In this talk, I will first argue that all neurotypical native language users share a ‘basic language cognition’ in the domain of oral informal language. As individuals learn to read and write, they are, from then on, exposed to extensive written-language input and become literate. This is the Enhanced Literate Mind (ELM) hypothesis: Literacy acquisition leads to, both, increased language knowledge as well as enhanced language and non-language perceptual and cognitive skills. This leads to certain implications for any general theory of language and cognition. First, a general theory must be able to describe the conditions that lead to enhanced linguistic and non-linguistic skills beyond ‘basic language cognition’. Second, a general theory must be capable of explaining why some elements of a language are acquired by all speakers while others are not.