语言学单元自测11 15页

实用文档I.DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse.　　　⒈L1developmentandL2developmentseemtoinvolvethesameprocesses.　　⒉Thecapacitytoacquireone’sfirstlanguageisafundamentalhumantraitthatallhumanbeingsareequallywellpossessedwith.　　⒊Allnormalchildrenhaveequalabilitytoacquiretheirfirstlanguage.　　⒋Childrenfollowasimilaracquisitionscheduleofpredictablestagesalongtherouteoflanguagedevelopmentacrosscultures，thoughthereisanidiosyncraticvariationintheamountoftimethattakesindividualstomasterdifferentaspectsofthegrammar.　　5.Humanscanbesaidtobepredisposedandbiologicallyprogrammedtoacquireatleastonelanguage.　　6.Somelanguagesareinferior，orsuperior，tootherlanguages.　　7.Languageacquisitionisprimarilytheacquisitionofthevocabularyandthemeaningoflanguage.　　8.Humanbeingsaregeneticallypredeterminedtoacquirelanguage；thisgeneticpredispositionisasufficientconditionforlanguagedevelopment.　　9.Childrenwhogrowupinculturewherecaretakerspeechisabsentacquiretheirnativelanguagemoreslowlythanchildrenwhoareexposedtocaretakerspeech.　　10.Inmothertongueacquisition，normalchildrenarenotnecessarilyequallysuccessful.　　11.Forthevastmajorityofchildren，languagedevelopmentoccursspontaneouslyandrequireslittleconsciousinstructiononthepartofadults.　　12.Theavailableevidencetodateindicatesthatanexplicitteachingofcorrectformstoyoungchildrenplaysaminorroleatbest.　　13.Correctionandreinforcementarenotkeyfactorsinchildlanguagedevelopmentastheywereclaimedtobe.　　14.Imitationplaysatbestaveryminorroleinthechild’smasteryoflanguage.标准文案\n实用文档　　15.Observationsofchildrenindifferentlanguageareasoftheworldrevealthatthedevelopmentalstagesaresimilar，possiblyuniversal，whateverthenatureoftheinput.　　16.Achild’sbabblingseemstodependonthepresenceofacoustic，auditoryinput.　　17.Ingeneral，thetwo-wordstagebeginsroughlyinthesecondhalfofthechild’sfirstyear.　　18.Children’stwo-wordexpressionsareabsentofsyntacticormorphologicalmarkers.　　19.Childrenfirstacquirethesoundsinalllanguagesoftheworld，nomatterwhatlanguagetheyareexposedto，andinlatestagesacquirethemoredifficultsounds.　　20.Languageacquisitionbeginsataboutthesametimeaslateralizationdoesandisnormallycomplete，asfarastheessentialsareconcerned，bythetimethattheprocessoflateralizationcomestoanend.　　II.Fillineachblankbelowwithonewordwhichbeginswiththelettergiven.　　21.Thefirstlanguagea____________referstothedevelopmentofafirstornativelanguage.　　22.Accordingtoan__________viewoflanguageacquisition，humansarequippedwiththeneuralprerequisitesforlanguageandlanguageuse，justasbirdsarebiologicallypre-wiredtolearnthesongsoftheirspecies.　　23.Acaretakerspeech，alsocalledm______orb______，isthetypeofmodifiedspeechtypicallyaddressedtoyoungchildren.　　24.B_________learningtheorysuggestedthatachild’sverbalbehaviorwasconditionedthroughassociationbetweenastimulusandthefollowingresponse.　　25.Children’sone-wordutterancesarealsocalledh__________sentences，becausetheycanbeusedtoexpressaconceptorpredicationthatwouldbeassociatedwithanentiresentenceinadultspeech.标准文案\n实用文档　　26.Theearlymultiwordutterancesofchildrenlackinflectionalmorphemesandmostminorlexicalcategories，theyareoftenreferredtoast__________speech.　　