Language Essay
Ryan Butler
Psychology 360
August 29, 2011
Professor Newlin
LANGUAGE
Have you ever wondered how we speak? How about why our communication is considered a language and other animal’s communication is not considered language? A wide range of beliefs exist on what defines language. Thus, by exploring the definition of language and lexicon, evaluating language’s key features, the four levels of language structure and processing, and the role of language in Cognitive Psychology, an understanding of what language is becomes clear. Let us begin by defining language and a term named lexicon.
LANGUAGE AND LEXICON DEFINITION
One big question, when the subject of language comes up, is exactly what language is. What…show more content… Another important element, which may derail language acquisition, is bad sentences and no word chain grammars. This basically refers to the order of words. If I say, "there football tomorrow a is right game" instead of "there is a football game tomorrow right?" it makes a world of difference in understanding the language. Lastly, texts must be worded clearly to make sense. If I tell a story and do not have a point or direction, then nobody will understand me. A clear point, direction, and thought process is important in language. Along with these four levels of language, another aspect is crucial to the language cycle as well. One thing that has driven a revolution of research is what role the whole process of language plays in Cognitive Psychology.
ROLE OF LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
The role of language processing, in Cognitive Psychology, was enough to spawn a revolution of research in the field. By examining the two different views, and a few big names associated with these views, one sees how a knowledge revolution was born. According to the Harris (n.d.) website, two different views on languages role in cognition have emerged. One view is the Modularity of Cognition Theory, and the other is the Unified Theory of Cognition. The
