Speaking From Within: A Discussion on Our Innate Ability to Learn Languages
For years since I moved to the United States after the age of nine, I've always been frustrated at the lack of improvement in my ability to speak English without a trace of foreign accent and my ability to write without any grammatical errors. It always seemed to me that learning languages is unlike learning anything else, I can logically understand the pronunciation of the a word or the rules of grammar, but for reasons unknown, I always found it hard to incorporate logical knowledge of language into the actual speaking and writing of English. I started to surf the web in attempt to find the reasons to why, even after spending more than half of my life in the U.S, I still cannot speak and write as well as people who were born or came here at a much younger age.
At first I though the answer would be something to the extend of finding a region of the brain that is specialized for the learning of languages and that region is more developed in people other than I, who are good at linguistics. However, it turned out that the answer entails more than specialized regions in the brain, while there are regions in the brain that are specific for processing languages, what I found more interesting is that there is much evidence that supports the selectivist theory, found by Noam Chomsky that the ability to learn language is innate. Here innate means that ¡°the language template is pre-organized in the neuronal structure of the brain, so that the fact of being an integral part of a given environment selects the borders of each individual neuronal structure without affecting its fine organization, which pre-exists.¡± (1) In this paper, I wish to point out evidence that supports this theory of the innateness of language, and to exam how the language template develops. In conclusion, I wish to gain a better understand of my own language learning process in light of these new findings.
One evidence that points to the innateness of language is the accuracy and speed at which humans process language and the accelerating rate at which children acquire language. ¡°¡ the average speaker produces approximately 150 words per minute, each word chosen from somewhere between 20000 and 40000 alternatives, at error rates below .1%. The average child is already well on her way toward that remarkable level of performance by 5 years of age, with a vocabulary of more than 6000 words and productive control over almost every aspect of sound and grammar in her language.
The method primarily used throughout research was the Implicit Association Test (IAT). This test is a measure used in the study of social psychology that is used to predict a person’s first association between different mental representations in one’s memory. In these particular studies the IAT is used to detect one’s behaviors, judgements, and decisions suggestive of ethnic and racial discrimination (Oswald, Mitchell, Blanton, Jaccard, & Tetlock, 2007). This test is usually done through technology. In the race IAT, participants would sit in front of the computer and be shown a variety of black faces and white faces. They were also told that one button on the keyboard is associated with the word “old” (negative),
Ogloff, J. R. (2006). Psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder conundrum. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, (40), 519-528.
“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior exhibited by individuals with psychopathy is that it is mostly instrumental in nature. They are extremely goal-oriented with interests in acquiring wealth, sexual opportunities and increased status.
Children encompass the ability to learn whichever language system they are introduced to, therefore a newborn would learn the fictional Klingon language (Hoff, 2006). Klingon is not a natural language such as English or Spanish, and does not adhere to all the rules of a natural language. Due to this issue, the child would encounter problems in saying everyday terms in Klingon. Also, since Klingon is a fictional language and not spoken in society the child would not be able to communicate with others, which may cause the child to reject this fictional language. This rejection may be related to the lack of acceptance of this fictional language in society. This could constrain the child’s ability to learn a new language in which he/she can actively communicate with the people around him/her therefore, I would not advise a mother to teach her child Klingon, even though the child has the ability to learn the fictional language.
Psychopathy has fascinated the public for years due to the gruesome and evil portrayal it has received in the media. Psychopathy is defined in the DSM-III as a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior (Patrick, Christopher, Fowles, Krueger, Rober, 2009). Psychopathy represents a cluster of different dimensions of personality found amongst the general population to varying degrees (Patrick et al, 2009). The diagnostic definition is meant to be applied to adults, however psychopathology can occur in children. Controversy surrounds the topic of childhood mental illness because the brain is not fully developed until the age of 18; thus allowing the possibility that symptoms are the result of growing up and will change. The triarchic model, formulated by Christopher J. Patrick, is the most commonly used model in diagnosing adult and childhood psychopathy. This model suggests that different conceptions of psychopathy emphasize three observable characteristics to varying degrees; boldness, disinhibition and meanness (Patrick, et al, 2009). Boldness is the first observable characteristic and is comprised of low fear including stress-tolerance, toleration of unfamiliarity and danger, and high self-confidence and social assertiveness. Disinhibition; characterized by poor impulse control including problems with planning and foresight, lacking affect and urge control, demand for immediate gratification, and poor behavioral restraints. Meanness is defined as lacking empathy and close attachments with others, disdain of close attachments, use of cruelty to gain empowerment, exploitative tendencies, defiance of authority, and destructive excitement seek...
