The Theory and Practice of Language Faculty Science - (The Mouton-Ninjal Library of Linguistics [mnll]) (Hardcover)

About the Book

The book demonstrates that the study of the language faculty is possible with scientific methods similar to the ones used in physics. We solely need to be aware that all predictions in language faculty science are categorical (as opposed to quantita

Book Synopsis

The book demonstrates that it is possible to study the language faculty with the core scientific method, i.e., by deducing definite predictions from hypotheses and obtaining and replicating experimental results precisely in accordance with the predictions.

In light of the "reproducibility crisis" as extensively addressed in recent years in a number of fields, the demonstration that rigorous replication can be obtained in the study of the language faculty in terms of correlational and categorical predictions is particularly significant. While the claim has been made over the years that Chomsky's research program is meant to be a scientific study of the language faculty, a conceptual and methodological articulation has never been made as to how we can accumulate our knowledge about the language faculty by the basic scientific method, including, most crucially, how exactly we can put our hypotheses to rigorous empirical and experimental test.

The book proposes how to do that by providing a conceptual basis for the methodology for language faculty science. The book also offers empirical demonstrations of the viability of the proposed methodology. The experiments were conducted with Japanese and English speakers.

Overall, the book explores new directions for the study of the mind.

Review Quotes

"The Language Faculty Science framework is a radical departure from typical experimental psychology. It starts from the foundational generative syntax premise that theories of syntax should make testable predictions about individuals (rather than averages over groups of participants), and explores the consequences of taking this premise seriously both methodologically and logically. This newest volume provides an extended case study, involving work from multiple researchers across several experiments, that shows a high degree of internal replicability. I would recommend this volume both to those interested in LFS and also to those interested in comparing the LFS approach with other approaches to experimental psychology."
Jon Sprouse, NYU Abu Dhabi

"Generative linguistics has indeed become a viable empirical science, rather than a philosophy of mind!"
Naoki Fukui, Sophia University, Tokyo

"In this volume, Hoji and colleagues not only provide new insights into one of the most complex areas of grammar - binding - but also lay out a comprehensive and bold framework for linguistic analysis that guarantees meaningful and lasting results."
Chris Kennedy, University of Chicago

About the Author

Hoji Hajime, USC, Los Angeles, USA; Daniel Plesniak, USC, Los Angeles, USA; Yukinori Takubo, NINJAL, Tokyo, Japan.