A Biological Basis for Individual Differences in Learning to Speak

If the contribution of each factor play a role in the variations observed in learning to speak and in the speaking skill eventually attained, it would help to understand how language is acquired and help to compare language learning to the learning of other cognitive skills.

Abstract

Children go about learning language in different ways and at different rates. Brown's (1973) Eve had utterances averaging more than four morphemes when she was a little over 2 years old; Adam's utterances did not even quite reach that length when he was 3 years and 8 months old. Are such variations due to different neurological organization, different general cognitive ability, or different kinds and amounts of language input? Most likely, all three factors play a role in the variations observed in learning to speak and in the speaking skill eventually attained. Nevertheless, if the contribution of each could be isolated, it would help us to understand how language is acquired and help us to compare language learning to the learning of other cognitive skills.