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This book addresses one of the most famous and controversial arguments in the study of language and mind, the Poverty of the Stimulus (POS). Presented by Chomsky in 1968, the argument holds that children do not receive enough evidence to infer the existence of core aspects of language, such as the dependence of linguistic rules on hierarchical phrase structure. The argument strikes against empiricist accounts of language acquisition and supports the conclusion that knowledge of some aspects of grammar must be innate. In the first part of this book, chapters consider the general issues around the POS argument, review the empirical data, and offer new and plausible explanations. This is followed by a discussion of the processes of language acquisition, and observed ‘gaps’ between adult and child grammar, concentrating on the late spontaneous acquisition by children of some key syntactic principles, basically, though not exclusively, between the ages of 5 to 9. Part 3 widens the horizon beyond language acquisition in the narrow sense, examining the natural development of reading and writing and of the child's growing sensitivity for the fine arts.

When two or more languages are part of a child’s world, we are presented with a rich opportunity to learn something about language in general and about how the mind works. This book examines the development of bilingual proficiency and the different kinds of competence that come together in making up its component parts. In particular, it explores problems of language ability when children use two languages for tasks related to schooling, especially in learning how to read and write. It considers both broader research issues and findings from an ongoing investigation of child bilingualism in an indigenous language-speaking community in Mexico. This special sociolinguistic context allows for a unique perspective on some of the central themes of bilingualism research today, including the distinction between competence and proficiency, modularity, and the Poverty of Stimulus problem. The book proposes that competence (knowledge) should be considered as an integral component of proficiency (ability) rather than something separate and apart, arguing that this approach allows for a more inclusive assessment of research findings from diverse fields of study. The bilingual indigenous language project illustrates how the concepts of modularity and the competence-proficiency distinction in particular might be applied to problems of language learning and literacy. Few investigations of indigenous language and culture approach bilingual research problems from a cognitive science perspective. By suggesting connections to broader cognitive and linguistic issues, this book points the way to further research along these lines.