and the Monitor Model. We bring the internal focus up to date with discussion of
Universal Grammar (UG), and what constitutes the language faculty of the mind.
Finally, to complete the chapter, we switch to approaches which involve an external
focus on the functions of language that emerge in the course of second language
acquisition: Systemic Linguistics, Functional Typology, Function-to-Form Mapping, and Information Organization.
The Nature of Language Learning What is it that we learn when we learn a language? If we look up a definition of
“language” in a dictionary, we will probably see reference to its verbal features (oral and
written), to its function in communication, and to its uniquely human character. Most
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linguists would agree that all naturally occurring languages also share the following
characteristics: