God taught Adam and spoke to Moses: language origin, functions and early Multilingual Development

Assaiqeli, Aladdin

Abstract

This work addresses a number of crucial themes in the history of linguistic enquiry — themes that are still relevant today. Aiming to encourage multiple language learning, and give potential stakeholders momentum to provide supportive multilingual environments for children, the paper first addresses the question of the origins of language or the naturalism-conventionalism debate, highlighting children‘s innate potentiality for multilingual acquisition. Second, the paper highlights the pragmalinguistic functions of language, shedding light on the language-thought debate, and illustrating the centrality of language to our life, relations and the exercise of power. The paper, next, deals with the nature-nurture debate or the fantastic and prodigious potentiality of children to develop multicompetence in multiple languages with enviable unselfconscious ease. Drawing on records of longitudinal data comprising the linguistic development of three children raised as simultaneous bilinguals, the paper finally tackles the central theme of the study, providing evidence — both theoretical and empirical — that childhood multilingualism is not only legitimate and highly possible without any detriment of any kind, but also a great asset and a source of power; and that children who have the opportunity to expand their multilingual meaning potential from infancy or early childhood, and to maintain them throughout their lives are fortunate indeed; and therefore concludes that families and policymakers that can offer this critical opportunity to their offspring and citizens are highly encouraged to do so.

References

Aitchison, J. (1999). Linguistics: An Introduction (5th ed.). UK: Hodder & Stoughton.

Aitchison, J. (2003). Linguistics (6th ed.). UK. Teach Yourself.

Amer, M. M. (2009). ?Telling-it-like-it-is‘: the delegitimation of the second Palestinian Intifada in Thomas Friedman‘s discourse. Discourse & Society, 20(1), 5-31.

Badi, J., & Tajdin, M. (2005). Creative Thinking: An Islamic Perspective. Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press.

Bialystock, E. (n.d). Would you learn a new language if it would help your health?. Retrieved July 2, 2013, from hotword.dictionary/dementiaprotection/

Bialystok E., Craik, F. I. M, Grady, C., Chau, W., Ishii, R., Gunji, A., & Pantev, C. (2005). Effect of bilingualism on cognitive control in the Simon task: evidence from MEG. NeuroImage, 24(1), 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.09.044

Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Green, D. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2009). Bilingual Minds. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 10(3), 89-129.

Bickerton, D. (2009). Adam’s Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans. New York: Hill & Wang.

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning And Teaching (4th ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. The MIT Press: Cambridge.

Chomsky, N. (1993). A minimalist program for linguistic theory. MIT Occasional Papers in Linguistics no. 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Chomsky, N. (1994). The Human Language Series. Programme 2.

Chomsky, N. (2006). Language and Mind (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cohn, C. (1987, June). Slick ‘ems, glick‘ ems, Christmas trees and cookie cutters: nuclear language and how we learned to pat the bomb. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 43, 17-24.

Cook, G. (2003). Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cook, V. (1992). Evidence for Multicompetence. Language Learning, 42(4), 557-91.

Crystal, D. (2003). English as a Global Language (2nd ed.). UK: Cambridge University Press.

Diaz, R. M. (1985). The intellectual power of bilingualism. The Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, 7, 16-22.

Ervin, S. M., & Osgood, C. E. (1954). Second language learning and bilingualism. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 139-45.

Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and Power (2nd ed.). London: Longman.

Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.

Firth, J. R. (1968). Selected Papers of J. R. Firth.1952-1959, (F. R. Palmer, Ed.). London: Longman: Longman Linguistic Library.

Fromkin V., Rodman R., & Hyams, N. (2011). An Introduction to Language (9th ed.). Canada: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1975). Learning How to Mean: Explorations in the Development of Language. London: Edward Arnold.

Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd ed.). London: Arnold.

Harris, R., & Taylor, T.J. (1989). Landmarks in Linguistic Thought: The Western Tradition from Socrates to Saussure. London and New York: Routledge.

Jaworski, A., & Coupland, N. (1999). The Discourse Reader. London: Routledge.

Johnstone, B. (2002). Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell. Khan Academy. Theories of the early stages of language acquisition. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/processing-the-environment/language/a/theories-of-the-early-stages-of-language-acquisition

Kharma, N., & Hajjaj, A. (1997). Errors in English among Arabic Speakers: Analysis and Remedy. Beirut: York Press Libraire du Liban Publishers

Kreidler, C. W. (1998). Introducing English Semantics. London: Routledge

Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (1999). How Languages are Learned (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

McCabe, A., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Bornstein, M. H., Cates, C. B., Golinkoff, R.,

Hirsh-Pasek, K., … Guerra, A. W. (2013). Multilingual children: Beyond myths and towards best practices. Society for Research in Child Development Social Policy Report, 27(4).

Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

Rozakis, L.E. (2003). The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style (2nd ed.). USA:ALPHA.

Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Simpson, P. (1993). Language, Ideology and Point of View. London and New York: Routledge.

Steinberg, D. D., Nagata, H., & Aline, D. (2001). Psycholinguistics: Language, Mind, and World (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Longman.

The Holy Qura’an: An eternal translation of the great book of the Universe. Retrieved, August 26, 2019, from http://mquran.org/content/view/4905/4/

Thomas, L., Wareing, S., Singh, I., Peccei, J. S., Thornborrow, J., & Jones, J. (2004). Language, Society and Power: An Introduction (2nd ed.). USA and Canada: Routledge.

Tucker, G. R. A global perspective on bilingualism and bilingual education. ERIC Digest.

Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.

Van Dijk, T. A. (1992). Discourse and the Denial of Racism. Discourse & Society, 3(1), 87-118.

Widdowson, H.G. (1992). Practical Stylistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2009). Critical Discourse Analysis: History, Agenda, Theory and

Methodology. In R. Wodak, & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (2nd ed., pp. 1-33). London: Sage.

Yule, G. (2010). The Study of Language (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.