Read the following two texts, and write a short reaction to them.

• Noam Chomsky (1980) Rules and Representations, p. 30-33
• Geoffrey Pullum and Barbara Scholz (2002) Empirical Assesment of stimulus poverty arguments, in The Linguistic Review 19:9-50

Try to cut through their rhetorics and answer in as clear a way as you can. Constantly ask yourself where the real issue is, what people are disagreeing about (if anything), and what are the facts supporting the claims (if any).

Calmly letting the noise pass by you, and cutting to the heart of the matter is a precious skill, and this homework is intended as an exercise towards that skill.

The texts can be difficult at times, and sometimes even technical. Most times, the technicalities and complexities are irrelevant and you can safely skip them. Other times not. You'll have to decide by yourself when to ask for help from acq-questions and when not. Knowing how to get the general point although you don't know all the details is also an important skill (in every domain of inquiry, not only language acquisition) - and this is also part of this homework.

That issue of The Linguistic Review contains of number of "responses" to Pullum & Scholz. Feel free to consult them and take them into account in your answer - or feel free to write a reaction to one of those answers if you wish to. You do have to read the Pullum & Scholz paper though, and you cannot simply take over one of the published answers and appropriate it.

Finally, your answer should be maximally 2 pages monospaced. Ideally, only one page.