1.2 Philosophy of Language Learning

What does Wittgenstein’s concept of "language games" suggest about the meaning of words?

• • The meaning of words is determined by their use in specific contexts or activities.

• • The meaning of words is fixed regardless of context.

According to Chomsky, what is the role of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)?

• • It is a learned behavior shaped by environmental exposure.

• • It is an innate biological predisposition that guides language acquisition.

What does the term "illocutionary act" refer to in Austin’s Speech Act Theory?

• • The literal meaning of an utterance.

• • The speaker's intention in performing an action by speaking.

In the study of semantics, what does "compositional semantics" analyze?

• • How sentence meaning is constructed from word meanings.

• • How the meaning of words is derived from their literal definition.

How does Chomsky’s theory of transformational generative grammar contribute to understanding language?

• • It explains the variability in sentence structures and how they are generated.

• • It denies the existence of universal rules in grammar.

Wittgenstein argued that language is fixed and unchanging across different social contexts.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

Wittgenstein's concept of "language games" emphasizes that the meaning of words is determined by their use in specific contexts. He argued that language is not fixed but varies depending on the social or practical activity in which it is used.

Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar suggests that all human languages share a common underlying structure.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar posits that all human languages share an inherent, universal structure, which allows children to acquire language quickly and efficiently, regardless of the specific language they are exposed to.

In Austin's Speech Act Theory, a locutionary act refers to the speaker’s intention in uttering words.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

• A locutionary act refers to the act of uttering words with literal meaning (the content of the utterance), not the intention behind it. The illocutionary act, on the other hand, deals with the speaker's intention.

The study of pragmatics focuses on how language is used in specific social contexts.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

• Pragmatics examines how context, speaker intent, social norms, and cultural conventions influence the meaning of language in communication. It goes beyond the literal meaning of words to consider how language functions in real-world interactions.

Transformational generative grammar provides a way to explain how complex sentence structures can be generated from simpler ones.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

Chomsky's theory of transformational generative grammar explains how simple sentence structures can be transformed into more complex forms through specific grammatical rules. It is a key component of understanding how language works structurally.