Language Competence in Isolation

CSGnet Archive CSG1992
1

Avery Andrews (920439.1358)

On the basis of other's and my own experience of the
relationship between interactive exposure to a language and progress
in acquisition, I'd tend to conjectyure that they have almost nothing
to do with each other

Did I miss something? Are you conjecturing that interactive exposure to a
language has nothing to do with its acquisition? Does it follow that the
offspring of competent language users could be raised in linguistic
isolation and would, without interactive language exposure to competent
speakers, acquire a language and become competent users? Is this a
categorical rejection of what Bruner calls the Language Acquisition Support
System?

2

On the basis of other's and my own experience of the
relationship between interactive exposure to a language and progress
in acquisition, I'd tend to conjectyure that they have almost nothing
to do with each other

Did I miss something? ...

Yes - the intended antecedent of `they' is acquisition and correction,
not acquisition and interaction. So I'm assuming that interaction
matters and correction doesn't, at least not much.

Avery.Andrews@anu.edu.au