Postby Henkkles » Wed Sep 21, 2016 12:23 pm
What is language learning, or an alternate metaphor for language acquisition
Language, as I understand the term, seems to be (in essence) a system comprised of interconnected neurons, which allows humans (so far at least) to produce and parse series of stimuli, often acoustic or visual. Thus, even if speech seems to us the most obvious form of language, it is just a manifestation of this system in the world. This view was popularized by de Saussure some hundred years ago, and it is called the langue|parole distinction.
Viewed through this scope, the metaphysical concept of "language" is just the name we have given to similarities in the private "languages" of individuals. This is quite obviously a useful abstraction, as it would've fallen into obsolescence if it weren't. However, it does confuse a lot of people (myself included) in this respect: What exactly is "language learning"?
I believe the term to be somewhat inadequate, as it hides under several layers of abstraction the nature of the process. I want to update the language of language learning, and here is my somewhat whimsical proposal; language sculpting.
A "sculptor" (learner) of a language has to essentially engage in the task of creating a new language (system of neural connections) from scratch, using the learner's innate tools (brain). To do this, they use the target language as a model; the learner has to slowly chisel away at the proverbial block of marble while carefully observing the example of the target language and try to align the two systems to resemble each other as closely as possible. Rough outlines emerge first; the block starts to take shape, although it's missing all of the key details. These are akin to basic utterances, those simple acts of communication without finesse learners generally produce in the earliest stages.
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