During the 1980's, Noam Chomsky introduced a theory of Universal Grammar (UG), which stated that the knowledge of grammar was dependent on two components: principles, properties shared by all languages, and the parameters, the way in which these properties vary.
Controversies abound with the UG model, but it does explain how all natural languages are similar in some respects and how humans are able to learn their first language as well as other languages. UG simplifies the ideas about learning a second language by claiming that "learning the grammar of a [second language] is not so much learning completely new structures, rules, etc as discovering how to set the parameters for the new language." Although UG "has left untouched a number of areas …show more content…
Acquisition may occur quickly and after little exposure with this approach; however, some students are too easily confused if the rules are not presented directly before practice is required. Those students benefit more from the Deductive approach, in which the teacher presents the grammatical patterns and then the student is given ample time to become familiar with them. Whereas the Inductive approach works best with regular patterns, the Deductive approach works best with irregular patterns, "for these by their very nature cannot be discovered through analogy." The Deductive approach does save time for the teacher and the class; nevertheless, a major drawback is the tedious and technical presentation of grammar that may bore or frustrate the student if he doesn't understand the …show more content…
Direct translations were not given for verb conjugations, so that students must figure out for themselves that "ich spiele" in German can mean "I play," "I do play" or "I am playing" in English, unless the teacher explains this rule. Moreover, many of the paragraphs and passages in each chapter were completely in the target language with little to no translations into English. Although the directions to the exercises were always in English, for the most part, all other text was in the target language beyond the students’ comprehension
Controversies abound with the UG model, but it does explain how all natural languages are similar in some respects and how humans are able to learn their first language as well as other languages. UG simplifies the ideas about learning a second language by claiming that "learning the grammar of a [second language] is not so much learning completely new structures, rules, etc as discovering how to set the parameters for the new language." Although UG "has left untouched a number of areas …show more content…
Acquisition may occur quickly and after little exposure with this approach; however, some students are too easily confused if the rules are not presented directly before practice is required. Those students benefit more from the Deductive approach, in which the teacher presents the grammatical patterns and then the student is given ample time to become familiar with them. Whereas the Inductive approach works best with regular patterns, the Deductive approach works best with irregular patterns, "for these by their very nature cannot be discovered through analogy." The Deductive approach does save time for the teacher and the class; nevertheless, a major drawback is the tedious and technical presentation of grammar that may bore or frustrate the student if he doesn't understand the …show more content…
Direct translations were not given for verb conjugations, so that students must figure out for themselves that "ich spiele" in German can mean "I play," "I do play" or "I am playing" in English, unless the teacher explains this rule. Moreover, many of the paragraphs and passages in each chapter were completely in the target language with little to no translations into English. Although the directions to the exercises were always in English, for the most part, all other text was in the target language beyond the students’ comprehension