Language acquisition has long been thought of as a process of

Question

Language acquisition has long been thought of as a process of imitation and reinforcement. Children learn to speak, in the popular view, by copying the utterances heard around them, and by having their response strengthened by the repetitions, corrections, and other reactions that adults provide. In recent years, it has become clear that this principle will not explain all the facts of language development. Children do imitate a great deal, especially in learning sounds and vocabulary; but little of their grammatical ability can be explained in this way. Two kinds of evidence are commonly used in support of this criticism–one based on the kind of language children produce, the other on what they do not produce.

The first piece of evidence derives from the way children handle irregular grammatical patterns. When they encounter such irregular past-tense forms as went and took or such plural forms as mice and sheep, there is a stage when they replace these by forms based on the regular patterns of the language. They say such things as wented, taked, mices, mouses, and sheeps. Evidently, children assume that grammatical usage is regular, and try to work out for themselves what the forms ‘ought’ to be–a reasoning process known as analogy. They could not have learned these forms by a process of imitation. The other kind of evidence is based on the way children seem unable to imitate adult grammatical constructions exactly, even when invited to do so.   1 
 1. By saying, “they could not have learned these forms by a process of imitation” the author is implying that

A some children struggle to learn to use proper syntactical structures
B those who rely on analogously deriving grammatical patterns tend to learn irregular patterns with greater ease
C imitation is not the only means by which children acquire knowledge
D not all children will use the correct grammatical pattern when prompted by adults
E certain grammatical forms used by children, while analogous to regular grammatical structures, are not the same as those employed by adults

2 
 2. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A discuss how a common misconception has affected the development of a school of thought
B call into question the findings of a study and describe ways to improve the study
C describe how an explanation does not adequately account for an observed phenomenon
D introduce two theories and illustrate how neither is able to fully explain an occurrence
E reveal the inconsistencies in two theories and propose a new theory to account for an aptitude

3 
 3. According to the passage, the idea that children learn language only through a process of imitation has been called into question because

A some children learn language at an earlier age than do others
B children form grammatical endings that, while consistent with rules of grammar, are not accepted forms
C adults often speak to children by employing grammatical patterns that are different from the ones they would employ when speaking to other adults
D most children have difficulty imitating complex vocabulary even if their caregivers use such words
E only a few children are capable of imitating irregular grammatical patterns

abhi88 · Answer

C,C,B
3/ According to the passage, the idea that children learn language only through a process of imitation has been called into question because

A Some children learn language at an earlier age than do others- Out 
B children form grammatical endings that, while consistent with rules of grammar, are not accepted forms- 
“They say such things as wented, taked, mices, mouses, and sheeps. Evidently, children assume that grammatical usage is regular, and try to work out for themselves what the forms ‘ought’ to be–a reasoning process known as analogy.” - Correct

C adults often speak to children by employing grammatical patterns that are different from the ones they would employ when speaking  to other adults 
D  Most children  have difficulty imitating complex vocabulary even if their caregivers use such words
E  Only a few children  are capable of imitating irregular grammatical patterns

aragonn · Answer

Question 3:

The idea that children learn by imitation has been called into question by the fact that they do not imitate adults when the latter use irregular grammatical patterns. Instead, children reason via analogy. For instance, if they hear that past tense verbs are formed by adding –ed, they add an –ed to all past tense verbs, thereby coming up with non-accepted forms. (even the ones with irregular endings). Therefore the answer is (B).

(A) is a statement that is true in the real world, but it is not mentioned in the passage.

(B) The answer.

(C) is incorrect, though tempting because it mentions how adults use grammatical patterns that are different. But not different compared to the patterns children use. Rather, (C) is saying that adults speak differently to adults than they do to children. True in the real world, perhaps. But not supported by the passage.

(D) is wrong because the focus on the passage is grammatical forms not complex vocabulary.

(E) is wrong because the passage says children do learn by analogy. That’s why they add –ed to all past tense verbs

aragonn · Answer

The first sentence describes a common interpretation: language is learned through imitation. The rest of the passage describes how, “Children do imitate…but little of their grammatical ability can be explained in this way.” Therefore, this explanation cannot account for the way children learn languages. Therefore (C).

