Language Acquisition The Great Apes - 935 Words

It is often believed that language is a primary differentiating factor between humans and other animals. While the unique structure of the human vocal tract does not allow for other animals to replicate our language in an auditory manner, recent studies have shown that species in the family Pongidae, also known as the â€Å"great apes,† are capable of using language in a visual way. Some researchers are trying to show that species such as gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans are able to learn sign language and use it to communicate with humans. Evolutionarily, the great apes are our closest living relatives, so studies of their linguistic ability could be used to show that we are more related than previously thought. The largest obstacle in great ape language acquisition has been vocabulary. In the past, attempts to teach them to use spoken language has yielded extremely limited results; however, attempts to teach symbolic language (especially human sign language) ha ve been incredibly successful (Patterson Cohn 1990). It is interesting to note that sign language acquisition in great apes shares similarities with language acquisition in human children. For example, a chimpanzee named Washoe showed overgeneralization in her use of signs during her early learning stages that can be compared to perceptual classifications in children (Patterson 1978). Chimpanzee research has shown that, like young children, chimpanzees acquire gestual language in stages, such as combiningShow MoreRelated Chomsky and Skinner and Theories Of Language Development Essay1468 Words   |  6 PagesChomsky and Skinner and Theories Of Language Development Many psychologists have studied and researched into how we acquire language. 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