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Language_acquisition (including recent related patents.)
Language acquisitionThe manner in which a child acquires language is a matter long debated by linguists and child psychologists alike. The "father" of most nativist theories of language acquisition is Noam Chomsky, who brought greater attention to the innate capacity of children for learning language, which had widely been considered a purely cultural phenomenon based on imitation. Nativist linguistic theories hold that children learn through their natural ability to organize the laws of language, but cannot fully utilize this talent without the presence of other humans. This does not mean, however, that the child requires formal tutelage of any sort. Chomsky claims that children are born with a hard-wired language acquisition device (LAD) in their brains. They are born with the major principles of language in place, and with some parameters to set (such as whether sentences in the language they are to acquire must have explicit subjects). According to nativist theory, when the young child is exposed to a language her LAD makes it possible for her to set the parameters and deduce the grammatical principles, because the principles are innate. This is still a controversial view, and many linguists and psychologists do not believe language is as innate as Chomsky argues. There are important arguments for Chomsky's view of development, however. These include the idea of universal grammar, the similarities that underlie every human language. Another argument is that without a propensity for language, human infants would be unable to learn such complete speech patterns in a natural human environment where complete sentences are the exception. This is known as the poverty of stimulus argument. Psychologists like Catherine Snow at Harvard, who study parent-child interaction, however, point out that children do not have to deduce the principles of language from impoverished and ungrammatical scraps of talk. Many studies of child directed speech or CDS have shown that speech to young children is slow, clear, grammatical, and very repetitious, rather like traditional language lessons. Social interactionists like Snow theorize that adults play an important part in children's language acquisition. Linguist Eric Lenneberg states that the crucial period of language acquisition ends around the age of 12 years. He claims that if no language is learned before then, it can never be learned in a normal and fully functional sense. This is known as the "Critical Period Hypothesis". An interesting example of this is the case of Genie, otherwise known as "The Wild Child". A thirteen-year-old victim of lifelong child abuse, Genie was discovered in her home on November 4th, 1970, strapped to a potty chair and wearing diapers. She appeared to be entirely without language. Her father had judged her retarded at birth and had chosen to isolate her, and so she had remained up until her discovery. It was an ideal (albeit horrifying) opportunity to test the theory that a nurturing environment could somehow make up for a total lack of language past the age of 12. Sadly, she was unable to acquire language completely. Due to this and other complications, she eventually ended up in an adult foster care home. Detractors of the "Critical Age Hypothesis" point out that in this example and others like it (see Feral children), the child is hardly growing up in a nurturing environment, and that the lack of language accquisition in later life may be due to the results of a generally abusive environment rather than being specifically due to a lack of exposure to language. However, there exists emerging evidence of both innateness of language and the "Critical Age Hypothesis" from the deaf population of Nicaragua. Until approximately 1986, Nicaragua had neither education nor a formalized sign language for the deaf. As Nicaraguans attempted to rectify the situation, they discovered that children past a certain age had difficulty learning any language. Additionally, the adults observed that the younger children were using gestures unknown to them to communicate with each other. They invited Judy Kegl, an American linguist from MIT, to help unravel this mystery. Kegl discovered that these children had developed their own, distinct, Nicaraguan Sign Language with its own rules of "sign-phonology" and syntax. She also discovered some 300 adults who, despite being raised in otherwise healthy environments, had never acquired language, and turned out to be incapable of learning language in any meaningful sense. While it was possible to teach vocabulary, these individuals seem to be unable to learn syntax. For further information, refer to this article from CBS, or follow this link for Google search results. The developmental period of most efficient language learning coincides with the time of rapid post-natal brain growth and plasticity in both humans and chimps. Prolonged post-natal brain growth in humans allows for an extended period of the type of brain plasticity characteristic of juvenile primates and an extended time window for language learning. The neotenic pattern of human brain development is associated with persistence of considerable language learning capacity into human adulthood. Derek Bickerton's (1981) landmark work with Hawaiian pidgin speakers studied immigrant populations where first-generation parents spoke highly-ungrammatical "pidgin English". Their children, it was found, grew up speaking a grammatically rich language -- neither English nor the broken pidgin of their parents. Furthermore, the language exhibited many of the underlying grammatical features of many other natural languages. The language became "creolized". This was taken as powerful evidence for children's innate grammar module. See Bickerton, D. (1981). Roots of language. Ann Arbor, MI: Karoma. See: Wug Test, Jean Berko Gleason, fis phenomenon, babbling, Steven Pinker. By studying the ways that children learn their mother tongue, Paul Pimsleur developed the Pimsleur language learning system. James Asher has put forth a trademarked term for his theories on language acquisition, TPR that could be qualified as corporal verbosity. Often used consciously in young student environments and could be considered as group modeling for older students.This article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License Making It Happen : Interaction in the Second Language Classroom : From Theory to Practice (2nd Edition) by Patricia A. Richard-Amato My First Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo Late-Talking Children by Thomas Sowell Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences, A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development by Ph.D. Julie Masterson Comic Strip Conversations by Carol Gray Thought and Language - Rev'd Edition by Lev S. Vygotsky Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Third Edition by Marianne Celce-Murcia Working with Second Language Learners: Answers to Teachers' Top Ten Questions by Stephen Cary 101 Word Games for Students of English As a Second or Foreign Language by George P. McCallum A Picture's Worth: PECS and Other Visual Communication Strategies in Autism (Topics in Autism) by Andy Bondy BabyTalk : Strengthen Your Child's Ability to Listen, Understand, and Communicate by Dr. Sally Ward Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom by Pauline Gibbons Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Fourth Edition by H. Douglas Brown Constructing a Language : A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition by Michael Tomasello Logic of Action: Young Children at Work by Frances Pockman Hawkins Recent Language_acquisition related patents From USPTO: 6704699: Language acquisition aide 6693630: Method of determining the stability of two dimensional polygonal scenes 6681206: Method for generating morphemes 6601049: Self-adjusting multi-layer neural network architectures and methods therefor 6596302: Infant formulas containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and uses thereof 6516005: Apparatus and method for data decoding 6503207: Multi-mode audiometric device and associated screening method 6495599: Infant formulas containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and uses therof 6493637: Coincidence detection method, products and apparatus 6490571: Method and apparatus for neural networking using semantic attractor architecture 6405161: Method and apparatus for learning the morphology of a natural language 6368289: Acoustic coupling device 6368288: Acoustic coupling device 6341958: Method and system for acquiring a foreign language 6247002: Method and apparatus for extracting features characterizing objects, and use thereof 6009418: Method and apparatus for neural networking using semantic attractor architecture 5916174: Audiometric apparatus and associated screening method 5870706: Method and apparatus for an improved language recognition system 5860063: Automated meaningful phrase clustering 5839103: Speaker verification system using decision fusion logic 5794193: Automated phrase generation 5748841: Supervised contextual language acquisition system 5738523: Written composition teaching methods and aids therefor 5735693: Method and device for learning a foreign language 5675707: Automated call router system and method 5625748: Topic discriminator using posterior probability or confidence scores 5601091: Audiometric apparatus and association screening method 5433610: Educational device for children 5357428: Methods and apparatus for mapping electrophysiological potentials in living subjects 5247436: System for interpolating surface potential values for use in calculating current density 5212821: Machine-based learning system 4640267: Method and apparatus for nondetrimental reduction of infant crying behavior 4615680: Apparatus and method for practicing pronunciation of words by comparing the user's pronunciation with the stored pronunciation 4139730: Method of testing human auditory responses 4080662: Instantaneous decimal credibility check for data acquisition terminals 3963907: Device for instantaneous decimal credibility check for data processing |