blog jack dowdell

How do we learn language

Thesis: Language is learned using both biological and cultural drives.

“In spite of commonsense notions parents do not actually teach their children to speak. Children learn to talk, using the language of their parents, siblings, friends and other sources. “(Daniels 19)

This quote would be useful in showing that language is a instinct. The child right off the bat listens to all the sources listed above to learn how to better communicate and interact with his world.

“In the tiny gap between the time the light reflected off your thumb till when it reached your eyes your brain had to scan its memory and compares its features to recall past information” (Shakespeare 61)

This shows the biology of language. Retracting a word is a process of the brain. It shows instinct

“Languages are intimately related to the societies and individuals who use them” (daniels 31)

This quote clearly demonstrates how culture plays a major role in the learning of a language.

The Effectiveness of Human Language vs. Animal Communication or Language

Ryan Carr
Composition 1101
Professor Hughes
Blog 5
Thesis Statement

The Effectiveness of Human Language vs. Animal Communication or Language

Animal communication is limited in its effectiveness because it cannot be used to relate to the past or the future. However, it can communicate the present by using vocal utterances and gestures as it relates to their surroundings. Therefore, they are limited in their effectiveness of communication. Human’s communication through language can convey their thoughts and intents about the past, present, and future clearly and concisely. Their articulation of language is more effective because of the use of utterances, signals, and gestures along with an infinite vocabulary.

“Hey! Hey! Get outa there!” (George Yule, pg 8) An example of harbor seals copying human language using utterances. Do they understand what they are vocalizing or is it a conditioned behavior? This will be discussed as a supporting statement of credibility.

“Humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances…the potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite.” (George Yule, pg 10) There can be no question as to the effectiveness of the human language vs. animal language however, the limitation of animals ability to learn human language does not in itself lessen the effectiveness they have in communicating with each other. This will be discussed as a counterargument.

“Important lessons have been learned from attempts to teach chimpanzees how to use forms of language.” (George Yule, pg 16) Chimpanzees have proven their ability to relate to human language. Is this because they were conditioned by animal trainers to produce certain responses? Although the evidence supports the chimpanzees’ use of sign language among each other when no humans were present there is still much controversy over the effectiveness of their communication on a human level. This will be used as an evidentiary topic.

Can language express our emotion?

Thesis: We all seem to have those moments in life where we cannot seem to put our emotions into words and even when we are able to place our emotions into language, are we accurately describing our feelings? One might object and say they are confident in expressing themselves but, language is no comparison to expression of emotion therefore it makes it difficult to express our self or understand the experience of others.

Main Source: Stumbling on Happiness  By: Daniel Gilbert

Quote 1:  (Gilbert p. 60)

“And yet, strange as it is, there are times when people seem not to know their own hearts. When conjoined twins claim to be happy, we have to wonder if perhaps they just think they’re happy. This is, they may believe what they are saying, but what they’re saying may be wrong. Before we can decided whether to accept people’s claims about their happiness, we must first decide whether people can, in principle, be mistaken about what they feel.”

This quote is an excellent example of establishing credibility from the main source I have chosen, Gilbert. He clearly states in this quote that he does not believe that people are always accurate on how they feel and whether they even truly believe what they state. It will always be a great way to connect the personal experience of the little boy without one of his limbs. With a strong persuasive argument and the connection to a creditable author readers will be more likely to accept my position on an individual’s expression of emotion.

Quote 2: (Gilbert p.45)

“One of the functions of language is to help us palp them—to help us extract and remember the important features of our experiences so that we can analyze and communicate them later.”

Within this quote there is a direct reference to language in comparison to our experiences. I plan to utilize this quote to establish how language is meant to allow us to express things we have experienced and also to share these experiences of our life with other people. It shows that in general all people who have language have the capability to express themselves whether they can accurately or not.

Quote 3:  (Gilbert p.70)

“As we have seen, it is extremely difficult to measure and individual’s happiness and feel completely confident in the validity and reliability of that measurement.”

More than likely, I will develop this quote toward the end of my paper when I am trying to ensure I have established my view and show how difficult it is to use language to express and measure our happiness and feelings. If we cannot accurately use language in our own experience how can we even attempt to judge, and express the happiness and feelings of others?

Language Authority in the United States of America

Thesis: Language and people in the United States would suffer if the nation was to mirror France by standardizing language.

