Asymmetry in Children’s Linguistic Production and Comprehension: A Review and Criticism of Bidirectional Optimality Theory

It is quite evident that children are capable to understand meanings which they are unable to produce correctly. Recent studies have also provided evidence that children occasionally produce correct forms that they do not understand yet. The present study seeks to focus on the question of “how is it possible for children to produce correct forms that are not yet understood by them?” This question has recently came into the sharp focus of linguistics and psycholinguistics studies, and various explanations have been proposed thereof. Using a descriptive-analytic method, this paper aims to identify these studies and the explanations in which the asymmetry between linguistic production and linguistic comprehension have been dealt with. Among later explanations, the Bidirectional Optimality Theory (BOT) shows some potentiality in dealing with the asymmetry between these two dimensions and it seems more valid than other explanations accordingly. Nevertheless, the main hypothesis of the present research states that this almost strong theory also faces major challenges which question its validity. To support the claim, the paper indicates the following challenges: a) absence of a single concept about bidirectional optimality; b) confusion as to blocking process; c) disagreement over the way of ranking, type and number of constraints on a specific subject; and d) lack of transparency in adopting an appropriate comprehension model (e.g., top-down or bottom-up). As a result, BOT, like other approaches in the field, is not able to explain this asymmetry adequately in terms of theory and methodology.