Evidence continues to mount that human beings, unlike any other creatures on Earth, are born with complex language ability. Research shows that children as young as two months have already learned to distinguish characteristic vowel and consonant sounds in the language spoken by their parents.
In one test, researchers rewarded babies who responded by turning their heads in the direction of the test sound. Sounds distinctive to English and Swedish were used. American babies responded to the English sounds two-thirds of the time, while Swedish babies ignored these sounds as gibberish. Swedish babies responded to the Swedish sounds two-thirds of the time, while American babies ignored them as gibberish!
Researchers have concluded that two-month-old children have already begun classifying the elements of language. This is the first step in organizing sounds into meaningful words. Other research shows that six-month-old infants already understand the basic emotional tones of language.
The human ability to learn language appears to be programmed into the baby's brain and goes to work immediately upon birth (if not before). Humans have been created uniquely different from any other creature on Earth.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, April 19.