27.A___________referstothegradualandsubconsciousdevelopmentofabilityinthefirstlanguagebyusingitnaturallyindailycommunicativesituations.　　28.TheC________Analysiswasfoundedonthebeliefthatitwaspossible，byestablishingthelinguisticdifferencesbetweenthenativeandtargetlanguagesystems，topredictwhatproblemslearnersofaparticularsecondlanguagewouldfaceandthetypesoferrorstheywouldmake.　　29.ThelanguagethatalearnerconstructsatagivenstageofSLAisknownasi_________.　　30.Learnerssubconsciouslyusetheirfirstlanguageknowledgeinlearningasecondlanguage.Thisisknownaslanguaget___________.　　31.Motivationinlanguagelearningcanbedefinedintermsofthelearner’soverallgoalororientation.I_________motivationoccurswhenthelearner’sgoalisfunctionalandi________motivationoccurswhenthelearner’sgoalissocial.　　III.Therearefourchoicesfollowingeachstatement.Marktheonethatcanbestcompletethestatement：　　32.　Infirstlanguageacquisition，imitationplays_________.A.aminorroleB.asignificantroleC.abasicroleD.norule　　33.Linguistshavefoundthatforthevastmajorityofchildren，languagedevelopmentoccurs_____________.A.withmuchimitationB.withlittleconsciousinstructionC.withmuchcorrectionfromtheirparentsD.withlittlelinguisticinput标准文案\n实用文档　　34.Thedevelopmentoflinguisticskillsinvolvestheacquisitionof____rulesratherthanthemerememorizationofwordsandsentences.A.cultural　　　　　　B.grammaticalC.behaviour　　　　D.pragmatic　　35.____hasbeenfoundtooccurusuallyinchildren'spronunciationorreportingofthetruthfulnessofutterances，ratherthaninthegrammaticalityofsentences.A.PunishmentB.InstructionC.Reinforcement　　　D.Imitation　　36.Accordingtothe_______，theacquisitionofasecondlanguageinvolves，andisdependenton，theacquisitionofthecultureofthetargetlanguagecommunity.A.acculturationviewB.mentalistviewC.behavioristviewD.conceptualistview　　37.Ingeneral，agoodsecondlearnerisanadolescent________.A.whohasastrongandwell-definedmotivationtolearnB.whoseeksoutallchancestointeractwiththeinputC.whoiswillingtoidentifyhimselfwiththecultureofthetargetlanguagecommunityD.alltheabove标准文案\n实用文档　　38.Theoptimumageforsecondlanguageacquisitionis________________.A.earlyteenageB.afterpubertyC.atpubertyD.afterthebrainlateralization　　39.Theformalinstructioninsecondlanguageacquisition___________.A.hasnoeffectatallB.hasapowerfuldelayedeffectC.hasverylittleeffectD.hasunsatisfactoryeffect　　40.________isbelievedtobeamajorsourceofincorrectformsresistanttofurtherinstruction.A.Thesecondlanguagelearners’unwillingnesstolearnB.ThepoorclassroomteachingC.Thefossilizationofthelearner’sinterlanguageD.Thelearner’slackofinstrumentalmotivation　　41.Whichofthefollowingisnottrue？A.Interlanguageisaproductofcommunicativestrategiesofthelearner.B.Interlanguageisaproductofmothertongueinterference.C.Interlanguageisaproductofovergeneralizationofthetargetlanguagerules.标准文案\n实用文档D.Interlanguageistherepresentationoflearners’unsystematicL2rules.　　42.　_________，exceptthosewithmentalorphysicalimpairments，arebetterorworsefirstlanguageacquirers.A.SomemenB.AlmostallmenC.NomenD.Fewmen　　　IV.Explainthefollowingterms.　　