Laguage Brings People Together

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Recommended: Language development from birth to 5 years

Without language as a way of knowing, it would be very difficult for humans to communicate ideas and gather knowledge. A language’s ability to be “rule-governed, intended, and creative and open-ended” allows it to be a useful tool in the development of culture; and thus aid an individual in the process of discovering his or her own identity (Dunn 57). In essence, different languages to a certain degree affect the views an individual may hold about themselves and the world around them, but this is not the only factor; the environment and experiences also influences these concepts. The biggest implication for such differences in knowledge would be overall misunderstanding amongst people that speak different languages (i.e. language barrier), whether they are formal languages such as Japanese and English, or newly developed languages such as slang.
It is evident that language is not gained immediately at birth. From infancy, all babies start to experience the world with the most rudimentary ways of knowing, emotion and perception. However, it is through these two ways of knowing that babies can begin to learn language. According to Noam Chomsky, an American linguist and cognitive scientist, all humans are born with a language acquisition device (LAD), an “innate component of the human mind that yields a particular language…that [is converted] into a system of knowledge…” (Chomsky). If this is true, then all humans have the genetic predisposition to learn language through the use of morphemes, phonemes, and syntax. Thus, if all humans have the ability to learn language the same way, then it must be the complexities of the language learned and the environment that influences the overall knowledge gain of the individual.
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Works Cited

Chomsky, Noam. "Knowledge of Language as a Focus of Inquiry." Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin, and Use. New York: Praeger, 1986. 3. Print.
Dunn, James T. “Language Key”. Theory of Knowledge Guide. Coral Gables: Coral Gables Senior High School, 2013-2014. 57. Print.
---. “Language Key”. Theory of Knowledge Guide. Coral Gables: Coral Gables Senior High School. 2013. 59-60. Print.
Farb, Peter. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. N.p.: Nanjing International School Sites, n.d. PDF.
Fuki, Nakai. "The Role of Cultural Influences in Japanese Communication: A Literature Review on Social and Situational Factors and Japanese Indirectness." Intercultural Communication Studies (2002): 99-122. Print.
Scientist, David Robson | New. "There Really Are 50 Eskimo Words for ‘snow’. “Washington Post. The Washington Post, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

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