Passage A
For decades, the dominant paradigm in theoretical linguistics posited that human language acquisition is driven by Universal Grammar (UG)—an innate, highly specialized cognitive module containing hardwired syntactic rules. Proponents argued that the linguistic input children receive is far too impoverished and fragmented to account for their extraordinarily rapid mastery of complex grammar. However, recent advances in computational linguistics have severely undermined this fundamental 'poverty of the stimulus' argument. Researchers utilizing sophisticated artificial neural networks have successfully demonstrated that computational models can extract highly complex grammatical structures from raw, unannotated text corpora using merely statistical pattern recognition. These models are deliberately built without pre-programmed syntactic categories or linguistic rules; instead, they learn recursively by calculating the transitional probabilities between words over vast datasets. The astonishing success of these deep-learning algorithms suggests that language acquisition does not necessarily require a domain-specific, genetically inherited 'language organ.' Rather, it can be adequately explained by powerful, domain-general cognitive mechanisms of statistical learning and pattern distribution. If purely artificial systems can deduce intricate syntax through environmental exposure alone, it is highly probable that human infants, who are equipped with remarkably formidable pattern-recognition capabilities, acquire their native tongues through essentially similar inductive processes. Consequently, the postulation of a biologically innate UG is increasingly viewed by cognitive scientists as scientifically superfluous.
Passage B
The relentless search for a biological 'language acquisition device'—a localized neurological module dedicated exclusively to grammatical rule-processing—has yielded increasingly frustrating results for nativist linguists. Early neurobiological models rigidly mapped syntactic processing to Broca's area and semantic comprehension to Wernicke's area, supporting the notion of a hardwired language architecture. Yet, contemporary, high-resolution neuroimaging reveals a far more dynamic and distributed neurological reality. Functional MRI studies consistently demonstrate that language processing actively recruits widespread cortical networks that are simultaneously deeply involved in motor control, working memory, and general executive function. Furthermore, modern developmental neurobiology heavily highlights the extraordinary plasticity of the infant brain. Rather than possessing a rigidly pre-configured language center at birth, infants forge linguistic neural circuits through intense, iterative interaction with their communicative environment. This usage-based neurobiological perspective posits that abstract linguistic structure emerges in the brain not from a predetermined genetic blueprint, but directly from the communicative usage events themselves. As a child repeatedly experiences words and phrases in specific social contexts, general cognitive processes—such as categorization, intention-reading, and analogical reasoning—gradually construct the abstract syntactic schemas that characterize mature language. Consequently, the biological evidence aligns closely with emergentist theories, which view language primarily as a complex cultural skill sculpted by environmental input acting upon generalized, domain-independent cognitive flexibility, rather than the inevitable biological unfolding of an innate grammatical instinct.
Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of both passages?
- Evidence from both computational modeling and neurobiology indicates that language acquisition is facilitated by domain-general cognitive processes interacting with environmental input, rather than by a specialized, innate grammatical module.Answer
- BThe traditional nativist assumption that infants require a pre-configured language acquisition device to overcome impoverished linguistic input has been discredited by recent empirical findings.
- CLanguage processing is a highly dynamic activity that recruits widespread, domain-independent cortical networks involved in memory, categorization, and pattern recognition.
- DThe ability of artificial neural networks to extract complex syntax from raw text demonstrates that human neurobiology lacks any localized regions dedicated exclusively to semantic or syntactic comprehension.
- EBecause human infants possess formidable pattern-recognition capabilities and extraordinary neuroplasticity, cognitive structures are entirely shaped by cultural and environmental usage rather than genetic blueprints.