Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Is language learned or biological?

Sam Redden
Is language learned or biological?
Thesis:
Considering the fact that children are taught their native language by being around and communicating with other natives; language is taught. However, because children easily pick up their language without extensive teachings, the desire to communicate is biological.

Quote 1: Harvey A. Daniels “Nine Ideas about Language” pg 19
“Children learn their native language swiftly, efficiently, and largely without instruction.”
This quote will be used to argue that when children learn language, there is more to it than merely being taught. They are not given lessons on grammar at age two, but they somehow still pick it up. This quote will help persuade readers that there is a role of biology in the development of a child’s native tongue.

Quote 2: Pinker “An instinct to acquire an art” pg 4
“We think that children pick up their mother tongue by imitating their mothers, but when a child says Don’t giggle me! or We holded the baby rabbits, it cannot be an act of imitation.”
I understand that most readers will need more persuasion to believe language is also biological than to believe it is learned by people around us. This quote will cause my readers to think about their arguments and consider my thesis more deeply.

Quote 3: Dalrymple “The Gift of Language” pg 4
“my mother, a native German-speaker, arrived in England aged 18 and learned to speak standard English without a trace of a German accent (which linguists say is a rare accomplishment) and without ever making a grammatical mistake. She didn’t imitate her parents, perhaps, but she imitated someone.”
This quote will be used to argue other point of my thesis. When learning a language, one typically repeats what they hear other speakers saying. I refuse, however, to write a paper about the hat Dalrymple has for Pinker. Dalrymple’s point will not necessarily used to contradict Pinker, but to aid in the construction of my paper.

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