Talking is something most people do with such ease. We barely notice we are doing it, let alone stop to think how the brain processes the 370 million words an average person says in their lifetime.
Yet a complex sequence of thoughts, movements and actions lie behind each and every word we utter. And as adults, we speak 15,000 words every day.
So where does language come from, how did this ability evolve and is it something we are born with or something we learn? The BBC News Magazine looks at how language develops and evolves.….continue reading
Horizon: Why Do We Talk?is broadcast on BBC Two at 2100 GMT on Tuesday, 10 November
UK Residents can watch it on iPlayer
Steven Pinker’s book The Blank Slate argues that all humans are born with some innate traits. Here, Pinker talks about his thesis, and why some people found it incredibly upsetting.
Linguist Steven Pinker questions the very nature of our thoughts — the way we use words, how we learn, and how we relate to others. In his best-selling books, he has brought sophisticated language analysis to bear on topics of wide general interest.
Adults, even the brightest ones, often struggle with learning new languages. Dr Nina Kazanina in the Department of Psychology Bristol University, explains why.
People comprehend their native language with great speed and accuracy, and without visible effort. Indeed, our ability to perform linguistic computations is remarkable, especially when compared with other cognitive domains in which our computational abilities may be rather modest. For example, an average person is infinitely slower than a computer when it comes to adding up numbers or remembering facts. On the other hand, most humans surpass computers when it comes to language-related tasks such as recognising sounds and words, and comprehending sentences. [continue reading…]
Instant messaging. Blogs. Wikis. Social networking sites. Cell phones. All of these allow us to communicate with each other”wherever, whenever. Many people speculate that online and mobile technologies have widely impacted written language, especially that of teenagers and young adults. Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University, says that surprisingly, this probably isn”t so.
“Technologies such as email, instant messaging and text messaging arena sounding the death knell for written language as we know it, Baron said. In fact, studies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden all report that teenagers have a rather clear understanding that ˜school writing is different from the messages they send to friends. [continue reading…]
Talking is something most people do with such ease. We barely notice we are doing it, let alone stop to think how the brain processes the 370 million words an average person says in their lifetime.
