Speech and Language, Other Subject

Assignment Help:
Language is a multifaceted and complex cognitive function

Imagine a situation where one is in a foreign country and cannot utter a word in the local tongue. Further, imagine that gesturing in that country would follow a peculiar logic of its own that one could not comprehend. Under such circumstances one quickly comes to realize the importance of being able to communicate with others, through speaking, gesturing, reading, and/or writing. Indeed, the seeming ease at which one normally commands one’s mother tongue is highly misleading. In reality, language is one of the most complex and amazing of human cognitive functions.


Difficulties in developing computer programs that would be able to command language well enough to carry a conversation with a human is one example of the complexity of the task that the brain faces when listening and speaking. Further, out of all species, mankind is the only one capable of the kind of highly sophisticated and abstract form of communication that language represents. To some extent it has been debated whether language is unique to humans (i.e., whether ”speech is special”) and there are language-like communicative calls and gesturing in other animals. The most striking manifestation of language ability in other species have been obtained in studies where sign language was taught to non-human primates (Gardner and Gardner, 1969), however, even the best of these examples fail to compare with the richness of human language.


Human language is a multifaceted skill. In order to communicate effectively, one has to know the meanings of different words (semantic knowledge) and have sufficient command of grammar to organize the words in an appropriate manner to be understood. Further, in order to read and write, one also has to have command of the orthographic (how words are written) and phonological (how words are pronounced) knowledge. With respect to this, there is variability between different languages, with prominent ambiguity in English (as there is no one-to-one correspondence between the written form and pronunciation) and non-ambiguous pronunciation in some other languages such as Italian and Finnish, where there is one-to-one correspondence between the written form and pronunciation.

Related Discussions:- Speech and Language

Connect Fractions to Divison, 12 friends share 4 pizza equally. What fracti...

12 friends share 4 pizza equally. What fraction of a pizza will each friend get

Inter-cultural competent counsellors in schools, Problem 1: (a) With r...

Problem 1: (a) With reference to relevant literature and / or theory, explain what is meant by counselling. (b) Justify six key reasons why secondary institutions shoul

History of new media, History of New media: The term has actually been use...

History of New media: The term has actually been used since the 1970s by researchers conducting social, psychological, economic, political and cultural studies of information and

Economic factors - pest analysis of hotels, There are two ways to classify ...

There are two ways to classify the economic factors they can be either put in the microeconomic criteria or macroeconomic criteria. Switzerland is the 5th strongest country globall

What are the various kinds of magazine articles, Question 1 Write about th...

Question 1 Write about the early history of magazines, taking into account various types of magazines too Question 2 What are the various kinds of magazine articles? Explain

Es -334, # mention the aim of education in present scenario

# mention the aim of education in present scenario

MCOM, what are the differences between Histogram and Historigram

what are the differences between Histogram and Historigram

marketing, little control over macro-environmen

little control over macro-environment

Abrupt behavior, Sammy is a teenager working at the "A&P" in the summer, ne...

Sammy is a teenager working at the "A&P" in the summer, near the beach, as a cashier. Three girls in bathing-suit are ready to check out and go through Sammy's isle at the "A&P" gr

Meteorology vs. climatology, Meteorology vs. Climatology: Meteorology and ...

Meteorology vs. Climatology: Meteorology and Climatology are two terms that seem to have the same meaning but strictly speaking there is difference between the two terms. Climatol

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd