The document discusses the concepts of competence and performance in language acquisition. It defines competence as the underlying knowledge of a language system, while performance is the observable production and comprehension of a language. The document also discusses debates around nativist vs nurture approaches to explaining language learning in children, who show an innate ability to infer linguistic systems from exposure but also variability in the learning process. Criticism is noted around isolating competence from performance variables.

1. Issues in FLA
April 27th

2. Competence and Performance
Competence: Underlying knowledge of a
system, event, or fact. It is the nonobservable
ability to do something, to perform something.
Performance: Overtly observable and concrete
manifestation of competence.

3. Competence and Performance
Competence: rules of grammar, vocabulary, all the pieces
of a language and how those pieces fit together.
Performance: actual production (speaking, writing) or the
comprehension (listening, reading) of the linguistic events.
Chomsky defended a theory of competence because he
found impossible to categorize an infinite number of
performance variables that are not reflective of the
underlying ability of the speaker-hearer.

4. Criticism to the competence-
performance model
The isolation of competence from performance
variables.

5. Comprehension and Production
Myth: comprehension (listening, reading) can
be equated with competence, while production
(speaking, writing) is performance.
Linguistic competence has four modes of
performance: speaking, listening, reading and
writing.

6. Nature or Nurture?
Nativist approach: a child is born with an innate
knowledge of or predisposition toward a
language.
Nurture: behaviors that are learned or
internalized by exposure to the environment.

7. Systematicity and variability
Children show a remarkable ability to infer the
phonological, structural, lexical and semantic
system of language.
There is an equally remarkable amount of
variability in the process of learning.

8. Imitation
Imitation is one of the important strategies a
child uses in the acquisition of language.
Echoing is a salient strategy in early language
learning and an important aspect of early
phonological acquisition.

9. Test Preparation
Choose one of the following topics to create a mindmap
Language
Acquisition/learning
Behaviorism
Nativist Approach
Chomsky
First Language Acquisition
Functional Approach

10. Test Preparation
Exchange your map with a partner and apply
the following rubric:
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/education/classr
ooms/upload/Concept-Map-Scoring-Rubric.pdf
Improve your map according to the suggestions
and present it to the rest of the class.