This guy is very clever. He is even cleverer at explaining the clever things he thinks about in such a clever way that you don't need to be nearly as clever as him to get to drips with them.

I confess to getting completely lost in the grammar discussions and skipping forwards a little. But even then I found the rest of the book very rewarding indeed.

The main reason I like this chaps books is because they are all about me.

They are about you as well, so go and read them now.

Beautifully written with a naughty sense of humour and one hell of a profound message. ( )

A three-year-old toddler is "a grammatical genius"--master of most constructions, obeying adult rules of language. To Pinker, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology psycholinguist, the explanation for this miracle is that language is an instinct, an evolutionary adaptation that is partly "hard-wired" into the brain and partly learned. In this exciting synthesis--an entertaining, totally accessible study that will regale language lovers and challenge professionals in many disciplines--Pinker builds a bridge between "innatists" like MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, who hold that infants are biologically programmed for language, and "social interactionists" who contend that they acquire it largely from the environment. If Pinker is right, the origins of language go much further back than 30,000 years ago (the date most commonly given in textbooks)--perhaps to Homo habilis , who lived 2.5 million years ago, or even eons earlier. Peppered with mind-stretching language exercises, the narrative first unravels how babies learn to talk and how people make sense of speech. Professor and co-director of MIT's Center for Cognitive Science, Pinker demolishes linguistic determinism, which holds that differences among languages cause marked differences in the thoughts of their speakers. He then follows neurolinguists in their quest for language centers in the brain and for genes that might help build brain circuits controlling grammar and speech. Pinker also argues that claims for chimpanzees' acquisition of language (via symbols or American Sign Language) are vastly exaggerated and rest on skimpy data. Finally, he takes delightful swipes at "language mavens" like William Safire and Richard Lederer, accusing them of rigidity and of grossly underestimating the average person's language skills. Pinker's book is a beautiful hymn to the infinite creative potential of language. Newbridge Book Clubs main selection; BOMC and QPB alternates.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

(posted on my blog: davenichols.net)

Cognitive scientist and evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker presents a compelling argument for the existence of a language instinct in humans. Pinker relies heavily on the shoulders of Noam Chomsky, whose theories of language, especially Universal Grammar, revolutionized thinking about the ways in which humans learn to convey thoughts vocally via grammar and symbolism. Pinker's thesis is backed up by numerous studies and decades of research from many disciplines.

The book starts by laying out the argument that there exists an instinct derived through evolutionary natural selection which predisposes humans to acquire and utilize vocalized language. Pinker uses a myriad of studies as well as anecodotal accounts which illustrate the ways in which this process works well, works poorly, or is hindered following accidents and brain disorders.

A bit of a dry section follows as Pinker gets into an advanced discussion of grammar and how the brain may decide how to structure sentences. While many readers while feel their eyes grow fuzzy through these three or so chapters, the section lays the ground work for many of the remaining chapters. Pinker shows that complex language constructions, including the irregular nature of many English verbs and constructs, can be simplified into a few very basic rules and procedures which we understand as basic grammar.

From there, Pinker describes work on language itself, including the meanings and utilization of words, the similarities and diversities of languages, and the nature of baby talk. The rest of the book offers the reader the closing arguments as Pinker describes the biology behind his theory, including how genes might control the language instinct, and how natural selection may have acted upon genetic variety. The last two chapters deal with 'grammar police' (called 'Language Mavens' by Pinker) and the polishing of the main thesis with a chapter titled 'Mind Design.'

I loved the entire book, even the somewhat dry grammar chapters. I know some readers will not make it past that part, and it is understandable since it is dense and deals with a subject most of us hated in school. However, The Language Instinct stands as an amazing argument in favor of a genetic basis for the nature of language and for the ability of very young children to acquire and thrive with a few inate grammatical concepts. Recommended for anyone interested in psychology, linguistics, brain and mind, education, or philosophy of science. Four and one-half stars. ( )

Helped me to understand how language is learned and in this sense has been very helpful in my teaching of ESL students. A bit complex, but worth the time spent to read and understand it. The benefit is in understanding. You have to find your own way to apply it. But unlike many book on educational pedogogy, it's real and it's useful. ( )

Not Read