I just spent the weekend with my nieces and nephews, aged 2-6, who I’ve spent a lot of time with since they were each born. How do their brains acquire language? They use definite articles, punctuation, timing, and seem to comprehend some of the exceptions / contradictions in the English language. Scientifically / neurologically, what is going on here?
In: Biology
The human brain is genetically programmed to acquire language during the critical development period (from birth up until roughly the age of 5). During this period, the child acquires language by observing other humans, mimicking them and being reinforced by positive feedback. A child that is deprived of human interaction will grow up to be “feral”. After the critical development period, they will generally lack the ability to acquire language.
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