43.caretakerspeech44.holophrasticsentences45.telegraphicspeech46.secondlanguageacquisition47.acquisition48.learning49.transfer50.interlanguage51.fossilization52.instrumentalmotivation53.integrativemotivation54.acculturation标准文案\n实用文档　　V.Answerthefollowingquestionsascomprehensivelyaspossible.Giveexamplesforillustrationifnecessary.　　55.What'sthedifferencebetweenacquisitionandlearning，accordingtoKrashen？　　56.Howdothelearnerfactorspotentiallyinfluencethewayinwhichasecondlanguageisacquired？　　57.WhatistheroleofinputforSLA？　　58.Howdoyouunderstandinterlanguage？　　59.Discussthecontrastiveanalysisindetail.　　60.Whatarethemajorstagesthatachildhastofollowinfirstlanguagedevelopment？Whatarethefeaturesofthelinguisticformsateachstage？　　61.3Whatistheroleofcorrectionandreinforcementinfirstlanguageacquisition？　　62.Whydowesaylanguageacquisitionisprimarilytheacquisitionofthegrammaticalsystemoflanguage？　　63.Discussthebiologicalbasisoflanguageacquisition.　　64.Whatistheroleofimitationinfirstlanguageacquisition？　　SuggestedAnswers　　I.DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse.l.F2.T3.T4.T5.T6.F7.F8.F9.F10.F11.T12.T13.T14.T15.T16.F17.F18.T19.T20.T标准文案\n实用文档　　II.Fillineachblankbelowwithonewordwhichbeginswiththelettergiven.21.acquisition22.nativist23.motherese，babytalk24.Behaviorist25.holophrastic26.telegraphic27.Acquisition28.Contrastive29.interlanguage30.transfer31.Instrumental，integrative　　　III.Therearefourchoicesfollowingeachstatement.Marktheonethatcanbestcompletethestatement.32.A33.B34.B35.C36.A37.D38.A39.B40.C41.D42.C　　IV.Explainthefollowingterms.　　43.Caretakerspeech：Itisthemodifiedspeechtypicallyaddressedtoyoungchildren.Suchmodifiedspeechiscalledbabytalk，motherese，orparentese.　　44.Holophrasticsentences：Theyarechildren'sone-wordutterances.Theyarecalledholophrasticsentences，becausetheycanbeusedtoexpressaconceptorpredicationthatwouldbeassociatedwithanentiresentenceinadultspeech.　　45.Telegraphicspeech：Theyaretheearlymultiwordutterancesofchildrenwhichtypicallylackinflectionalmorphemesandmostminorlexicalcategories.Somefunctionwordsarealtogethermissing.Whatoccurinthesemultiwordutterancesareusuallythe"substantive"or"content"wordsthatcarrythemainmessage.Becauseoftheirresemblancetothestyleoflanguagefoundintelegrams，utterancesatthisacquisitionstageareoftencalledtelegraphicspeech.标准文案\n实用文档　　46.Secondlanguageacquisition：Secondlanguageacquisition（SLA）isageneraltermwhichreferstotheacquisitionofasecondlanguage（L2），incontrastwithfirstlanguageacquisition（FLA）.SLAisalsousedasageneraltermtorefertotheacquisitionofaforeignorsubsequentlanguage（suchasathirdorfourthlanguage）.Thus，SLAisprimarilythestudyofhowlearnersacquireorlearnanadditionallanguageaftertheyhaveacquiredtheirfirstlanguage（L1）.　　47.Acquisition：AccordingtoKrashen，acquisitionreferstothegradualandsubconsciousdevelopmentofabilityinthefirstlanguagebyusingitnaturallyindailycommunicativesituations.　　48.Learning：Learning，however，isdefinedbyKrashenasaconsciousprocessofaccumulatingknowledgeofasecondlanguageusuallyobtainedinschoolsettings.　　49.Transfer：ItreferstothephenomenonthatlearnerssubconsciouslyusetheirL1knowledgeinlearningasecondlanguage.　　