Universal Grammar

Alejandra D. Dapic Rangel

Frida J. Piña Segura
Cesar Razo Franco
Ian J. Resendiz Salinas
Valeria Sanchez Flores
Universal Grammar (UG)
Noam Chomsky: Language
acquisition cannot be
reduced to the operation of
response and stimulus every
sentence we utter contains a
new set of words or a
mixture of new words !

Language is regulated by many rules and principles

What is Universal Grammar?

Chomsky,1976 Freeman, 2014 Cook,1996

The system of principles Children are born with All human beings share
conditions and rules that knowledge that are part of their knowledge of
are elements or common to all human language; UG is their
properties of all human languages. common possession
languages! regardless of which
The essence of human language they speak
language.
UG consists of a set of principles and a set
of parameters!

The principles are The parameters vary

universal
E.g. they apply to all human Grammar switches with a small
languages number of options
 01 PRINCIPLES
STRUCTURE DEPENDENCE

Grammatical rules do not depend on the linear ordering of the words in the sentences but on
how these words are structured within constituents of specific types.

E.g. Subject-auxiliary inversion in English

A. John is a student
B. John who is a student is smart

A. Is John a student ? B. Is John who a student is smart?

B. Is John who is a student smart?

 PARAMETERS
02
XP: X(HEAD), COMPLEMENT

Parameter
Head-initial (English)
Head-final (Japanese)
Read the book Hoon-o yonda (book read)
VP VP

VH NP©
NP©
Natural approach

Tracy Terrell & S. Krashen

 Objective

Learning is approached using the

target language in
communicative situations,
without resorting to the first
language or a grammatical
analysis.
Main actions

Comprehensible Relationship with

Communicative
input the language
Learners are exposed to
The teacher has a particular The teacher must create a
sequences of actions, and
responsibility to classroom atmosphere that is
the spoken form is taught
communicate clearly interesting, friendly, and in
before the written form.
and compellingly to students which there is
the assumptions, a low affective filter for
organization, and learning.
expectations of the method,
Comprehensible input
and challenge

To focus on comprehension and

meaningful communication as well
as the provision of the right kinds of
comprehensible input provides the
necessary and sufficient conditions
for successful classroom second
and foreign language acquisition.
Activities
At beginner level
lots of TPR activities are called for,
where learners simply respond to
instructions by performing physical
actions, such as pointing at things,
handing each other objects,
standing, walking, sitting down,
writing and drawing.
At higher levels
the focus is still on providing
comprehensible input, in the form
of listening or reading tasks, where
learners order pictures, fill in grids,
follow maps, and so on.
Materials (visual aids)
Advertisements

Pictures

Brochures

Schedules

Learning must be contextualized

and promote communication
 Total Physical Reponse (TPR)

TPR stands for Total

Physical Response and was
created by Dr. James J
Asher. It is based upon
the way that children learn
their mother tongue.
 How does this method work?
Eventually when it has
Parents have 'language-body decoded enough, the child
conversations' with their reproduces the language
children, the parent instructs, quite spontaneously.
and the child physically
responds to this

The parent says, "Look

at mummy" or "Give me
the ball" and the child
does so.
How can I use it in class?

In the classroom the teacher plays

the role of parent. She or he starts
by saying a word ('jump') or a
phrase ('look at the board') and
demonstrating an action. The
teacher then says the command
and the students all do the action.
It is more effective if the students
are standing in a circle around the
teacher and you can even
encourage them to walk around
as they do the action.
When should I use it?

TPR can be used to teach and practice many things.

1.- Vocabulary connected with actions (smile, chop, headache, wriggle)

2.- Tenses past/present/future and continuous aspects (Every morning I
clean my teeth, I make my bed, I eat breakfast)
3.-Classroom language (Open your books)
4.- Imperatives/Instructions (Stand up, close your eyes)
5.- Storytelling

It can be adapted for all kinds of teaching situations; you just need to use
your imagination!
Why should I use it in the classroom?

It is a lot of fun; students enjoy it, and it can be a real stirrer in the class.
It lifts the pace and the mood.
It is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or
words.
It is good for kinaesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.
It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how
many students you have as long as you are prepared to take the lead,
the students will follow.
Are there any disadvantages with using TPR?

Students who are not used to such things might find it embarrassing.
This can be the case initially, but I have found that if the teacher is
prepared to perform the actions, the students feel happier about
copying.
Also, the students are in groups and don't have to perform for the
whole class. This pleasure is reserved for the teacher.

Brithis Council (n.d) Total physical response – TPR. TeachingEnglish. Retrieved from:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/total-physical-response-tpr
 Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia was originally

developed in the 1970s by the
Bulgarian educator Georgi Lozanov
The approach was based on the power of
suggestion in learning, the notion being that
positive suggestion would make the learner
more receptive and, in turn, stimulate learning.
Lozanov holds that a relaxed but focused
state is the optimum state for learning. In
order to create this relaxed state in the
learner and to promote positive
suggestion, suggestopedia makes use of
music, a comfortable and relaxing
environment, and a relationship between
the teacher and the student that is akin
to the parent-child relationship
The original form of
suggestopedia
presented by Lozanov
consisted of the use
of extended
dialogues, often
several pages in
length, accompanied
by vocabulary lists and Typically these dialogues would be
observations on read aloud to the students to the
grammatical points. accompaniment of music.

The most formal of these readings,

known as the "concert reading",
would typically employ a
memorable piece of classical music
such as a Beethoven symphony.
The use of music both in the
background and as an
accompaniment to certain
activities can be motivating and
relaxing.. Most important of all the
ideas, creating conditions in
which learners are alert and
receptive can only have a
positive effect on
motivation.