not the same as linguistics Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

I like where you are going with your idea Most L1 speakers know nothing of linguistics, yet are fluent in L1 Ideally, you could learn L2 the same way (full emersion) I think linguistics (at least the terms) is a helpful bridge when you can't do full emersion For Japanese, を won't mean a lot to me unless I understand direct objects Understanding transitive/intransitive pairs is especially helpful since we don't have those in English So linguistics should be a tool, but not a crutch Comment from : raven lord

I agree that linguistics really isn't important for learning a language After all, as a kid, NOBODY tells you anything about the use of the "genitive plural" As far as second languages, it helps to know that a certain form can be used to say "of the Xs", but all the terminology is rather unnecessary Comment from : DwarvenHydra

Sorry, I meant " if you _do_not_ have at least some basic knowledge about grammar" Comment from : atf300t

Actually, a computer language (not code) is used to write programs nowdays, and if you want to create a good programming language, you cannot do that well if you have some at least basic knowledge about grammar Moreover, science does not have to be always practical or useful It seems you do not understand what science is if you think it is about developing some practical skills Comment from : atf300t

How do you know what is easy and what is not? Something may appear easy exactly because human brains are hard-wired for that For example, any 2 yo can look at picture and tell whether it is a cat or a dog Easy, right? Now, try to create a program (or an artificial neural networks) that will do this task reliably, and you will find out that is a very complex problem to solve Comment from : atf300t

"Computer code" I meant I have to be more careful using the dictation function on my Mac!!! Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Like in almost all areas, there is a huge gap between researchers and practitioners, where neither listens to the other The unfortunate truth with INSTRUCTED language learning is that what is taught to a group will never directly benefit each individual This is an inherent problem with education in general, not just language learning, and has very little to do with Linguistics as a science The problem, which you show, is that people don't know or care what Linguistics really is Comment from : boruwuy

Computer code is used to write computer programs Computer called serves a practical and useful purpose I see no similar purpose to most of what I have read about linguistics If my view of language learning has been known in SLA for 20 years, why is there so much resistance to this in the way languages are taught? Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

I totally agree with you, because I`ve studied in English by Listen and Read and had much success in this approach Marcelo From Brazil Comment from : Marcelo No Canada

I know nothing about linguistics, but I believe it's importante to understand how languages work, like a Science of languages I agree with you, our brain is capable to learn languages without all of that and sometimes this linguistic things only disturb languages learners, but as a Science, it's important Take for example, people creating languages or trying to teach computers about languagesOur brain have the hability to understand things by repetition, scientifically that doesn't work Comment from : afbdreds

Hi Steve, Thanks for another great video I always enjoy watching your videos and agree with almost everything what you've said here I just wanted to point out, for the people that might not be aware of this, that while Linguistics has been a failure so far when it comes to language learning, it has been a big help for example in the field of Natural Language Processing (making computers work with language) Comment from : Jakub Kociubiński

Yet another video where you flaunt your complete ignorance of what linguistics actually is Comment from : Electrophants

Sorry, I have no experience with it Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

I have no idea Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Linguistics is no more a science than political science or sociology and gender studies Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Chomsky posits that the "deep structures" are too difficult for a child to learn in 4 years, including the time in the womb The "deep structures" if they exist, are the easy part The surface differences, the vocabulary, the vernacular, is the hard part Yet the child learns it There is no reason to assume a "paucity of stimulus" Comment from : Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve

Also linguistics *is* a science It is neither a cult of the High Priest nor some pseudo-scientific teaching, as you suggested If something in it does not make sense to you, it is probably because you have not studied it, and not because all others who studied it are morons To put in another way, if a person is the strongest man in the world, the fastest swimmer, etc, that does not make him an expert on human physiology Comment from : atf300t

Steve, You are right that Chomsky’s theory has very little, if any, practical implication when it comes to learning a second language, but please, google for “Chomsky offers advice to teachers on the use of science” He is very clear about what is the most important thing when it comes to teaching a second language So, if you want to debate someone, try to address the real arguments instead of fighting a straw man Comment from : atf300t

Related Linguistics and Language Learning videos

Corpus linguistics: how can it help with English language teaching and learning? With Niall Curry РѕС‚ : Cambridge University Press ELT Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Applied Linguistics - Lesson 5 - Theories of Language Learning - Monitor Theory РѕС‚ : Academic English Courses Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Applied Linguistics - Lesson 3 - Theories of Language Learning - Behaviorism РѕС‚ : Academic English Courses Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Computer Assisted Language Learning Journals- Applied Linguistics u0026 Technology Journals РѕС‚ : AATALorg Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Applied Linguistics - Lesson 4 - Theories of Language Learning - Cognitivism Mentalism РѕС‚ : Academic English Courses Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Chapter 2: Applied linguistics of language teaching РѕС‚ : Hassan Ait Bouzid Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Applied linguistics Part 2: semester 5 ¶Language Acquisition¶ РѕС‚ : Abdelhak English Farm Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Language Acquisition: Crash Course Linguistics #12 РѕС‚ : CrashCourse Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Coinage| Word Formation| Invention of new words| #language #linguistics #english РѕС‚ : Linguistics with Najeeb Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time

Article Review: Technology in Language Use, Language Teaching, and Language Learning РѕС‚ : Ben Download Full Episodes | The Most Watched videos of all time