50.Interlanguage：Itisaseriesofinternalrepresentationsthatcomprisesthelearner'sinterimknowledgeofthetargetlanguage.ThisisthelanguagethatalearnerconstructsatagivenstageofSLA.Interlanguageconsistsofaseriesofinterlockingandapproximatelinguisticsystemsin-betweenandyetdistinctfromthelearner'snativeandtargetlanguages.Itrepresentsthelearner'stransitionalcompetencemovingalongalearningcontinuumstretchingfromone'sL1competencetothetargetlanguagecompetence.　　51.Fossilization：itisaprocessthatsometimesoccursinsecondlanguagelearninginwhichincorrectlinguisticfeaturesbecomeapermanentpartofthewayapersonspeaksorwritesinthetargetlanguage.　　52.Instrumentalmotivation：Adultsaremotivatedtolearnasecondlanguageinordertouseitfunctionally.Inotherwords，thelearnersdesiretolearnasecondlanguagebecauseitisusefulforsomefunctional，“instrumental”goals.Thismotivationiscalledinstrumentalmotivation.　　53.Integrativemotivation：Adultsaremotivatedtolearnasecondlanguageinordertouseitsocially.Inotherwords，thelearnerslearnasecondlanguageinordertocommunicatewithnativespeakersofthetargetlanguage.　　54.Acculturation：ItistheprocessofadaptingtothenewcultureoftheL2community.标准文案\n实用文档　　V.Answerthefollowingquestionsascomprehensivelyaspossible.Giveexamplesforillustrationifnecessary.　　55.　What'sthedifferencebetweenacquisitionandlearning，accordingtoKrashen？　　AccordingtoKrashen，acquisitionreferstothegradualandsubconsciousdevelopmentofabilityinthefirstlanguagebyusingitnaturallyindailycommunicativesituations.Learning，however，isdefinedasaconsciousprocessofaccumulatingknowledgeofasecondlanguageusuallyobtainedinschoolsettings.Asecondlanguage，Krashenargues，ismorecommonlylearnedbuttosomedegreemayalsobeacquired，dependingontheenvironmentalsettingandtheinputreceivedbytheL2learner.Arulecanbelearnedbeforeitisinternalized（i.e.acquired），buthavinglearnedaruledoesnotnecessarilypreventhavingtoacquireitlater.Forexample，anEnglishlanguagelearnermayhavelearnedarulelikethethirdpersonsingular"-s"，butisunabletoarticulatethecorrectformincasualandspontaneousconversationbecausetherulehasnotyetbeenacquired.Thisshowsthatconsciousknowledgeofrulesdoesnotensureanimmediateguidanceforactualperformance.　　56.　Howdothelearnerfactorspotentiallyinfluencethewayinwhichasecondlanguageisacquired？　　1）Theoptimumageforsecondlanguageacquisition：Firstlanguageacquisitionismostsuccessfulwhenitoccursduringtheearlyyearsofone'slifebeforepuberty，buttheoptimumageforSLAdoesnotalwaysaccordwiththemaximof"theyoungerthebetter".TheoptimumageforSLAisearlyteenage.Thisclaimisjustifiablebecausethisistheagewhenthelearner'sflexibilityofthelanguageacquisitionfacultyhasnotbeencompletelylostwhileone'scognitiveskillshavedevelopedconsiderably.　　2）Motivation：Motivationinlanguagelearningcanbedefinedintermsofthelearner’soverallgoalororientation.Instrumentalmotivationoccurswhenthelearner'sgoalisfunctional，andintegrativemotivationoccurswhenthelearner'sgoalissocial.Ifthetargetlanguagefunctionsasaforeignlanguage（usedinalimitedenvironmentsuchasinschool），thelearnerislikelytobenefitfromanintegrativemotivation；butifthetargetlanguagefunctionsasasecondlanguage（usedasaprimarymeansofcommunicationinthecommunityofthelearner），aninstrumentalmotivationismoreeffective.　　