Re: THEORY: Question about the evolution of language

Hi all!
    Matt wrote:

>I think that some of the disagreement here stems from a misunderstanding
>as to whether we're talking about "language" or "communication", which
>are two very different things.  If the claim is that children, raised
>in complete isolation without any exposure to language, will develop
>a language of their own, then I would have to say that all of the evidence
>we have indicates that that claim is false.  Linguistic development
>requires linguistic input, pure and simple.  But if the claim is that
>isolated children will somehow figure out a way to *communicate* with
>each other, then the answer I think is that yes, they probably would.
.

    Speaking as a Speech-Language-Pathologist, I totally agree. Over the
years,
I've seen kids who did not develop language communicate before they had
acquired language via therapy. (I've seen the reverse, of course: if one
can't or refuses to communicate at all, there will be no evidence of
language,
obviously.)
    One of my favorite therapy memories is of a preschool boy who I was
attempting to teach to use language. (It took us 7 years: he had problems
with absorbing new information). Anyhow, one day near the beginning of
therapy,
when he possessed very few words and had absolutely no idea of how to
connect them into sentences, we had had a good session and I wanted to
show off our progress to our secretary (who the kid liked). He refused to go
anywhere
and in an attempt to bribe him, I held out a piece of candy and smiled.
He immediately held up his hand, spread five fingers, and smiled back.
I repeated my offer and he repeated his response. I then held out to him
2 pieces of candy, at which point he held up four fingers! I shook my head,
and
again offered him only one candy, and he held up the full five fingers again
.
To make a long story short, we negotiated without language and he wound up
with
three pieces of candy and I was rewarded with his agreeing to go with me to
the secretary. No language, but plenty of communication!   :-)

Dan Sulani
--------------------------------------------------------------------
likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.