Human Language as a Unique Human Trait and The Study of Non-Humans to Learn Language

The Uniqueness of Human Language
Student Name
Instructor Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Due Date
The Uniqueness of Human Language
Introduction Scientists profile human language as a multi-faceted ability with various sub-sections that have developed independently of speech. Fujita and Fujita (2021) explain that language is a specific human race attribute, which has long served as a modular and conceptual hindrance to the biological explanation of how this unique ability initially emerged in humans. The modular perspective of man’s language foundation, which describes it as a manifold ability rather than a monolithic attribute, has eliminated the hindrances. Studying other animal species by scientists and psychologists has gathered evidence that human language is unique to men only, but the proof is still inadequate. Project Nim was a Columbia University undertaking, where experts taught an infant chimpanzee named Nim Chomsky American Sign Language. Thus, a human language is a specific form of communication uniquely attached to the species, as Project Nim’s, Kanzi, and Penn’s Japanese Macaque experiments indicate. Human Language as a Unique Human Trait Human language is a species-specific form of communication due to social cognition, cognitive development, and evolution. Human language and social awareness are inextricably related since sophisticated social understanding is fundamental for growing infants to learn the language (Kuhl, 2004). On the other hand, language enables various social and cognitive development levels. Shettleworth (2010) indicates that social cognition includes a variety of skills such as imitation, social interactions, and theory of mind. Toddlers in their developmental stage embrace social-cognitive aspects primarily through replication and response to their parents and guardians, and in the long run, learn the fundamental human language (Fitch et al. 2010). Despite most animals having varying communication systems that express audio, visual, and aural aspects, humans have language that allows comprehension of any concept. Regarding linguistic nativism, the human mind has capabilities that other animals rarely possess since it comprises a pre-existing structure that influences it to interpret and understand experience (Smith, 2018). On this note, children can acquire language rapidly, use minimal conscious effort, and do not require high-level instruction in their developmental years. Chomsky indicates that nativism relies on language learning, an aspect critical for infants brought up in the required environment (Weiss, 2022). This aspect also connects to bodily growth in which children mature in a predetermined and native manner due to the provision of necessary diets and stimulating environments. The Study of Non-Humans to Learn Language For decades, scientists, linguists, and psychologists have studied other non-human species to determine the uniqueness of human language. Project Nim was a 1970s initiative at Columbia University where researchers attempted to teach an infant chimpanzee to adopt American Sign Language. After analysis and assessment for 27 months, the chimpanzee had recorded 20,000 multi-sign sequences (Terrace, 2011). Despit...