Blog 8: Language Acquisition

 

“The first language we learn influences our perception of everything we hear later.”

 

Credit: Design by Alex Jeon, National Science Foundation

 

“Language Learning”, an article by Nicole Mahoney found on the National Science Foundation website, states that while there are many unanswered questions about the acquisition of language, one question not open for debate is that “language acquisition is a complex process.”

Most researchers agree that it involves a relationship between biology and environmental factors; the challenge is to figure out they converge to influence language learning.  Noam Chomsky is famous for his ‘theory of universal grammar” which states that all languages have the same basic structural foundation and this is what makes it possible for a child to become fluent in any language during the first few years of life.  However, not all linguistics are proponents of the theory and they “place greater emphasis on the influence of usage and experience when it comes to language acquisition.”

The article ends by stating that more research is needed; we still don’t know why language disorders occur, what happens when a stroke or Alzheimer’s erases a person’s knowledge of language, or how some people learn a second language.

The article itself is quite brief, but the webpage has sidebars with information on research being done on how babies make sense of what they hear and the emergence of Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL).  Other tabs regarding ‘Language and Linguistics’ include ‘Speech is Physical and Mental’ which discusses the anatomy of language; how sounds begin as breath is expelled from the lungs and the air vibrates the vocal chords on its way to the mouth.  The sound waves enter the listener’s ears and the words are analyzed by the brain.  Research has shown that our experiences with language can also alter the brain and shape how it functions.  This page has links to more information such as ‘The Brain As Controller’, ‘Hearing Mechanisms’, and ‘Speech Production’.  Several pages have options to click on audio; at ‘Paths of Change’ I learned that there was a Great Vowel Shift (GVS) in English during the 15^th century and you can hear the difference in how vowels were pronounced in Middle English, the Mid-Shift, and how they are pronounced today.  The site contains several tabs with articles written by different authors, all are equally fascinating.

Language Learning