Humanity has continuously engaged in understanding the universe and all its composition. Language has played a great role in such pursuit of understanding. Part of that universal composition is the existence of the medium of communication among humans – language. Language has always been viewed as a tool in communicating, but how we understand it now as an innate human ability is anchored on the discoveries of scholars and linguists like Noam Chomsky. Chomsky is the proponent of the Universal Grammar (UG) theory that banks on the universal properties of language and its innateness among humans. It argues on the innate capacity of humans in language acquisition using Language Acquisition Devices (LAD) that are faculties of the human brain. The continuous pursuit to understand language in the context of its universality and species-specific existence is a step towards understanding humanity in a new light.
Language as a Species-specific Biological Feature
Seeing language in the perspective of biological capacity of the human being brought researches in the applied linguistics field such as in neurolinguistics and psycholinguistics. The Universal Grammar theory establishes the premise that language could be a biological endowment such as how birds fly with wings or how cold-blooded animals lay eggs. Since there are no species that are using the same language in communication, and other creatures have their own means, which we do not understand as humans, the plausibility of such claim led to researches on linguistic capacity as a brain activity more than an observable behavior. The Universal Grammar theory became a groundbreaking shift from the behavioral perspective as regards the human language. This shift in the study of the human language aims to cater to the biological context of the human language, supporting the probability of a universal system that the brain recognizes in order to facilitate language acquisition regardless of the availability of external stimulus. This is just one of the major implications of the Universal Grammar theory in the development of other linguistic studies. The following are the other implications that could be derived from the theory:
In Language Acquisition and Studying Languages in General
If Universal Grammar asserts that language acquisition is aided by the mind, responding to stimuli, therefore, all humans are capable of acquiring a language. Since the Universal Grammar theory argues that there are Language Acquisition Devices (LAD) that facilitate language acquisition for all human beings within normal conditions and are raised in normal circumstances, therefore, the linguistic system that these devices respond to has to be the similar in organization in order for any person to adopt any language as one’s native tongue. This particular system has been the basis of further linguistic studies, establishing the foundations of phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics as the micro linguistic branches responsible for language acquisition and learning.
We are no longer confined within the availability of circumstantial stimuli to effectively acquire language. We can already manipulate language learning and provide interventions for the irregularities of language acquisition phases. Language studies has extended beyond the micro linguistics and made research possible across fields of expertise. Further researches made innovations possible, and language is no longer just a medium of communication, but also a vast field of knowledge – a science, and the application of the science of language merges the field in all other sciences and their technology.
In Language Learning and Multilingualism
If the Universal Grammar theory argues that there are similar patterns on how languages are created and recreated, thus, there can be a universal means of structuring languages and learning the system of each. We can study how every language variant, whether regional languages or dialects, differ from one another and how they exist as offspring of parent languages. This could make faster teaching of multilingualism possible as language learning could be simultaneous, structured, and organized.
The strategy of teaching languages in the classroom can be altered by the concept of the Universal Grammar theory. If curriculum developers will investigate its theoretical arguments, all languages must be taught the same linguistic principles. These principles should be explicitly discussed among learners, so they can identify one language in relation to others, instead of seeing it as a single knowledge and skill, completely separated from the knowledge and skills required in learning other languages. This will help language learners establish their own techniques in learning a second language, and better, multiple languages.
In Bridging Linguistic Variations
Since languages also vary regionally, just like in the Philippines, the Universal Grammar theory can also be the basis for bridging linguistic variations within nations and help its people develop understanding of their regional languages. This can be applicable for dialects, so that one language can be united into one linguistic system. This can help ease the perceived division within a regional language because updates of dialects can already be passed on through formal language education. This will enrich the language, preserve the existing system, and avoid linguistic divisions among language users. Thus, if the Tagalog, a regional language common in the Southern Tagalog region, has various dialects across provinces, it can be consolidated into just one language, Tagalog, and other provinces get to study words that are contributed by other provinces across the country using the same regional language. Learning different dialects within a language will ease the feeling of exclusivity or alienation, hopefully extending, merging, one linguistic community to another. This way, language can unite people instead of creating further division.
In Unifying a National Identity
The same goes with learning the Filipino language. There are regions who wouldn’t embrace a Tagalog-based national language because they find their regional languages as qualified as the other languages of the Philippines. To resolve this divide, there can be studies conducted to determine a parent language where all languages of the Philippines are rooted. This will provide the equal opportunity for all regional languages to be candidates for the national language status.
Having the current national language based on Tagalog is not really the issue. The issue is the manner of selection that does not sit fair with other regional languages. With this process of determining the national language, non-Tagalog regions will see representation. Also, studies connecting the similarities and differences of regional languages will give the impression that our languages are unique in their own aspect, but are united under one unifying linguistic system. Identifying that system and naming it as national language will surely be a fair representation of the diversity of the Philippine languages. National unity can be achieved by unifying the bearers of our identity as a people, in this case, the Philippine languages.
In Learning a Second or Foreign Language
Using the arguments of the Universal Grammar theory, teaching the second language can be supported by the knowledge of one’s mother tongue. In fact, our phonemic inventory affects how we learn our second language. This is why Americans pronounce Filipino words differently compared to how we do. The same thing happens when we pronounce words of a different language we didn’t grow up with. The reason Filipinos can be fluent with English is our exposure to the language since childhood even if it is not our native tongue.
Since humans adopt a mother tongue that follows the same linguistic system of other languages, the jump from one language to another should be bridged by this interrelationship established by the theory. At the same time, understanding this connection between the native language and the second language, there could be a curriculum development that can bridge the knowledge of both languages instead of starting from scratch when learning a foreign language in a formal education set-up. This also emphasizes the effects of the linguistic performance in using the mother tongue to the capacity of the person to learn another language. The competency is no longer limited within the structure of a specific language, rather, a universal pattern that could affect further linguistic learning, regardless of language to study. Therefore, poor native language acquisition can lead to poor second language learning.
The Universal Grammar theory made the possibility of evolution of human languages and all the sciences that can lead to a better understanding of humanity. Who knows? Language could be one of the ways humans adapt to the changing environment for self-preservation and continued existence. Future researches could give us the answer.
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