Language Processing and Language Acquisition

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Studies of language acquisition have often overlooked processing principles and mechanisms, leading to a neglect of how informative linguistic input contributes to grammatical parameter setting. In linguistic approaches, the significance of language processing has been minimal. Discussions of language performance typically arise only when addressing experimental artifacts. Consequently, language processing is often seen as a set of uninteresting performance factors that distract from the main focus on grammar acquisition. When parsing "strategies" are included in discussions of language development, they are frequently treated as vague preferences rather than subjects for rigorous analysis. However, theories of language comprehension should be held to the same standards of explicitness and explanatory power as grammar theories. The marginalization of processing in language development may stem from incidental factors rather than any intrinsic irrelevance to language acquisition. An explicit model detailing how processing routines are utilized during acquisition could potentially address key issues in grammar acquisition, as these routines govern how grammatical knowledge is applied to new linguistic inputs.