Twin Speech : The Construction Of A Language

All language theorists acknowledge nature and nurture both play significant roles in children’s language development. However, the theoretical debate to whether nature or nurture is the dominant tool during a child’s language

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Language is a very important and significant part of individuals’ life. It is considered as one of the best device of social behavior. Language is a means with the help of which people communicate and send a social message to one another. But language does have very special characteristics according to which it changes and very depending on many factors. According to the researchers there are no two people who speak identically. Their languages vary as per their geographic location, age, gender, ethnicity, social background etc. many a time, it is observed that even the members from same family speak differently due to differences in their location ( Biber & Conrad, 2014). For example, in my neighborhood, there is a difference in the ways of

Examines how language develops from infancy into adulthood. Focuses on the modularity debate of how language is organized in the brain. Some theorize that language is domain-specific in that the brain has processes dedicated to the task of language learning and comprehension. Others focus on a domain-general theory for language learning where the processes used to learn language are the same processes used in other situations such as problem solving.

However, it can be argued with (Bruner 1964) that social interaction doesn’t explain all the complexities of language acquisition. Almost every day the language we hear is often incorrect, poorly defined, incomplete and full of hesitations, mispronunciations and other errors, and yet despite this we still learn to talk following the correct grammatical rules. Again this indicates the idea of Chomsky’s (1968) LAD model that children are born ‘hard-wired’ with the innate knowledge of linguistic rules and so these rules help the baby make estimations and presumptions about the language it is hearing. From these estimations and presumption the child can work out grammatical sets of rules and when more language is exposed to them, the more their language develops. Even within Chomsky’s (1968) LAD theory, undoubtedly he believed the role and promotion of the ‘nature’ aspect is the core foundation on which language can develop. But his theory also requires the role of nurture

The article For the Love of Language by Geoffrey Cowley was published by Your Child's First Steps on October 2000. The author focuses on the importance of language and how children develop their language skills. Cowley states that the journey towards language starts in the womb and that babbling is the first step towards fluent speaking. Children also start associating names with objects around age one and children around two years old start to connect noun phrases with verb phrases. And lastly, children around seven months do not just seek out associations between words, but also extract principles governing word order. Cowley also uses terms like cochlear implant, mimicry, simple conditioning, operant conditioning, and specific language impairment (SLI).

At the age of 3 months we see early signs of phonology; children will turn their heads, and stop crying once hearing parent’s voices. They indicate contentment and amusement by smiling, and repeating sounds (e.g. cooing). (Berk, 2003). In addition babies 4-7 months notice new sounds such as the telephone. They also respond to “no” and changes in tone of voice. Early sound discrimination skills are beginning to emerge. At 6 months of age, long before they are ready to talk, babies start to organise speech into the phonemic categories of their own language. (Berk, 2003). Semantics develops at the age from 8months-1 year old as they respond to sounds such as doorbells and telephones. And begin to babble repeated consonants and vowels. The Nativist theory states that language acquisition is a biological phenomenon such as the child’s ‘inner clock’ theory and any role play between child and carer and by the environment is something less important, which theoretically means that nature will take its course and the child will develop its own

During this initial observation on Tom and Lucy, I believed that I would not gain insight about their language use. Yet, during the process of analyzing my notes I have found that the session provided me with many insights. The session with Tom and Lucy involved the activity of a 45-minute game of catch with one Velcro grip mitten and a ball. The objective of the game was for a ball to be thrown between two people and caught with mittens. However, only one of them had a mitten, since I had misplaced the second mitten. Nevertheless, Tom and Lucy did not seem to mind and began to engage in play immediately.

Brock’s language development has not developed as it should have for his age. At eighteen months, he was speaking over fifty words and was talking in two word sentences, which was average. At two years of age, Brock began speaking in two or three telegraphic sentences. He has also expressed a great desire to learn new words. During his two and a half year developmental tests, Brock scored average in comprehension and production. He is also beginning to show more consistent use in conversational speech. At age three, he relies on complete sentences and understands what is being said. During his kindergarten developmental test, he was still average in vocabulary and a year later he could hold his own conversation with adults. According to his

Throughout history, across all cultures, people have been fascinated with twins. In addition to interest in the close emotional ties and biological similarities that twins may share, reports of special twin languages and twin extrasensory perception (ESP) help people to explore ideas of what it means to be human. How similar or different are they to each other? How important are genes and environment for development? Because identical twins share all of their genes, it is the environment—rather than genetics—that accounts for any differences between them.

It is a well-known fact that children acquire language through their environment. From the time of birth, they are exposed to many different phonetics which allow them to shape words and form language. As parents and families utilize specific words as symbols for different concepts and ideas, children learn that they must use these to communicate their desires. This is evident in everyday life, for example those born in different parts of the world, who grow up hearing a predominant language, grow up speaking that language with all of the same particular nuances, slangs and variations that are present. Therefore, Amy Tan’s claim that “the language spoken in the family, especially in the immigrant families, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child,” is definitely viable.

Language is a communicative system of words and symbols unique to humans. The origins of language are still a mystery as fossil remains cannot speak. However, the rudiments of language can be inferred through studying linguistic development in children and the cognitive and communicative abilities of primates as discussed by Bridgeman (2003). This essay illustrates the skills infants have that will eventually help them to acquire language. The topics covered are firstly, the biological aspects, the contribution of the human brain to language development? Secondly, key theories of language development will be considered. Is the development innate? Is there a critical period? Thirdly, what must be learned? What are the rudiments infants must

After birth, the twin babies become even closer. A mother of fraternal twins, Sherry Warner, agrees that twins share a bond other siblings don’t from the day they are born; “The girls were the best of friends from the moment they were born. It seemed the only thing fought for was attention” (Warner). Some twin babies are even said to have created their own language that only they understand. Even Sherry Warner said her twins had their own incomprehensible language. Based on an excerpt from the Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae Twin Research, it is possible twins do in fact have their own language: “These “autonomous languages” exist in 40% of all twins, but often disappear soon” (“Language”). The creation of these languages at an age in which

Linguistics has impacted cognitive psychology as the quest to understand language acquisition and the structure of language itself is undertaken. Linguistics is a complex and multifaceted; it includes language structural patterns and language development (Barsalou, 2005). The process of language development is complicated and dense, as the study of language is examined; the role of cognition is inherently examined and analyzed. Sternberg (2006) also explores language as an innate process and presents the idea that humans are born ready for language as a biological and cognitive process.

However, Pinker (1994) then goes onto note that the particular sub-stage of reduplicated babbling occurs around 7-8 months, and states that the children will exercise phonemes and syllable patterns that are not specific to a singular language, but rather are seen as common across a variety of languages. Yet, Pinker (1994) does also argue that the children are able to distinguish between phonemes of their own mother tongue, which has been seen from birth, and this is seen to be more prominent by the time the child reaches the age of around 10 months. Pinker (1994) refers to this as the children no longer being ‘universal phoneticians’, and states that the children will no longer distinguish foreign phonemes.