Language in a New Key.

Abstract

The article reports that 21st century cognitive scientists and linguists are presenting evidence that counters the mid-20th century universal grammar theory of Noam Chomsky, which states that people's brains are hardwired to learn grammar. Topics discussed include the flaws in Chomsky's linguistic theories when applied to language learning and the emergence of the alternative to Chomsky's theory called usage-based linguistics which debunks the claim that grammatical structure is innate.