Production Strategies and the Extent of Language Competence

The language competence idealized by Chomsky does not fully account for the language production processes. According to the Chomskyan idealization, language production seems to be achieved by mechanical application of the grammar the learner of a language acquired or formulated by himself from the lingusitic data given to him. In reality, however, language production does not always seem to be completed through an automatic process of linguistic data. Language production involves the problem, solving strategies in which a given idea to be expressed becomes a problem to solve and the problem. solving process becomes the language production process itself. The problem, solving in turn involves an active use of cognitive ability and throws doubt upon the limit and extent of language competence. This paper claims that language competence plays only a partial role in language production while cognitive ability seems to play most of the role in it