Development of Human Language, Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics: Exmaining Studies on Feral and Isolated Children

Most people take it for granted that children will develop cognition, language and communication skills when they reach a certain stage in their life. In fact, various studies have been conducted regarding these aspects of human development. A common topic for debate is the issue of nature versus nurture, wherein some groups support the idea that language and cognitive development is as natural as breathing while other groups contend that external factors influence these characteristics of human progress. Researchers are given the opportunity to dig deeper into this issue through cases involving feral, isolated and confined children.

A normal child develops in a variety of domains that are closely linked with each other. They influence and enhance each other so that the child’s growth and progress are balanced (Blank & Berg 5). Unfortunately, the circumstances faced by feral, isolated and confined children do not give them the same opportunities as normal children to have such a balanced development. Feral, isolated and confined children are those who have spent a substantial amount of their formative years away from normal human contact. Feral, wild, or wolf children are children who grew up in the protection of animals. Isolated children are those who grew up on their own in the wilderness, while confined children are those who were brought up without contact with any other people and under very deplorable situations. Whereas the circumstances of feral and isolated children are mostly unintentional, the cases of confined children are usually prompted by neglect or abuse by other people. The observations made on these children have helped in demonstrating the effects of lack of social interaction on normal growth and developmen...

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... as highly unfortunate and even traumatic by a regular observer. From the scientists’ point of view, however, they prove that language development and its related disciplines are not just biological in nature. These are also affected by the environment where children grow up and whichever species they interact with, may these be humans or animals. The lack of proper environment that is conducive to learning and right stimulus had prevented these children from what most people consider as normal language and communication development. The results of studies and observations on these children are not totally consistent, which is why researches have to continue to search for greater knowledge on these aspects. It is only through greater understanding that children like them can be given better assistance in catching up with the lost years in their development.