3）Acculturation：TheacculturationhypothesisfocusesonthesocialandpsychologicalconditionsunderwhichL2processingismostlikelyto标准文案\n实用文档takeplacesuccessfully.Itstatessimplythatthemoreapersonaspirestoacculturatetothecommunityofthetargetlanguage，thefurtherheorshewillprogressalongthedevelopmentalcontinuum.　　4）　Personality：Intuitively，anoutgoingpersonalitymaycontributetolanguageacquisition.Researchresults，however，onlypartiallysupportthishypothesis.Nosignificantrelationshiphasbeenfoundbetweentalkativenessontheonehandandoverallproficiencyinasecondlanguageontheother.Butitisrecognizedthatasaresultofbeingfrequentlyexposedtoandinteractingwiththetargetlanguage，learnerswithanextrovertedpersonalityarelikelytoachievebetteroralfluencythanotherwise.　　Insum，agoodsecondlanguagelearneris，amongotherthings，anadolescentwhohasastrongandwell-definedmotivationtolearn.Heisabletorespondandadaptabletodifferentlearningsituations.Heseeksoutallopportunitiesandmakesmaximumuseofthemtointeractwiththeinput.Heemploysappropriatelearningstrategies.Andheiswillingtoidentifyhimselforherselfwiththecultureofthetargetlanguagecommunity.　　57.　WhatistheroleofinputforSLA？　　ItisevidentthatSLAtakesplaceonlywhenthelearnerhasaccesstoL2inputandtheopportunitytointeractwiththeinput.ItappearsthatwhatlearnersneedisnotmereexposuretoL2data，butthekindofinputdatathatarespeciallysuitedtotheircurrentstageofdevelopment.Thereis，however，noagreementastopreciselywhatconstitutesoptimuminput.Somescholarsadvisethataccesstocomprehensibleinputisanecessaryconditionforacquisitiontotakeplace.Itissuggestedthatinputcanbemadecomprehensiblebytheuseoflearnedstructuresandvocabulary，thelinguisticandextralinguisticcontextsoftheinputdata，andthelearner'sgeneralknowledgetointerpretnewlanguageitems.Itisalsosuggestedthatinteraction（i.e.takingpartincommunicativeactivities）andintake（i.e.theinputthatisassimilatedandfedintotheinterlanguagesystem）aremoreimportantforSLAthaninput.　　58.　Howdoyouunderstandinterlanguage？　　Interlanguageconsistsofaseriesofinterlockingandapproximatelinguisticsystemsin-betweenandyetdistinctfromthelearner'snativeandtargetlanguages.Itrepresentsthelearner'stransitionalcompetencemovingalongalearningcontinuumstretchingfromone'sLIcompetencetothetargetlanguagecompetence.Asatypeoflinguisticsysteminitsownright，interlanguageisaproductofL2training，mothertongue标准文案\n实用文档interference，overgeneralizationofthetargetlanguagerules，andcommunicativestrategiesofthelearner.　　59.　Discussthecontrastiveanalysisindetail.　　ContrastiveAnalysiswasdevelopedinordertoidentifyandpredicttheareasoflearningdifficulty.Giventhisapproach，itwashypothesizedthatL2errorswerepredominantlytheresultofnegativetransfer，ormothertongueinterferenceandsecondlanguagelearningwasbelievedtobeamatterofovercomingthedifferencesbetweenL1andL2systems.　　Accordingtothisview，themajortaskofsecondlanguageteachingshouldpredominantlybe：first，contrastthenativeandthetargetlanguagesystemsandmakepredictionsaboutthelanguageitemsthatwouldcausedifficultyandtheerrorsthatlearnerswerelikelytomake；thenusethesepredictionsindecidingonthetypeoflanguageitemsthatneededspecialtreatmentinteachingandinmaterialdevelopmentandthetypeofintensivetechniquesthatwouldbeemployedtoovercomelearningdifficultiescreatedbytheinterference.　　