(A) is incorrect. While the passage does describe a common misconception (language is learned via imitation), the passage never talks about how this misconception actually affected the development of any one school of thought.

(B) is incorrect because no specific study is mentioned in the passage.

(C) The answer. The "explanation" is the popular view, which cannot adequately explain the two pieces of evidence discussed in the second paragraph.

(D) is incorrect. Sure the passage mentions two theories. But one of them, according to the passage, fully explains language acquisition.

(E) is incorrect because no third theory is proposed.

Foreheadson · Answer

The word "consistent" is not analogous to the word "regular" for me. This why I did not choose B. how can "sheeps", "mouses" can be called consistent with grammar rules? it means that the above mentioned are correct. They definitely are not. so thry are incosistent with grammar rules. if it was like, "regular forms", I would choose B.

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SS3003 · Answer

Can someone please explain the answer to question 1. How can the right answer imply that imitation is not the only to acquire "knowledge". when the passage is only about acquiring languages. Also E seems to cover what is implied more in detail than C , which is more general.

guddo · Answer

1. By saying, “they could not have learned these forms by a process of imitation” the author is implying that

The passage says children sometimes produce forms such as “wented,” “taked,” “mices,” and “sheeps.” Since adults do not normally say these forms, children could not have learned them simply by copying adults.  So the author is implying that imitation alone cannot explain language learning ; children must also use another process, such as  analogy .

A. some children struggle to learn to use proper syntactical structures

This is not the point. The author is not saying children struggle; the author is saying they create forms that cannot be explained by imitation.

B. those who rely on analogously deriving grammatical patterns tend to learn irregular patterns with greater ease

This is unsupported. The passage does not say analogy makes irregular forms easier to learn.

C. imitation is not the only means by which children acquire knowledge

This is correct. The children produce grammatical forms they could not have copied from adults. So the author is implying that children acquire at least some language knowledge through a process other than imitation.

D. not all children will use the correct grammatical pattern when prompted by adults

This refers more to the later point about children being unable to imitate adult constructions exactly. It is not the main implication of the quoted sentence.

E. certain grammatical forms used by children, while analogous to regular grammatical structures, are not the same as those employed by adults

This is true, but it is more of a description of the examples. The quoted sentence is used to support the broader point that imitation is not the only mechanism of language acquisition.

Answer: (C)

egmat · Answer

Hi shloka30,

Great question, and both of your worries come from the same root: treating an  inference  question as if the  most detailed  match wins. It doesn't. The stem asks what the line  implies , so we need the point the author is  making  by writing it, not the choice that describes the forms in the most detail.

Read the line by its purpose

The sentence is:  "They could not have learned these forms by a process of imitation."  The whole paragraph exists to push back on one idea - that children learn language  only  by copying adults. Children say  wented  and  mouses , forms no adult ever said to them. So if they didn't copy them, they must have gotten them some  other  way (analogy). The implication is  therefore : copying is  not the only  path. That is exactly choice  C .

On "knowledge" vs. "language"

Language  is  a kind of knowledge, so "acquire knowledge" comfortably covers "acquire language" - it's broader, but still fully supported. In inference questions a broader wording is fine  as long as the passage backs it . C never claims anything the passage doesn't; it just states the lesson of the line.

Why E is the trap

E - that the children's forms "are not the same as those employed by adults" - is a  true description  of the forms. But that's not what the line is  arguing . The line's job is to strike down imitation as the sole mechanism; E never even mentions imitation. It's more detailed, yes, but detailed about the wrong thing. Detail doesn't beat relevance.

A quick parallel

"Maria solved the puzzle without ever being shown the answer."

What does this  imply ? Not "Maria's solution looked different from the printed one" (a side description) - it implies  there are ways to solve a puzzle besides being told the answer . Broad, but it's the actual point. Map that straight back: the children produced forms they were never given - copying isn't the only way they learn. That's  C .

Answer: C

Language acquisition has long been thought of as a process of

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Language acquisition has long been thought of as a process of

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