In second language teaching and learning, acquisition of knowledge is a multidimensional concept. Several concepts have been advocated by different theorists. All the theories are grounded in peculiar philosophical underpinnings that seem to have sound bases. This current paper critically examines the theories of representation and acquisition of linguistic knowledge from the standpoints of the rationalists and the empiricists. The method used in this paper is qualitative content analysis. With this analysis, the paper is segmented into five themes. These are the introduction, the method, review of literature, pedagogical perspective, and the conclusion. The literature review critically examines the viewpoints of the rationalists and the empiricists on the ultimate source of knowledge, mechanisms of acquisition, and characteristics of the initial state. These parts constitute the pivotal thematic areas of the main argument of the two schools of thoughts.
Cite this paper
Owusu, E. , Dansieh, S. A. and Adoma, S. K. (2021). Representation and Acquisition of Linguistic Knowledge: Perspectives of the Rationalist and the Empiricist. Open Access Library Journal, 8, e7265. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107265.
Elo, S. and Kyngäs, H. (2008) The Qualitative Content Analysis Process. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62, 107-115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x
Hsieh, H.-F. and Shannon, S. (2005) Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 1277-1288.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
Chomsky, N. (1999) On the Nature, Use, and Acquisition of Language. In: Ritchie, W.C. and Bhatia, T.K., Eds., Handbook of Child Language Acquisition, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 33-54.
Bates, E.A. and MacWhinney, B. (1989) Functionalism and the Competition Model. In: MacWhinney, B. and Bates, E.A., Eds., The Cross-Linguistic Study of Sentence Processing, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, New York, 3-73.