The role of universal grammar in first and second language acquisition

1. THE ROLE OF UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR IN
FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
By: Lal Sajjad

2. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR AS A CONCEPT
Universal Grammar (UG) is the theory that Noam Chomsky popularized in 1976 as "the
set of principles, situations, and rules that constitute aspects or qualities of all human
languages" (Cook et al, 1996).
Cognitive awareness of language is universal among humans. Regardless of the
languages they speak, all humans have one thing in common when it comes to
acquiring a language
Universal grammar is not a grammar in and of itself, but rather a set of requirements
that must be met by all possible grammars. It's just an abstract framework for grammar
building in any language.

3. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR AND FIRST LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
First language acquisition happens when a learner especially a child acquires a
language for the first time in which he/ she will use to communicate his/her needs and
wants as he/ she grew up. The learning of a first language is bound with the child’s
cognitive and social development. Because of this, there are a number of differences
between first language acquisition and second language learning (Klein, 1986).
When it comes to cognitive development, it can be concluded that the production of
grammatical utterances does not mean that the speaker has already mastered the
language because even when the speaker has already displayed a competence in the
language the language, there is a tendency that these utterances will be given by the
speaker different meaning. It can also be inferred that the speaker has already acquired
the cognitive categories which is the reason why they are able to express themselves in
the language.

4. The second language learning is one of the child's gateways in becoming a fully-fledged
member of a particular society. In terms of social development, learning a native
language is an important part of a child's social development (Klein, 1986) and social
skills.
Because of language, a child is able to acquire cultural, moral, religious, and values of the
society.
Noam Chomsky also proposes the LAD notion in connection to the UG. For the past 30
years, researchers on LAD have argued that any normal child has a cognitive device that
allows it to quickly master the grammar of its native language.
The UG would only constitute a number of general principles and there are still specific
features that are unique in every language. For instance, there are features that would
differentiate Urdu from English such as vocabulary, morphology, and syntax

5. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR IN SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
According to Chomsky, Universal Grammar (UG) refers to the universal principles
and characteristics of human language. Through a succession of supporting ideas.
UG plays a limited role in Second Language Acquisition (SLA).
These ideas are:
1. the knowledge of second language was acquired through some other senses of
human brains, which was not through language sense—Universal Grammar
2. (2) Native Language (NL) plays a major in SLA, and
3. (3) Bley-Vorman’s Fundamental Difference Hypothesis.

6. Chomsky’s theory “Principles and Parameters” applied UG in
the research of SLA, which aimed to indicate the common
principles and features of human language (1981).
Because of the differences of learner’s first language (L1) and
second language (L2), whether UG plays a major role in SLA or not is still
a main issue for linguists.

7. SOME THEORIES
1. L2 knowledge is not acquired through language function;
2. Native language has large effect to SLA;
3. The fundamental difference hypothesis

8. THE OTHER SENSES OF THE BRAINS
FOR SLA
Clashen and Muyken (1986) indicated that UG could not influence L2 acquisition.
the knowledge of second language was acquired through some other senses of human
brains.
Rod Ellis (1994: 454) presented two points of view:
(a) there were extremely differences between adult’s L2 acquisition and L1 acquisition
(b) The reasons of the differences were that L2 learners acquired language knowledge
through learning strategies and instructions while L1 learners learned their native
language by language sense—UG.

9. NATIVE LANGUAGE'S DIRECT
EFFECT TO SLA
Clashen and Muyken (1989) and Schachter (1989) pointed out the unconscious knowledge
that the second language learners learned could not be acquired through UG directly, but
got from NL grammar. In other words, the UG cannot act on SLA directly, but L2
acquisition can be affected largely by L1 knowledge that is constrained by UG.
The reason why the L2 knowledge that the L2 learners acquire can reflect some principles
of UG is that they have learned these principles when they acquired L1 knowledge that was
constrained by UG. Thus, this theory supports that NL plays a major role in SLA.

10. FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE HYPOTHESIS
(BLEY-VORMAN, 1989 AND 2009)
It can be proved that adult foreign language learning (L2 acquisition) is quite different from child
language development (child’s first language acquisition) by the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis
(Bley-Vorman, 1989). Thus, the role that UG plays in SLA cannot be the same as UG in L1 acquisition.
Robert Bley-Vorman identified the fundamental characteristics of foreign language learning (L2
acquisition) in 1989, including lack of success (the most striking), general failure (the rarity of
complete success), variation in success, course and strategy, variation in goals, fossilization,
indeterminate intuitions, importance of instruction, negative evidence, and the role of affective factor.
According to the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vorman, 1989), there are differences
between children's language acquisition and adult foreign language learning. Children learn
language knowledge primarily through "universal grammar" and "domain-specific learning
procedures," whereas adults learn a second language through "native language knowledge" and
"general problem-solving systems."