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Which is of course false. When you're learning a language as an adult you can read and memorize the other language's grammar from a book. This significantly spe

• mikekchar 10y ago
  Sorry, I was speaking sloppily on a technical topic. Language acquisition is the mechanism by which language that you can remember springs unbidden to your mind when you need it. Chomsky argued that the mechanism for language acquisition is the same for adults and children. It doesn't necessarily follow that the activities will be the same. The person that posted was correct (as far as I understand it). Repeated exposure to comprehensible language (input) leads to acquisition (this is what Stephen Krashen argues, and which is the currently most popular theory as far as I know). The mechanism is the same for adults as well as toddlers (this is what Noam Chomsky argued, and which is generally accepted). Memorising grammar is not necessary for language acquisition in children, nor in adults. The question is whether it can speed things up. Even if you agree with Krashen, it probably can because it provides a framework for reasoning about the meaning of something. It becomes an extra tool for creating comprehensible input rather than relying on context alone. Many people believe that using grammar rules to generate output speeds the acquisition process. My understanding of the literature (now about 5 years out of date, unfortunately) indicates that this is not at all popular. In fact, it is said to be counter productive. My experience teaching English as a foreign language also supports the notion that constructing output from grammar rules should be avoided.