Language bioprogram theory

The Bioprogramm ( Language Bioprogram Hypothesis, LBH ) is a linguist Derek Bickerton hypothesis about a genetically anchored in the brain program that is responsible for language acquisition.

According to this hypothesis the Bioprogramm allows every person in childhood, to benefit from the linguistic styles that are offered to him. It is mainly active during the first four years of life, and makes the "learning" a language at all possible. The Bioprogramm enables children also, to develop a yet non-existent language without significant outside help and without a possibility of support of parents.

Research question

Bickerton tries to clarify an important research question with his theory: " How can the child acquire syntactic and semantic patterns of great complexity and arbitrariness in seeking a way thatthey can be used creatively without making mistakes".

In his opinion, this question of other explanations for the first language is not, or only insufficiently answered.

Theories of language acquisition

Bickerton here, which deals mainly with two approaches. For one, he comments on the " orthodox learning theory".

This assumes that the child's first language acquisition hypotheses for linguistic contexts are set up. On the reaction of the environment is now checked whether the results can confirm. For positive responses, such as a praise of the mother, certain structures are acquired in the use of language, and negative reactions they are discarded, to try it with a different hypothesis.

Secondly, it deals with the " motherese School " mentioned theory.

The " motherese School " assumes that it is the mother who teaches the child to speak. It contributes significantly to how fast and what their child is learning. It adapts to the speed and progress of the child, looks at it, confirmed or reprimands. In both approaches is hardly any space for biological " pre-planning " of the brain in language acquisition, since it is assumed that a very strong influence of external circumstances.

Although Bickerton draws on both approaches, but attempts to explain ambiguities using the Bioprogramms. He is of the opinion that error - false hypotheses - in language acquisition will occur when the Bioprogramm sets a different order of the learning process. The Bioprogramm determines when and what is learned. When a child seems overwhelmed, it's only because other priorities are set by the Bioprogramm and not yet to be learned in the series. Even the correction of errors here would mean for Bickerton an innate understanding of grammar rules. When motherese School provides Bickerton the question: Would you not take a child learning to walk by the hand, it would then crawl his life? If a child never talk, even if the mother is not available?

Creoles as evidence for the existence of a Bioprogramms

Another fact which is also indicative of the Bioprogramm here is the existence of creole languages ​​, languages ​​that develop even without the parents would be able to teach the children because they do not speak it yourself.

Definition Creole: A creole language develops when a daughter generation of a multilingual environment forced to develop a new language. This is, for example, with dramatic spatial and cultural changes of the case. Although the Creole language accesses the its disposal limited linguistic material, but also contains elements that do not come from the existing languages ​​and is therefore not identical with the language of their parents' generation.

As an example of the emergence of a creole is mentioned often the colonial era and the slave trade involved. At that time, the children who were born in a foreign country had to develop a new language in order to communicate can. They could not rely on the language of their parents, which consisted of a mixture of their own original language and the language of their owners.

For Bickerton, who himself for over 20 years with the Hawaiian Creole HCE (Hawaii Creole English) and the Creole language in Guyana dealt, here's the Bioprogramm is most visible. The learning process is not altered and shaped by preexisting speech systems, but can follow the natural process, as it pretends the Bioprogramm. Compared with the emergence of a creole language and the "normal" language acquisition shows the Bioprogramm. The things that a child learns most easily, often have great similarity with structures that play a crucial role in the Kreolsprachenbildung.

Bickerton tries the existence of a general Bioprogramms to prove by showing examples of similarities in creole languages ​​from around the world. Creole languages ​​, which developed in a language -rich environment, thereby showing less common than creoles, who were more left to themselves. The Bioprogramm fills in the gaps. An example that Bickerton describes: "This use of ONE as to indefinite article is found in Practically every creole language Throughout the world, [ ... ] In other words, a child, without any model, created a type of phrase, indefinite -article -plus- noun, in the same way [ ... ] as other children did, quite Independently, in several other communities Widely scattered around the globe. [ ... ] The conclusion is inescapable surely did syntax Constitutes a biologically based attributes of the species [ ... ]. ".

The conclusion, which Bickerton draws from his research is the following: Now we can see did children can only learn language Because, in effect, They already know a language. The Bioprogramm sets the pace in the first language before, empowers children to services that they could teach and no one makes new language creations possible.