1Psych 56L/ Ling 51:Acquisition of LanguageLecture 3Biological Bases of Language IAnnouncementsNo office hours 10/7 or 10/9. (Sorry!)Please email me ([email protected]) to schedule anappointment if you need to see me outside of class thisweek.Language as a Human UniversalLanguage as a Human InstinctFish pretty much always swim.Birds pretty much always fly.Humans pretty much always….talk.2More than cultureLanguage is more than simply a cultural habit that onegeneration copies from previous ones.If there is no language model to learn from, humans willspontaneously create language. pigdins & creoles the case of Nicaraguan Sign LanguagePidginsPidgin: language created by adults from different languagebackgrounds who need to communicate with each otherExample: Hawaiian Pidgin English: created by immigrant workersfrom Japan, Korea, and the Phillipines who worked forEnglish speakersIfu laik meiki, mo beta make time, mani no kaen hapai.If like make, more better die time, money no can carry.“If you want to build (a temple), you should do it before you die - youcan’t take it with you!”PidginsPidgin: language created by adults from different languagebackgrounds who need to communicate with each otherAnother example: Russenorsk: from Russian and Norwegian fishermen whohad to communicate with each other(More than 100 pidgin languages currently in use)CreolesPidgins tend to be structurally simple.However, when children born into a community where apidgin is the only language acquire that pidgin as theirnative language, they create a creole.Creoles are grammatically more complex, containingstructures that are not in the pidgin language the childrenhad as a model. Creoles often share the same features.Put simply: children add something that wasn’t alreadythere!3What creoles tell us(1) The existence of language in a community does notdepend on someone importing a language for acommunity to learn. (Vocabulary may be borrowed,grammar is not.)(2) When children acquire language, they sometimes addsomething extra, which is sometimes thought to beuniversal to human languages and part of children’sinnate endowment for language.(3) Creoles tend to share the same features - whichsuggests human minds may tend to constructlanguages the same way.From pidgin to creole:Nicaraguan Sign LanguageIn 1978, the Nicaraguan government opened thenation’s first public schools for the deaf. The deafchildren who entered had no common sign language,but did have their own individual home sign systems.Once the children were in contact with each other, anew common sign language emerged: NicaraguanSign Language.From pidgin to creole:Nicaraguan Sign LanguageAnn Senghas (Senghas & Coppola 2001) studied the language ofchildren who arrived to the school at a young age vs. childrenwho arrived when they were older.Language of younger children:structurally complex (more like creole)Language of older children: structurallysimpler (more like pidgin)4From pidgin to creole:Nicaraguan Sign LanguageUse of spatial modification: if two signs are made in the samespatial location, it indicates that one sign modifies the other (ex:“tall” in same location as “king” = “tall king”Language of younger children: more spatial modification(the younger they were, the more they used it)Language of older children: less spatialmodificationFrom pidgin to creole:Nicaraguan Sign LanguageImplication: (young) children are the driving force of languagecreation here; they are the innovators and the ones who retainthe more complex structures that result from these innovationsLanguage Bioprogram HypothesisProposed by Derek Bickerton: the capacity for languagecreation seen in creolization and the development of NSL isthe same capacity that underlies language acquisition.Humans have an innate coreknowledge about the structuralproperties human languageshave.In accord with nativist/generativistapproach to language acquisition.5Language Bioprogram HypothesisProposed by Derek Bickerton: the capacity for languagecreation seen in creolization and the development of NSL isthe same capacity that underlies language acquisition.But the knowledge may not belanguage-specific! It could bestatistical learning or patternanalysis abilities.Elizabeth BatesSome support from Hudsom-Kam &Newport (2005): children giveninconsistent input make it moreregular; adults given inconsistent inputmatch the inconsistencyAnatomy & LanguageThe Human Vocal Tract:A Finely Honed InstrumentSpeech is producedwhen air from thelungs exits thelarynx and is filteredby the vocal tractabove the larynx:glottis, pharynx,uvula, velum, hardpalate, tongue,nasal cavity,alveolar ridge,teeth, lips.Human Speech Apparatus: Pros and ConsLarynx: most speech-specific feature of the human vocal tract.Compared to other mammals, human larynx is very low. The good: Low larynx helps produce a wider variety ofspeech sounds. The bad: Humans are more likely to get food caught in thetrachea and choke.Lower mouth shape: accommodate the lower larynx The good: Help support lower larynx. The bad: Lead to overcrowded teeth and impacted wisdomteeth.6Functional ArchitectureFunctional architecture: how the brain is organized to do what itdoesNeurolinguistics: study of the brain with relation to languagefunctioning. One big question: is there a separate chunk ofbrain (a functional “organ”) specifically for language?Methods of Neurolinguistic InvestigationLesion studies: correlate missing bits of brain (lesions) withmissing bits of psychological functioning. One very interesting kind of missing brain bit: split or damagedcorpus callosum, found in split brain patientsMethods of Neurolinguistic InvestigationDichotic listening tasks: use the fact that contralateral connectionsfrom the ears to the brain are stronger than ipsalateralconnections. Experimenters present two tasks at the sametime, one to each ear, and ask subjects which one is perceived.If they say the left ear’sstimulus, then the rightside of the brainprocesses that info. Ifthey say the right ear’sstimulus, then the leftside of the brainprocesses that info.Methods of Neurolinguistic InvestigationERPs: Event-related brain potentials, gauged via electrode caps.The location of ERPs associated with different mental activitiesis taken as a clue to the area of the brain responsible for thoseactivities.Good: non-invasive, relativelyundemanding on the subject,provide precise timing on braineventsBad: poor information on exact