Anthropology (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: HOW AGE AFFECTS THE ABILITY TO LEARN THE HUMAN LANGUAGEQ. 1. Chomsky’s Linguistic Acquisition Device and how it fits into his Innateness Hypothesis of language acquisition. According to Noam Chomsky, the capability of a child to absorb any human language is implanted in them naturally, and many are born with it. Judging from how young ones language structure is always flawless, it must be envisioned in their minds. Beliefs of the author are that every youngster has a language acquisition device, which captures the key concepts about human languages (Rowe and Diane). Importantly is the idea that children are born already knowing how to speak, and only need to learn a few new things to expound on what they already have. Q. 2. Noam Chomsky Critical Period Hypothesis As claimed by Noam Chomsky, the brain processes language using different systems in both childhood and adulthood. As a child, the mind is open to an unlimited use grammar but as one gets old, it becomes more difficult. The need by the language acquisition device to access new grammar, to avoid wearing out due to old age. Young people can process a lot of information at once compare to old people who need a slow and elaborate way (Rowe and Diane). Q. 3. How Genie was discovered, and explain how it was that she was unable to acquire a language within a critical period. Genie was first seen when her mother applied for public assistance. It was at this time that one of the social worker noticed her unusual behavior, and alerted the authority. Her father had locked her in a room, and would not allow anyone to speak to her. Any time she made noise, there was a beating. Consequently, the girl never learned anything apart from a few sounds that her father made (Everywhere Psychology). Since trying to make sounds would lead to a beating, the only language she learnt was to stay silent. Q. 4. What symptoms did she display of this failure when she was discovered? She could not make any noise nor speak. The only sound she would make were a couple of growls which the father used to say to her. When scared or angry she was always sniffing, spitting and clawing. There were also discoveries of marks, which showed there was abuse when she tried to vocalize. Because of her lockdown, the girl could not walk properly and her eyes could not focus. Malnutrition was also evident and she salivated every now and then. Her behavior also exhibited lack of a social life (Everywhere Psychology). She was going against all normal norms including eating. Q.5. The film speaks of a forbidden experiment. What was that experiment and how was Viktor, a speechless child discovered in 19th Century France, became a model of that experiment? In trying to understand what differentiates people from animals, it was an opportunity to study an earthling isolated from the society and its culture. It was a situation no one would have thought of or created, and scientists thought they could get answers by observing him. They took Viktor to a deaf school where they examined, and tried to civilize him (Rowe and Diane). Despite their efforts, it was discovered that he found it difficult to communicate using the human language, even after uttering a few words. Q. 6 Describe Genie’s long-term language development over the years since her discovery. Was she able to use a language or not over the long term. As time passed by, Genie made progress in saying a few words. Since she was learning her first languag...