Quote 1
"I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to talk Indian to her and I said, 'Grandma, I don't understand you,' " Wright says.”She said, 'Then who are you?' "
Wright says he told her his name was Billy. “‘Your name's not Billy. Your name's 'TAH-rruhm,' “she told him.”And I went, 'That's not what they told me.' " (Bear, paragraphs 14-15)

This quote helps to convey the message that standardizing English isolates people from older generations who may or may not have been through the educational system. It also shows that when America tried to control language win the past with the American Indian people, the general effects were negative.

Quote 2
“There has never been a successful academy to govern the English language, either in Britain or the United States”. (Curzan page 34)

This quote will help me to show that previous attempts to standardize English have failed, which could lead me to saying that the English language is too complex and diverse to ever really restrict by the method of standardization.

Quote 3
“An arbitrary, open conventional system of sounds used for communication within a linguistic community”. (Tomassi’s definition of language)

This definition shows that standardizing English would be a direct contradiction of Tomassi’s definition of language; we are supposed to be able to come up with new words and be free to use them as the evolution new words and phrases helps language, rather than hindering it.

Should there be an official language authority in the United States?

Through many attempts to create an official language authority in the United States, all have failed. Although some individuals believe that this change would be for the better, it, in fact, would not. Language authorities of America should remain extinct.

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-"Second, the network of authorities that assumes responsibility for prescribing the standards for the English language is an informal one, not all authorities are 'on the same page'"(Curzan 38)

--This is questioning the "would be" authorities of language. It conveys the idea that the authorities would not be any more qualified than an average citizen. Also, that no two people are the same. Therefore, how could these people be relied on to determine right and wrong in a language?


-"Those who have been persuaded to think well of my design, require that it should fix our language, and put a stop to those alterations which time and chance have hitherto that i flattered myself for a while; but now begin to fear that i have indulged expectation which neither reason nor experience can justify. -Johnson 1974/1975.9 (Curzan, 35)

--Here Samuel Johnson discusses his realizations that the publishing of his dictionary was not as successful in limiting a word to one specific, or few, meaning. Johnson confesses that his previous purpose in publishing the dictionary will fail as a standard. He explains that there are no examples that show a language remaining the same for a long period of time. Language is always changing.


-"I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to speak Indian to her and I said, 'grandma, i don't understand you,'" Wright says, "she said, 'then who are you?'" Wright then says that he told her his name was Billy. She responds by saying, "Your name is TAH-rruhm."Wright then responds by saying, "that's not what they told me". (Bear, paragraphs 14 and 15)

--This displays an example of the dramatic effects, in history, of an individual being forced to speak a certain way. It takes away from the individual's identity and their character. It also limits the person's ability to fully express them self.

Biological and Cultural Language

Do remember speaking your first word or your first phrase? Do you remember how you obtained the knowledge to speak it and how you knew exactly what to say? Language is a form that is considered both biological and cultural, especially when dealing with how to learn it.



"In spite of the commonsense notions of parents, they do not "teach" their children to talk. Children learn to talk, using the language of their parents, siblings, friends, and others as sources and examples -- and by using other speakers as testing devices for their own emerging ideas about language." (Daniels, pg 19)

-Children learn to speak by simply observing the ones around them. Parents can not speak baby, so ergo they can not translate what they want to get across to their infant by speaking "baby" language to "grown" up language. There has been proven sign language that aids in communication between infant and adult, but that is not the same communication as a spoken out loud language. Children learn by simply putting things together by example, observation, and listening.


"Many of the world's languages have a "standard" dialect." (Daniels, pg 24)

-This quote helps support the fact that language is also cultural. Although the "standard" language in the United States is English, there can be some consideration that there are different dialects. Take for instance, Black English and good 'ole southern English. The same language, English, is spoken, just with different twists to them and different termonology when referring to different things. Also with northerners and southerners. It depends on your cultural background for which dialect you may speak. For instance, I was born and have been raised in the south, so I use some termonology that northerners don't use, but we still speak the same language. I might say "Can y'all please pass the sweet tea?" or "I'm going for a swim down at the holler." and they may have no idea what that is.


"I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to talk Indian to her and I said, 'Grandma, I don't understand you,' " Wright says. "She said, 'Then who are you?' " (Bear, pg 1)

-This quote clearly shows how language is a very vital and meaningful part of their culture. I think it even has more of a special meaning to them, since it is a part of their culture and who they are. They are the minority and their race is thinning out, so the fact that their language survive is crucial. Their cultural language is as much of their identity as their actual physical traits.

