Born talking : a personal inquiry into language
Pt. 1. Born with no apparent knowledge of language, humans generally attain a basic mastery of their mother tongue in the course of only a few years. How do they do it? In this program, Dr. Jonathan Miller builds a case for Noam Chomsky's theory of a universal grammar and deflates misconceptions about childhood language acquisition while raising some very intriguing questions of his own. Dr. Miller's systematic investigation of a child's structured capability for acquiring language and the elaborate social supports that facilitate language acquisition results in a clear and engaging exposition of a captivating topic. (47 minutes)
DVD Video, English, ©2003
Films for the Humanities and Sciences, Princeton, N.J., ©2003