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Koko The Gorill The Evolution Of Sign Language

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The definition of a language is “the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.” Now while there are about six-thousand-five-hundred different languages spoken around the world today, scientists are intrigued as to how these forms of communications initiated (Cite this). How did humans, evolving from one continent, expand their vocabulary to the many languages we have today? This man-made creation has lead researchers, as well as our ancestors, to develop many different theories on how communication rose, and these unanswered questions emphasize the complexity as well as the uncertainty of language evolution despite how easy a language like English may seem today (Tallerman). Some speculate that the first steps guided towards communication occurred 1.7 million years ago, …show more content…

When researchers attempted to teach chimps human speech from birth, it was unsuccessful because the chimps would only pick up on three or four words. In a famous experiment, Koko the gorilla was taught sign language and she successfully learned a few hundred signs. This proves that if nonhuman primates have the ability to learn some basic sign language, then our early ancestors most likely used some form of sign language or at the very least basic hand gestures to communicate with one another. Also, because apes are very similar to humans and could not understand our language as well, it proves the uniqueness that human language has in our natural world (Jackendoff). Because our early human ancestors evolved into bipedal animals, they began to use their hands for many different purposes. For examples, weapons could be used to hunt prey more efficiently; however, more importantly, hands allowed humans to express themselves in a much more freer and commonly manner (Corballis

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The earliest forms of language were spoken around 250,000 years ago. Over the years, language has become more diverse. There have been more than 100,000 different languages spoken or written in our history. As you might expect, language is an essential part of our existence.

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To get Washoe to pay attention so the sign language rather than what we spoke, the Gardeners ask for the teachers to never speak while signing with Washoe. In other studies, the teachers would expose the chimps to spoken languages and the chimps would not pick up on the signs as much. The Gardeners method was proven to work, Washoe thrived in ASL. If she didn’t know a sign she would make one up, like “dirty good” for toilet. When Washoe was exposed to other chimps, she was able to teach them ASL to communicate with each

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Nancy Rourke, the painter of Deaf Culture: Unity of Global Signing, was born deaf and grew up in a world of oralism (Northen, Spindel). Oralism is when someone teaches a deaf person how to read lips and talk instead of teaching them to sign (Oralism). Rourke’s parents did not know she was deaf until she was about six years old but quit in 1986 to become a graphic designer. Twenty years later she was laid off and decided to begin painting again and took a couple of workshops to help prepare for the transition in her life. Her life transition did not begin until 2010 when she became involved in

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Language has allowed the human species to advance unlike any other species as Pagel stated that “chimpanzees are using tools to communicate”. Chimpanzees have the ability to communicate on a level where they can establish and build social relationship among each of them. Over the years there is one question that has been left unanswered. “Why would they use a stick to extract termites from the ground”? Since Pagel stated that “the Chimpanzees were intelligent” I think that if we us human being were that intelligent as the Chimpanzees that were our ancestor years ago , we would have understand more the use of language.

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What do sign language and animals have in common? Koko the gorilla! Koko the gorilla is a Western lowland gorilla that was taught ASL, or American Sign Language. Koko is very special.

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Unbroken, a novel written by Laura Hillenbrand, outlines the horrors of being captured by Japanese troops during the Second World War. Because of the ethics that the Japanese people had, the Geneva Convention was hardly ever followed, and the captives were rarely ever treated well. The Red Cross was blatantly lied to, meaning that to the outside world, the Japanese Prison Camps were treating their husbands and sons well. On the interior, however, it was apparent that the prisoners had to do whatever it would take to survive. Men stole goods, communicated in many ways, and even had ploys to either kill camp officials, or to even run away.

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The roots of ASL can be traced back to France in the 1700s. A French cleric, Charles-Michel de l’Epee, visited a mother with twin daughters who were both Deaf. He tried to communicate with the daughters, but they both ignored him. He expressed his irritation to the girls’ mother, who explained that she also had difficulty communicating and educating her daughters. Because of this, de l’Epee decided to tutor the girls himself.

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It can be hard for the deaf and hard of hearing to become engaged in theater. Sign language interpreters, though extremely helpful, do not allow deaf audience members to fully experience a show. South Plantation High School, one of the only schools to offer a program for the deaf, cast tradition aside to create a rendition of “The Crucible” that is truly one of a kind. The dark, witchcraft-filled production follows a series of deaf characters who are narrated in English, rather than the other way around. “The Crucible” initially debuted on Broadway in 1953 and was written by Arthur Miller.

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According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), “American Sign Language is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body.” While American Sign Language (ASL) is the primary language of most deaf North Americans, it is also used by people who are hard-of-hearing. Just like the spoken language, sign language is not universal. In fact, American Sign Language is based on the methods of the French. Also, the immigrants in Massachusetts had their own sign language known as Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language, which is very likely to have been absorbed into ASL (Nomeland and Nomeland, 2012).

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Toddlers will be able to sign instead (aidenofthetower, 2016). Secondly, it promotes language skills. Toddlers can start understanding language and the ability to sign what they are thinking. Sign language helps develop a way to practice language in baby and toddlers. Next, sign language develops understanding of emotion.

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