"OInkers Oink and Talkers Talk, Oinkers Don't Talk"

THESIS STATEMENT

Let's face it, people and animals have their own distinct languages regardless of what many people think. Animals use what are called communicative signals to communicate with each other. These signals can include motions toward one another, noises (i.e. grunts, growls, purrs, etc.), and other actions. As we all know, humans use a far more extensive form of communication that involves emotion, expressions, and some extensive verbal skills. With this being the case, it is very apparent that animals and humans both have their own language and ways of communication leading to the statement that humans and animals cannot communicate with each other. They each have their own unique ways of communication that serve the purpose of communicating between each other but does not extend to ways of communication between the species.

QUOTES

"Humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations. This property is described as productivity and it is linked to the fact that the potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite." (Yuler 10)

-This quote will be useful in crediting the point that human language is far more advanced than animal language and continues to grow as time goes by.

"The limiting feature of animal communication is described in terms of fixed reference. Each signal in the system is fixed as relating to a particular object or occasion." (Yuler 11)

-This quote will be used as my argument from the animal point of view. It backs up my statement of animals using noises and actions to communicate while they lack the more advanced concepts of language that humans have.

"It is clear that humans are born with some kind of predisposition to acquire language in a general sense............We acquire our first language as children in a culture."

-This may seem like an out of place quote but I am going to tie in several concepts from class. As Yule states, we acquire our first language from a culture. Granted that animals and humans are different species, both species learn language from what their surroundings. This may seem like a weak argument but no matter what the species, if the species does not have the the amount of teaching that another species has, the lesser educated species will not have as strong of a language base.

The ability of animals to communicate with each other is very obvious, but the ability of an animal to have a language is not present. There is no denying that any animal found in the wild or in captivity can use some form of communication; the inability of humans to understand or comprehend the noises is the reason people disagree that animals have language, though.

Quote 1
"In one experiment, a hive of bees was placed at the foot of a radio tower and food source was placed at the top. Ten bees were taken to the top, shown the food source, and sent off to tell the rest of the hive about their find. The message was conveyed via bee dance and the whole gang buzzed off to get the free food." (Animals and Human Language 11)

This proves that animals can communicate. I will use this statement to support the argument that animals can communicate with each other. When the bees dance they are signaling by the direction they dance which way the food is so the other bees can go feed as well.

Quote 2
"Among other creatures, each communicative signal appears to be a single fixed form that cannot be broken down into separate parts." (Animals and Language 12)

This is another statement supporting the fact that animals can communicate. It also leads into the point that animal's communication is not complex. It is a simple repititon of the same sounds for the same meaning. The meanings are usually not new, but ones that have been used over and over. These meanings would mostly be about food, mating, and other native actions.

Quote 3
"You could keep your horse in a field of cows for years, but it still won't say Moo." (Animals and Human Language 15)

Animals can communicate, that is supported through much evidence; however, the diversity of the communication is poor. Dogs can only communicate with other dogs, and cows can only understand other cows. This leads to a point that animals have different forms of communication. They have different biological limits in communicating, so a cow cannot understand a horse or a chicken on a farm.

Should the U.S. have a language authority or even a national language?

Thesis: The United States does not have the authority to force its inhabitants to adopt one specific language or language type.

“There has never been a successful academy to govern the English language, either in Britain or in the United States, although it has certainly been suggested.” (Curzan, 34).

-This quote supports the idea that the U.S. just cannot have a language authority. I plan to use the quote to support my assertion about the inability to have an authority in the U.S. partially because it has never worked in the past.

“Students at federal boarding schools were forbidden to express their culture—everything from wearing long hair to speaking even a single Indian word.” (“American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many,” Para 13).

-The statement in this quote could be used as a ‘shocker’ element to show just how terrible the Native Americans were being treated. I could use this to make the point that Americans have attempted to force their culture on people in the past.

“It follows that no language or dialect is superior to any other and that models of verbal communication cannot be ranked according to complexity, expressiveness, or any other virtue.” (Dalrymple, Para 18).

-I would use this quote as a straightforward reason for why the U.S. should not force a particular language on people. This blatantly says that all languages are equal, and if all are equal then there is no reason to mandate the use of one specific language.

Animals Language

Although animals are not able to communicate the same as humans do, they have their own way of communicating through sounds, signals, and how they carry themselves. If animals were unable to communicate, they would not be able to get what they want or exclaim how they feel.

The Study of Language-George Yule
(p. 9)
“It has been proposed that bee communication may have the property of displacement. For example, when a worker bee finds a source of nectar and returns to the beehive, it can perform a complex dance routine to communicate to the other bees the location of this nectar. Depending on the type of dance (round dance for nearby and tail-wagging dance, with variable tempo, for further away and how far), the other bees can work out where this newly discovered feast can be found.”
This portrays how the bees communicate and can inform each other exactly where the nectar is. Animals may not understand what we are saying because we have our language just like we are not able to understand the language that they are “speaking".

