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Constructivism, nativism, and explanatory adequacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 1997

Derek Bickerton
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 derek@hawaii.edu

Abstract

Constructivism is the most recent in a long line of failed attempts to discredit nativism. It seeks support from true (but irrelevant) facts, wastes its energy on straw men, and jumps logical gaps; but its greatest weakness lies in its failure to match nativism's explanation of a wide range of disparate phenomena, particularly in language acquisition.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

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