Inpractice，theContrastiveAnalysisisnoteffectivebecausealargeproportionofgrammaticalerrorscouldnotbeexplainedbymothertongueinterference.Errorspredictedbycontrastiveanalysishaveoftennotoccurred，whereasmanyactualerrors，suchas"goed"and"foots"，comefromovergeneralizationinsteadofnegativetransfer.　　Errors，accordingtothecontrastiveanalysisapproach，arenegativeandhadtobeovercomeorgivenup.Infact，errorsproducedinalearner'ssecondlanguageutterancemayverywellbedevelopmentalerrorsandtherefore，shouldnotbelookeduponsimplyasafailuretolearnthecorrectform，butasanindicationoftheactualacquisitionprocessinaction.Developmentalerrorsoftenresultfromtheeffortonthepartofthelearnertoconstructandtestgeneralrulesofcommunicationinthetargetlanguage.　　60.　Whatarethemajorstagesthatachildhastofollowinfirstlanguagedevelopment？Whatarethefeaturesofthelinguisticformsateachstage？　　1）Theprelinguisticstage：Atthebabblingstage，thesoundsandsyllablesthatchildrenutteraremeaningless.Babbling，especiallyearlybabbling，islargelyindependentoftheparticularlanguagetowhichchildrenareexposed.Thesoundsproducedinthisperiodseemtoincludealargevarietyofsounds.Babblingdoesnotseemtodependonthepresenceofacoustic，auditoryinput.标准文案\n实用文档　　Whenchildrenarethroughthetenthandeleventhmonths，theyarecapableofusingtheirvocalizationstoexpressemotionsandemphasis，andofattemptingatthegrandtaskoflanguageacquisition.　　2）Theone-wordstage：Thisstageusuallyoccursinthelatepartofthefirstyearortheearlypartofthesecondyear.Atthisstagechildrenlearnthatsoundsarerelatedtomeanings.Theybegintousethesamestringofsoundsofthenativelanguageto"mean"thesamething.Children'sone-wordutterancesarealsocalledholophrasticsentences，becausetheycanbeusedtoexpressaconceptorpredicationthatwouldbeassociatedwithanentiresentenceinadultspeech.One-wordutterancessometimesshowanoverextensionorunder-extensionofreference.　　3）Thetwo-wordstage：Duringthesecondyearoflife，child’sutterancesgraduallybecomelonger.Childrenareheardutteringtwo-wordexpressionsinavarietyofcombinations.Children'stwo-wordutterancescanexpressacertainvarietyofgrammaticalrelationsindicatedbywordorder，forexample：　　Daddyhat.　　Doggiebark.　　Shoemine.　　Appleme.　　Two-wordexpressionsareabsentofsyntacticormorphologicalmarkers.Pronounsarerare.　　4）Themultiwordstage：Itoccursbetweentwoandthreeyearsold.Thesalientfeatureoftheutterancesatthisstageceasestobethenumberofwords，butthevariationinstringsoflexicalmorphemes，forexample：　　Daddylikethisbook.　　Heplaylittletune.　　Thisshoeallwet.　　Nositthere.　　Theearlymultiwordutterancestypicallylackinflectionalmorphemesandmostminorlexicalcategories，thereforetheyareoftencalledtelegraphicspeech.Althoughtheylackgrammaticalmorphemes，telegraphicsentencesarenotsimplywordsthatarerandomlystrungtogether，but标准文案\n实用文档followtheprinciplesofsentenceformation.Asthistypeoftelegram-formatspeechincreases，anumberofgrammaticalmorphemesbegintoappearinchildren'sspeech.Simpleprepositionsbegintoturnupintheirspeech.　　Bytheageoffive，withanoperatingvocabularyofmorethan2，000words，childrenhavecompletedthegreaterpartofthelanguageacquisitionprocess.　　61.　