Nativism does not equal Universal Grammar

Abstract

This article is about nativist theories of language learning and how they apply to SLA. I am seeking a nativism that goes beyond the scope of Universal Grammar (UG), that explains the human cognitive capacity for language learning (language knowledge, learning, and processing), the learning of all language structures found in natural languages (both core and peripheral), and SLA (learnability, development, transfer, and differential success). Such a theory does not yet exist, but current nativist theories (linguistic, developmental, general and connectionist) suggest ways in which such a theory might be developed.