Available online
Description
Paul will talk about why humans are the only animals talking. We stand out in the natural world for the remarkable ability to communicate via language, but what makes the difference between us and ...our nearest evolutionary relatives? There are 7000 different languages – 7000 ways to say 'Hello'. A child does not know which one of these 7000 cultural forms it will have to learn, yet they are all learnable (otherwise the languages wouldn't be there to learn!) How do children do it? Why can a 5 year-old out perform the best Artificial Intelligence speech processor (even after 30 years of software development)? Are children 'prodigious' learners of language?
Paul will talk about why humans are the only animals talking. We stand out in the natural world for the remarkable ability to communicate via language, but what makes the difference between us and ...our nearest evolutionary relatives? There are 7000 different languages – 7000 ways to say 'Hello'. A child does not know which one of these 7000 cultural forms it will have to learn, yet they are all learnable (otherwise the languages wouldn't be there to learn!) How do children do it? Why can a 5 year-old out perform the best Artificial Intelligence speech processor (even after 30 years of software development)? Are children 'prodigious' learners of language?
| Series: | Sports, Childhood and Youth (undergraduate) Studies induction; Series 2017 |
|---|---|
| Episode | 10 |
| Recording date: | 26-09-2017 |
| Published: | 2017 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:22:30 |
| + Show more... | |
| Presenter: | Karen Foley |
| Contributor: | Paul Ibbotson |
| Publisher: | The Open University |
| Link to related site: | Internal url: http://studenthublive.open.ac.uk/abstract/why-are-humans-only-animals-language-and-how-do-children-learn-it?event=Sports%2C%20Childhood%20and%20Youth%20%28undergraduate%29%20Studies%20induction |
| Production number: | SHL00235 |
| Available to public: | yes |