(p. 11)
"Each signal in the system is fixed as relating to a particular object or occasion. Among the vervet monkey’s repertoire, there is one danger signal CHUTTER, which is used when a snake is around, and another RRAUP, used when an eagle is spotted nearby."
Monkeys are able to tell each other when and what is coming to attack them. This proves that there is a communication between the different monkeys that allow them to tell others what they are seeing, thinking, and feeling.

(p. 15)
“Washoe lived in a domestic environment with a lot of opportunity for imaginative play and interaction with fluent signers who were also using sign language with each other. They report that a group of younger chimpanzees not only learned sign language, but used it with each other and with Washoe, even when there were no humans present”
This is proof that animals do not merely mimic because they will receive something for their actions. This is proving that the animals are communicating what they are feeling not only for the humans but for themselves as well.

Language: Biological, Cultural, or Both?

Thesis Statement- We as humans learn language not from biological impulses or the culture in which we are raised but rather a combination of the two: An instinctive drive to learn the language which surrounds us.

Quotes:

"He does so because the faculty of language is part of human nature, inscribed in man’s physical being, as it were, and almost independent of environment." (Dalrymple "The Gift of Language")

-I think this quote will be useful simply because it can easily be debatable because he is saying that language can be solely learned from just environment.

"Children will learn their native language adequately whatever anyone does, and the attempt to teach them language is fraught with psychological perils. For example, to “correct” the way a child speaks is potentially to give him what used to be called an inferiority complex. Moreover, when schools undertake such correction, they risk dividing the child from his parents and social milieu, for he will speak in one way and live in another, creating hostility and possibly rejection all around him. But happily, since every child is a linguistic genius, there is no need to do any such thing. Every child will have the linguistic equipment he needs, merely by virtue of growing older." (Dalrymple "The Gift of Language")

- This quote is saying that a child learns his language as he goes on in life. And if we were to change what he knows then that would be like taking him away from what he learned growing up and was born with. I could use this in my paper as if it were biological and cultural based on the fact that he is learning the language that he was raised up on but also that could be his culture.

"I find it difficult to believe that this is entirely a coincidence and that imitation has nothing to do with it. Moreover, it is a sociological truism that children tend to speak not merely the language but the dialect of their parents." (Dalrymple "The Gift of Language")

- This is saying that the child is speaking what he has heard all his/her life from listening to parents. Basically I could argue from what I just said above on the last quote.

Two Assets to the Learning of Language

Thesis Sentence

The learning processes to conceive a language come from two very different contributors in a congenital sense along with cultural interactions to determine language development whether derived from the learning from cultural influence, or our biological make-up as human beings as the "instinct to acquire an art."

Opening Paragraph Quotes Pinker(16-17)
"A common language connects the members of a community into an information-sharing network..."
"Language is so tightly woven into human experience that it is scarcely possible to imagine life without it."

Learning from influence/culture
"...verbal communication is the spoken language we acquired as children"Pinker(16)
"...children learn to talk from role models and caregivers."Pinker(18)

Children learn by forms of mocking their caregivers and role models. This form of mocking those around them, is often encouraged by the caregivers of a child due to the fact that a mother wants to hear her child say "mommy" first instead of "daddy." The repeating of words leads to the links between words and objects to help define a child's language. Later in life, children learn to act in different ways in order to get something they want or need. Often times their communication skills seem undeveloped and then are corrected by those around them. Therefore, the learning of language comes from the influence of those who surround them throughout their family and culture.

Biological Make-up
"...it is a distinct piece of the biological makeup of our brains. Language is a complex, specialized skill, which develops in the child spontaneously, without conscious effort or formal instruction..."Pinker(18)
"...language ability is "an instinctive ability to acquire an art,"Pinker (20)

The idea that language comes naturally to a child seems plausible. Therefore, it would prove true that language falls under the classification of an instinct. Children feel the need to communicate with their surroundings. Therefore, language seems to lie forever as a pre-determined biological means of communication. The need to express emotions and the needs of a child to communicate, play a major role in the acquiring of the languages people speak today.

Comparing Human and Animal Communication

Thesis: When comparing the language of humans and animals it is easy to see that humans have a more complex way of speaking. Displacement, productivity, arbitrariness, cultural transmission, and duality are the elements that make human language more complex and greater than that of an animal.

