Language Acquition... Pat H.

My mother once told me a story about how she thought her father did not like children. She felt this way because he never spent much time talking to his five kids. One day, after complaining to her mother about, what appeared to be, his lack of interest in them, her mother explained that he wanted his children to speak properly, and he did not. He could not set a proper example so he kept silent around them.

I don't know what theory my grandfather was concerned with, but as Lenses on Reading, pointed out, we sometimes operate under a theory without realizing it. This was in the late 1930's. Most African American men barely finished elementary school. My grandmother, on the other hand, worked around educated Jews as a housekeeper. She learned by listening to others. She past this skill on to her children. As I read about the Nativist theory I recalled this account. I understand the principles of Nativistism but I wonder about its application to the quality of language we learn "as a natural part of maturation". There is no syntax or grammar (that we know of) in the animal kingdom.

This is not to say that "mere exposure" doesn't work. I just don't think exposure is enough. But perhaps I am being side tracked by thinking that the quality of a language, written or spoken, is related to literacy.

While incomplete sentences are acceptable in children under the age of 3, they are often corrrected by their siblings or parents. They may not respond to correction immediately, but they do over time. In the article "Mama Teached Me Talk" (?) it is mentioned that there is a critical period between the ages of 2 - 7 years, "when language is mastered" that "children constantly adjust grammar until it matches that of the adult speaker population. Failure to develop speech at this time can result in circumstance similar to that of the Wild Boy of Aveyron.

I think what these articles are bringing out is that there is a physological aspect to learning that presents a limited time factor in acqiuring language. This would indicate, to me, that there are also social, cultural factors that influence learning. These factors have created a plethora of "lenses" or theory to examing just how language is acquired.