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Multilingualism and chomsky's generative grammar

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSNChapter

Published
  • Tanja Kupisch
  • Sergio Miguel Pereira Soares
  • Eloi Puig-Mayenco
  • Jason Rothman
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Publication date27/04/2021
Host publicationA Companion to Chomsky
PublisherWiley
Pages232-242
Number of pages11
ISBN (electronic)9781119598732
ISBN (print)9781119598701
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Like Einstein's general theory of relativity is concerned with explaining the basics of an observable experience - i.e., gravity - most people take for granted that Chomsky's theory of generative grammar (GG) is concerned with the basic nature of language. This chapter highlights a mere subset of central constructs in GG, showing how they have featured prominently and thus shaped formal linguistic studies in multilingualism. Because multilingualism includes a wide range of nonmonolingual populations, the constructs are divided across child bilingualism and adult third language for greater coverage. In the case of the former, the chapter examines how poverty of the stimulus has been investigated. Using the nascent field of L3/Ln acquisition as the backdrop, it discusses how the GG constructs of I-language versus E-language sit at the core of debates regarding the very notion of what linguistic transfer and mental representations should be taken to be.