This essay will examine how individuals acquire language. While this is something that comes naturally to the vast majority of individuals several have very different relationships with language. As a result, this essay will Include how feral children who have had minor interactions with language deal with their experiences and if they manage to acquire language along with how and why we learn language at different rates and Chomsky’s theory of an innate knowledge of language including theories to accompany any theories mentioned.
Language development as a whole is an extremely varied subject which has been studied widely. In addition, it is a vital skill that humans acquire to increase their chance of survival and allows them to communicate with others. For this reason, Noam Chomsky decided to focus on individuals who had experienced minimal levels of language but still managed to develop their language. Therefore, suggesting that humans are born with an innate knowledge of language. If this was the case then a Japanese baby adopted by a British family would eventually begin to blabber Japanese words, even when given no/little interaction with any Japanese individuals. Research by Rena Krakow and Jenny Roberts (2009) showed that children aged between seven and eleven months of age had developed their ability of English vocabulary, even when having months in China beforehand. The children also showed to have a larger vocabulary on average than their native-born English-speaking peers. Therefore, both supporting Chomsky’s theory of an innate knowledge of language and also suggesting that language is not necessarily learnt since the children had learned English even when having had minimal experience around English-speaking individuals. (Davis, Steven, 1992) Not only this, but as mentioned they displayed a larger vocabulary compared to their native-born English-speaking peers suggesting that being surrounded by more than one language may have a positive effect within our language development.
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Similarly, there has also been cases studying feral children which focussed on their ability to acquire language. These children have previously had little to no interaction with any language, a similar situation to the Japanese babies previously mentioned. This is interesting since we know that humans learn language during their development however, this cannot be achievable when a child is feral due to their severe lack of social interaction. A study by Skuse, D.H. (1984) revealed that two sisters who had both experienced drastic social and emotional deprivation throughout infancy had both recovered very differently. One completely recovered while the other sister remained handicapped, especially within her language skills. She also appeared to have a variety of autistic features and be microcephalic. This research shows that individuals develop and recover at very different rates, including when the individuals are related and therefore sharing genetics. It also reveals that suffering social and emotional deprivation can cause drastic negative effects on how we develop language.
Another case surrounding feral children includes a boy named Victor, also known as ‘Wild Boy’. He was found in woodlands during early January, 1800. At this time Victor had no knowledge of language, was believed to be death and had been surrounded by animals up until the finding of him. Itard, a young unknown physician decided to help Victor with the attempt to develop his language. Throughout their encounter Itgard managed to learn Victor how to read and write very simple noun-verb sentences and also identify letters by organising metal cut outs laid out, essentially creating a reading board. (Wayne Cayea, 2006). This research goes against Chomsky’s theory of individuals holding a ‘innate knowledge of language’ since if this was true Victor would have known language despite having no experience of it.
Comparably, many individuals suffer from learning difficulties which can disrupt their language development. A study investigating this comes from Jane W. Blalock (1982) who studied 80 young adults. She found that 63 of these individuals suffered from oral language and/or auditory processing deficits. Therefore, if language was innate, as suggested by Chomsky (Davis, Steven, 1992) these individuals should still develop their language through their ‘innate knowledge’ however, they instead struggled with this skill.
A theory crafted by Vygotsky’s named ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD) focusses on the relationship between instruction and development (Alex Kozulin, Boris Gindis, Vladimir S. Ageyev, Suzanne M. Miller, 2003). This theory includes helping individuals to learn as much as possible through pushing individuals away from their ‘safety’ points such and focussing on information someone may already know and into their ZPD which is the space In which we learn new information. This usually takes place alongside a more knowledgeable other who uses a ‘scaffolding’ technique. A study by Roberta A. Ferrara, Ann L. Brown and Joseph C. Campione (1986) found that when lower level IQ children who required assistance during their learning and required scaffolding were found to accomplish identical mastery level on the original problem types therefore supporting the idea of scaffolding and Vygotsky’s theory.
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