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Geoffrey Sampson

The ‘Language Instinct’ Debate

by Geoffrey Sampson

Over the last forty-odd years, it has become fashionable to believethat human beings are born with detailed knowledge“hard wired” in their genes.

In particular, childrenare said to be quick at language-learning because they inherit a speciallanguage instinct which gives them most of whatthey need to know before they start. This idea was first arguedby Noam Chomsky in the 1960s and 1970s; it has beenpopularized by Steven Pinker’s best-sellerThe Language Instinct.

The ‘Language Instinct’ Debate is acritique of this idea. It is an enlarged and revisededition of a book first published in Britainunder the titleEducating Eve. The new version,The ‘Language Instinct’ Debate, was published in March 2005; sales tookoff rapidly, so that it was already reprinted before theend of that year.

My book assesses the many arguments used to justify the language-instinct claim, and it shows that every one of those arguments is wrong. Either the logic is fallacious, or the factualdata are incorrect (or, sometimes, both). The evidencepoints the other way. Children are good at learning languages, becausepeople are good at learninganything that life throwsat us — not because we have fixed structures of knowledge built-in.

A new chapter in this edition analyses a database of English asactually used by a cross-section of the population in everyday conversation.The patterns of real-life usage contradict the claims madeby believers in a “language instinct”.

The new edition includes many further changes and additions, responding to critics and takingaccount of recent research. It has a preface by Paul M. Postalof New York University.

The ‘Language Instinct’ Debate ends by posing the question “How could such poor argumentshave passed muster for so long?”

Some critical comment:

the definitive response to Pinker’s book and Chomskyannativism in general — a wonderful book ... should be required reading in a varied range of courses

— Donald Carroll, on theLanguse list (TempleUniversity)

Well-argued. Sampson makes Chomsky’s (and Pinker’s)arguments for linguistic nativism seem pretty sophomoric.

— Mark Tursi (New Jersey City University), onGoodreads

makes a powerful case that linguistic nativism … risks looking to scientists in a hundredyears like the search for phlogiston does to us now.  … claims that linguistic nativism is less a theory than a cultstart looking plausible.

— John McWhorter, inLanguage

I liked this book for the simple matter of fact that somebody isfinally addressing the shortcomings of the innate language theory.

— Begüm Saçak, onGoodreads

a detailed, well-argued criticism of the nativist approach

— Shuly Wintner, Alon Lavie, and Brian MacWhinney, inSpringerLecture Notes in Computer Science

a devastating critique of Steven Pinker’sLanguage Instinct …It’s written in a style that’s just as accessible asThe Language Instinct– so if you’vereadThe Language Instinct, this is for you!

— “Cath”, onGoodreads

an impressive tour de force ... it does read very fluentlyand entertainingly ... many, if not all, of Sampson’s criticisms... are persuasive

— James Hurford, inJournal of Linguistics

Sampson demolishes most of the arguments nativists likeChomsky, Jackendoff, Bickerton and Pinker use …

— “Guillermo”, onGoodreads

comprehensive, exhaustive, the product of ample research ...a most interesting and instructive book which I recommend to all linguists

— Ernst Pulgram, inLanguage

In his wonderful book … Geoffrey Sampson usestextual evidence from corpora very effectively to counter[Chomsky’s] argument for innateness.

— David Hoover, inDigital Humanities Quarterly

[a] devastating rebuttal of the linguistic theoriesof “nativism” in Stephen Pinker

— Deirdre McCloskey, inEuropean Review of Economic History

I read Pinker’s book but it left me uncomfortable… Sampson’s book was a refreshing “Occam’sRazor” and I finished it feeling much more convinced of hisside of the argument. It simply doesn’t rely as much onassumption and scientific legerdemain.

— T. Smith (San Francisco), in Amazon customer reviews

… remarkable for its lucidity and readability in a field not notable for these virtues …Sampson may not bring down the temple of a false god but he has mostcertainly shaken the pillars. Anyone interested in language and culturewill find the book captivating.

— Leonard Ashley, inGeolinguistics

… I feel … inspired by [Sampson’s]conclusion that our minds (as distinct from the matter of ourbrains) are endlessly innovative …

— “Nicole”, onGoodreads

223 pp.

The ‘Language Instinct’ Debate is published by Continuum, now an imprint ofBloomsbury Publishingof London, New Delhi, New York,and Sydney. New or used copies available via relevantBritishorAmericanAmazon pages.

ISBN 0 8264 7384 9 (hardback), ISBN 0 8264 7385 7 (paper);also available as PDF e-book.

Geoffrey Sampson

last changed 30 Aug 2022