Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Philosophical Theory of Language Acquisition and Use

Abstract

A proper understanding of language acquisition requires a methodology and model of message-communicating behavior that is dynamic and context oriented. By contrast, Noam Chomsky offers a transformational model of language acquisition which is reductionistic and overly mechanical. From a philosophical vantage point Ludwig Wittgenstein represents a view of linguistic phenomena which shows Chomsky's accounting of language acquisition to be mechanically impoverished and finally unsatisfactory. For Wittgenstein affirms that any analysis of linguistic form and meaning must be set in the context of language use and must take into account the verbal as well as the nonverbal aspects of the communicative process. A dynamic view such as Wittgenstein proposes goes beyond the limitations of Chomsky's scheme to provide a model and an approach to the phenomena of language acquisition and use that is holistic and persuasive.