1. I NNATIST HYPOTHESIS, (UG) Second language acquisition

2. Human beings are born with innate knowledge of Universal Grammar (UG). UG allows all children to acquires the language of their environment during the critical period of their development.

3. Cook (2003) argued that many L2 learners fail to achieve full master of L2 because of a problem. Learners know more about language than they could reasonably have learned if they have to depend entirely on the input they are exposed to. In other words, they learn from other sources as well not only the input and the environment.

4. Chomsky did not make any claim about the influence of his theory on the second language acquisition process Some linguists such as Schachter suggested that the UG is not a good explanation for L2 acquisition since learners passed the Critical Period Hypothesis. Others such as White believed that the best way to understand L2 is through the UG.

5. Those who suggested that the UG is the best way to explain L2 acquisition are divided into two groups UG is equally available to L2 learners as it was for L1 learners. (instruction and feedback) UG nature has been altered because of the influence of L1. (explicit information and instruction)

6. Both are interested in the language competence of advance learners. They are interested if the competence underlying the performance in L2 is similar to the competence that underlies the performance in L1. As a result, there are many study of grammaticality judgment and other methods that might help explain what the learners actually know about the language.