Summary: The Linguistic Genius of Babies

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October 4, 2018
Part I – The Linguistic Genius of Babies (Summary)
In the video entitled The Linguistic Genius of Babies, Kuhl discussed why babies are much better in linguistic perception and recognition as compared to adults despite of the latter’s more advance ‘cognitive abilities’. Particularly, the stages that individuals has to go through, from conception to adulthood, in learning a language was elaborated. One of the most notable information about the relationship between the age of learning and the fluency in a particular language, was presented in a graph. It shows that as the age of learning (or acquisition) progresses, the fluency and ability to adapt native pronunciation decreases. According to research studies that backed up the speech, this is because adults are said to be ‘culture bound’ in learning language, whereas babies focus on the statistics of sounds. In turn, this makes them more susceptible to the sounds of a language rather than the context and usage.
Part II – Learning Language as an Adult (Commentary)
In the article written by Pakenham, McEntire, and Williams (2013), entitled Learning Language as an Adult the authors wante...