Whatistheroleofcorrectionandreinforcementinfirstlanguageacquisition？　　AccordingtoBehavioristlearningtheory，childrenarebelievedtograduallyassumecorrectformsofthelanguageoftheircommunitywhentheir"bad"speechgetscorrectedandwhentheirgoodspeechgetspositivelyreinforced.　　Researchershavefoundthatcorrectionandreinforcementarenotkeyfactorsinchildlanguagedevelopmentastheywereclaimedtobe.Whenadultsdoattempttocorrectchildrensgrammaticalerrorsandthecorrectformisrepeated，theireffortsseemtohavelittleeffect，orsimplydoomtofailurebecausechildrenoftendonotknowwhattheproblemisandcontinuetouseapersonallyconstructedform.ChildrenReinforcementhasbeenfoundtooccurusuallyinchildren'spronunciationorreportingofthetruthfulnessofutterances，ratherthaninthegrammaticalityofsentences.　　62.　Whydowesaylanguageacquisitionisprimarilytheacquisitionofthegrammaticalsystemoflanguage？　　Inprinciple，nohumanbraincanstoreallthewordsandexpressionsofalanguage.Whathappensisthatwhenprocessingthelanguagetheyhear，childrenconstructthegrammarandmakesenseoftheexpressionsaccordingtothegrammar.Whenproducingutterances，theyfollowtheinternalizedgrammaticalrules.Withouttheknowledgeoftheproductiverules，itwouldbeimpossibleforlanguageuserstoproduceandunderstandanunlimitednumberofsentenceswhichtheyhaveneverheardbefore.　　63.　Discussthebiologicalbasisoflanguageacquisition.　　Languageacquisitionisageneticallydeterminedcapacitythatallhumanspossess.Althoughthedevelopmentofacommunicativesystemisnotuniquetohumanbeings，thenaturalacquisitionoflanguageasasystemofhighlyabstractrulesandregulationsforcreativecommunicationdistinguisheshumansfromallotheranimalspecies.Inthissense，humanscanbesaidtobepredisposed，thatis，biologicallyprogrammed，to标准文案\n实用文档acquireatleastonelanguage.Languagedevelopmentcanthusberegardedasanalogoustootherbiologicaldevelopmentsinhumangrowthandmaturation，suchasthegrowthandmaturationofone’slimbsandorgans.Humansareequippedwiththeneuralprerequisitesforlanguageandlanguageuse，justasbirdsarebiologically“pre-wired”tolearnthesongsoftheirspecies.　　64.　Whatistheroleofimitationinfirstlanguageacquisition？　　Atonetime，itwaswidelybelievedthatchildrenlearnedlanguagebysimplyimitatingthespeechofthosearoundthem.Wenowknowthatthiscannotbetrue，sincemanyutterancetypesproducedbychildrendonotcloselyresemblestructuresfoundinadultspeech..Ifchildrenlearntheirnativetonguebyimitatingtheirparents，howcanweaccountfortheutterancesthataretypicalofchildren'slanguage，suchasthepluralform"myfoots，"thepasttenseformsof"Ieated，"andthenegativeconstructionof“Nothesunshining”？　Itisimpossiblethatchildrenimitatethesestructuresfromadultsbecausetheyareneverheardinadultconversations.Inaddition，childrenwithspeechimpairmentforneurologicalorphysiologicalreasonslearnthelanguagespokentothemandunderstandwhatissaid.Amorereasonableexplanationisthatchildrenareattemptingtoconstructandgeneralizetheirowngrammaticalrules.　　Someyounglanguagelearnersdoseemtomakeselectiveuseofimitation，buttheydonotblindlymimicadultspeechinaparrotfashion，butratherexploititinveryrestrictedwaystoimprovetheirlinguisticskills.Thepointisthatimitationplaysatbestaveryminorroleinthechildren'smasteryoflanguage.A标准文案