“As in many critical studies of animal learning, the chimpanzees’ behavior is views as a type of conditioned response to cues provided (often unwittingly) by human trainers.” (Yule 15)
- This backs up the point that animals may learn or be conditioned to respond in a way that humans can understand, but it’s not their second nature. If you were to try interacting with a wild chimpanzee you would not get the same encounter had the chimp been raised in captivity around humans. I would use this to back up the point that animals do not automatically know how to communicate with humans.

“Because chimpanzees lack the vocal apparatus to make a variety of modulated sounds, the animals were taught a vocabulary of hand signs -- an approach first suggested in the 18th century by the French physician Julien Offray de La Mettrie.” (http://www.santafe.edu/~johnson/articles.chimp.html)
- Biologically a chimpanzee is not going to be able to form words like humans. They are able to make grunts but that’s as far as their speech gets. This supports my point that animals can not talk like humans.

""All primates express emotions, but because of her command of sign language, Koko can convey to us feelings that her wild counterparts cannot," explains Dr. Francine (Penny) Patterson, who heads the Gorilla Foundation and has been working with Koko and teaching her sign language since 1972.” (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/koko/)
-Even though animals may not be able to verbally speak they still have forms of communication. Animals are capable of learning, but will this language they have learned be temporary. This supports the fact that animals can communicate, but they have to be conditioned

“In appearances on television talk shows, trainers claimed the chimps could construct sentences of several words. But upon closer examination, scientists found strong evidence that the chimps had simply learned to please their teachers by contorting their hands into all kinds of configurations. And the trainers, straining to find examples of linguistic communication, thought they saw words among the wiggling, like children seeing pictures in the clouds.” (http://www.santafe.edu/~johnson/articles.chimp.html)
- This explores the fact that animals may not actually know what they are signing. The Law of Effect means that if you do something and you get a good result you are more likely to do it again. This is the counterargument for the point I’m trying to make in my paper. This says that animals just do signing to please their trainers, and they do not really understand.

Animal Communcication

Thesis

One would believe that animals have a way of communicating based on sound. When in reality these sounds are the lack of language because of displacement, arbitrariness and productivity.

Quotes
“when your dog says Grrr, it means Grrr, right now,because dogs don't seem capable of communicating Grrr,last night, over in the park. In contrast, human language users are normally capable of producing messages equivalent to Grr, last night, over in the park, and then going to say In fact, I'll be going back tomorrow for some more."(pg.9)

- This quote describes what displacement is all about. Displacement is the property of human language to refer to the past and future time. For example in this quote even though a dog says Grr, he is not describing I want to go to the park today or tomorrow because they are not capable if accomplishing such a task.

"For the majority if animal signals, there does not appear to be a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it. This impression we have of the non-arbitrariness of the animal signaling may be closely connected to the fact that, for any animal, the set of signals used in communication is finite. That is, each variety of animal communication consists of a fixed and limited set of vocal or gesture forms."(pg.10)

-This quote describes what arbitrariness is in relation to animal communication. It declares that even though just like human language their sounds do not directly correlate with what they sound like. They are not communicating through language because they are limited in their vocal capability.

“Productivity (or creativity or openendness) and it is linked to the fact that the potential number if utterances in my human language is infinite. The communications systems of other creatures do not appear to have this type of flexibility. Cicadas have four signals to choose from and vervet monkeys have thirty-six vocal calls."

Should There be an Authority on Language in America?

The United States of America does not have an official language, therefore there is no need of an authority to govern one.  It would be unfair to have an authority because it would force people to conform, possibly losing their culture, it would make America look hypocritical as she calls herself a melting pot of nations, and it would take away from the diversity of the nation.

“Today, english is governed by a loose network of “language authorities,”; English teachers, editors, journalists, columnists on language, and authors/editors of dictionaries, grammar and usage books, and style guides.” 

This could be a useful quote because it gives examples of the current “authorities” of language.  Though they’re not official, we give them the authority they have.

"I remember coming home and my grandma asked me to talk Indian to her and I said, 'Grandma, I don't understand you,' " Wright says. "She said, 'Then who are you?' "- Bill Wright                         This is useful because it shows first hand the negative experiences of trying to embrace an authority of language, such is the case in the mid 20th century when Americans tried to force Native Americans to learn English and lose their culture.

“...however, he seems to have realized that English would change despite efforts to keep it stable.”       This quote would be useful as in introductory to discussing the melting pot of cultures.  It helps explain the effects of such a large diversity of culture, leading to a constant changing of the English language.  This would mean an authority would be useless if the language is changing that often.