Chomsky states, "a linguistic theory should not be identified with a manual of useful procedures, nor should it be expected to provide mechanical procedures for the discovery of grammars," (Syntactic Structures 55n6). The aim becomes to develop a grammar that is able to generate sentences, just as a speaker of a language is able to produce a virtually infinite number of sentences using the finite number of words and grammatical rules known to him or her.
Chomsky's importance to the development of language theory is illustrated again in an article
published in the 10 December, 1982 issue of Times Higher Education Supplement. His
competence/performance distinction drew linguistics away from concerns with language and
nudged them towards a "methodology of science." Although Chomsky's work is continually
plagued by critics, his contributions to the study and formulation of linguistics will be
recognized for a very long time.