NOAM CHOMSKY

FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE NOAM CHOMSKY

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• was trained in STRUCTURALIST theory, but
then, he criticized it.
• developed MENTALIST notion of language.
Chomsky’s notions against the behavioural view of language:
 Even though Structuralism is useful for collecting language and describing language constituents, it is not robust enough to account for syntax.
 Behaviourism focuses on actual speech or PERFORMANCE. But, for Chomsky, performance is only the tip of the iceberg of linguistic
COMPETENCE.
Extra information: The Behavioural Theory establishes that language, as a BEHAVIOUR, is a set of habits acquired by operant conditioning and
reinforcement. It is ascribed to Skinner, among others. (It made contributions on TESL such as the AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD). CHOMSKY
OPPOSED TO THIS THEORY.
In his own words,…
 COMPARISON: STRUCTURALIST AND MENTALIST CONCEPTS
SYSTEM OF Underlying mental processes Internal set of linguistic rules

COMPETENCE

I-LANGUAGE
LA LANGUE
FORMS. Hoard that we carry out in our that children develop over
deposited by the production of language. their early years. RULE-
practice of speech Mentalists generate syntax to GOVERNED NOTION OF
in the same explain those mental LANGUAGE
community and processes.
gramatical
system. A
collective social
Actual use of Actual use of language by External language. It is

PERFORMANC

E-LANGUAGE
E
LA PAROLE

product
LANGUAGE BY indvidual speakers. incomplete, messy,
INDIVIDUAL especially in informal
SPEAKERS who conversation.
belong to the same
community.

– For mentalists, Competence (La Langue) is more important to focus on rather than Performance (La Parole) as
structuralists do.
– For Mentalists, Competence (later called I- Language) consists of well-formed sentences according to syntactic rules
of language while Performance (later called E- Language) is incomplete and messy. It is not robust enough to account
for syntax.
 A “FORMAL” THEORY OF LANGUAGE
(Middle 20th C.)
• His theory of language is focused on mental structures rather than
actual performance. Thus, his theory was called “FORMAL.“.

• Mentalists define language as a mental

repository of rules that organize
linguistic elements that humans have
since we are born.
 SYNTACTIC RULES MAKE TRANSPARENT THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE
HAVE IN OUR MENTAL REPOSITORY. LET CHOMSKY GIVE US AN
EXAMPLE.
In the second 0:48, why does Chomsky compare syntax in
language with canvas in works of art?
A. Because art and language are not human inventions.
B. Because both represent frameworks or conventions in which
humans construct either art or language.
C. Because syntax and canvas are not important since art and
language are not created on the bases of mental structures.
D. Because art and language are produced by training.

TRANSCRIPT: (0:48) After all, painting a piece of canvas that

has a boundary, (…) that itself imposes a framework that
determines the kind of art that you can produce. (…)
Everything, from the structure of a novel to the metric character
of a poem form, is one and another human invention. (…) 
(2:01)The formal structure itself imposes a challenge to
intelligence. Painting randomly is not a work of art, but when it
is done within the framework of a humanly constructed system
of rules, still you have the prerequisites for a work of art. 
 ACCORDING TO MENTALISTS,WHY CAN HUMAN BEINGS SPEAK? READ THE TRANSCRIPT AND COMPLETE
IT WITH THE KEY WORDS IN THE BOX. THEN, WATCH THE VIDEO AND CHECK YOUR ANWERS
Train - internal structure -
Rooted in our nature - uniformly -

• The human mind is a very marvellous thing. It’s got an

extremely intricate and complex structure (…) little hints
here and there succeeded in evoking in us very rich
experience and interpretation. And, what’s more, it’s done
surprisingly ____________ for different people. (…) And
we don’t have to ___________ people to do this. So,
somehow, the only logical possibility, aside from angels or
acts of God, is something ___________________.
Qualitatively speaking, these phenomena are very much
like physical growth. (… )The nutrition that is given to an
embryo is not what determines that it is going to be a
human or a bird. What determines that it’s going to be a
human or a bird is something about its
___________________. And what determines that we are
going to be the kind of creature that can speak, that can
interpret a sign or a line or something evoking emotional
experience or whatever, that’s something in our nature.
 ADDITIONAL NOTES: CHOMSKY & COMPUTER TECNOLOGY

• Chomskyan mentalist theory

developed at the same time as
computer technology.
• It added a new dimension to the
study of syntax.

• A desire to make machines able to

replicate the ability of humans to
produce language.
• Nowadays, Computational
Linguistics is trying to make it
possible. For more information look
up: Natural Language Processing