Language acquisition during early childhood could be determined by a biological explanation. This may show how the brain is wired so children can acquire language ev...
“Just as emotions provide valuable information to the self, emotional expressions provide information to observers, which may influence their cognitions, attitudes, and behavior” (Van Kleef, Heerdink, and Van Den Berg, p. 2, 2014). A positive feature of attitudes is that they are subject to change over time. According to Van Kleef, Heerdink, and Van Den Berg (p. 2), “We define attitudes as temporary evaluations that are constructed based on a combination of stored representations of an attitude object and information that is currently at hand. This working definition explicitly allows for changes in attitudes over time while acknowledging that certain attitudes have a relatively stable basis in a person’s memory system” (2014). This conceptual definition of attitudes and attitude change is that though attitudes can change based on new information or a different emotional reaction, they can also stay the same or relatively similar to their primary state. Overall, the information that individuals perceive through emotions can influence their attitudes, which can then alter their attitudes towards certain
According to Chomsky the children have a sort of natural and innate predisposition for acquiring the language and they own this ability from when they are born. This peculiarity distinguishes us and them from the other animals. Children do not copy the language they hear, but they learn a repertoire of infinite sentences.
The consensus belief is that the capacity for language is innate, while others believe its environmental variables play a deciding role. In the end, it boils down to the nature versus nurture debate. Does the environment we are exposed to or our genetics’ play a larger role?
Over the past fifty years ago, followed the prevailing theory see Plato, saying that language is an innate ability ...
An implicit bias refers to the attitudes and stereotypes that affect our behavior in an unconscious manner. Though we are not consciously aware of our implicit biases, these can impact our actions and be revealed in our interpersonal interactions. Because these biases do not show up on a screen or a survey, psychologists created an Implicit Association Test which studies the association between race and judgements. Work by psychologists on this test revealed that individuals associate positive attributes and stereotypes with whites than with people of color. Psychologists also revealed that many minorities often hold implicit biases against their own, despite explicit beliefs in racial equality. This can be seen as internalized racism, when members of a racial group accept negative stereotypes and attitudes towards their own group. These people would be more willing and acceptable of the racial inequalities that persist today and less willing to take up measures to correct them. Another interesting approach to solving the paradox has been to focus not on the things that perpetuate racism but rather on those who experience it. As a result of implicit bias, those who experience racism may accept racist ideologies and in turn engage in interactions that extend their subordination. A study by psychologist Philomena Essed examined how racism affects the interactions of black women in
The evidence thus far seems to support, or at least favorably decorate, the theory of Linguistic nativism. Despite the limited linguistic data set that children are exposed to, or poverty of stimulus, children under normal conditions are still able to come to know language competently and fluently. And based on the similar semantic rules of other languages and the ability of improbably, unlikely sentences to still be grammatical, the Universal Grammar hypothesis also finds support. But, however we do come to be language-speaking beings, language remains an enriching and all-encompassing role in the lives of humans.
Imitation is involved to some extent, of course, but the early words and sentences that children produce show that they are not simply imitating adult speech. Since there is an infinite number of potential sentences implied, children’s complex and creative utterances cannot be explained by a passive response to the language of the environment. In addition, imitation cannot account for common child language mistakes, which are highly unlikely to be failed imitations of what adults would say (Cattell, 2000).
Children’s acquisition of language has long been considered one of the uniquely defining characteristics of human behaviour.
Nearly every member of the human race learns a language or more to the degree of proficiency only in the first few years of life. How children achieve this astonishing skill in such little time has sparked controversial debates among linguists, psychologists, and scientists throughout centuries. Some believe that language is an innate ability possessed by all human beings due to the remarkable function of the brain, while others maintain that language is learned from childhood experience. However, many are beginning to realize that nature and nurture go hand-in-hand when explaining how children develop their language(s). Despite the claims that language is either pre-learned or environmentally learned alone, the combination of both genes and experience better explains the aspects of first language acquisition.