When a human infant is born into any community in any part of the$ A# p6 w$ K9 a8 J
world it has two things in common with any infant, provided neither of them __1__
' u U, }1 s$ U& s+ B, l have been damaged in any way either before or during birth. Firstly, and most __2__7 G& Y% R+ m' Q6 M0 F5 O: { b2 U
obviously, new born children are completely helpless. Apart from a powerful
1 j2 x5 `$ e' @ capacity to pay attention to their helplessness by using sound, there is nothing __3__
( Q% w3 l s% l3 P the new born child can do to ensure his own survival. Without care from some
u1 k; X- r7 V+ _ other human being or beings, be it mother, grandmother, or human group, a! r$ z Y6 m5 J$ R- H L8 ~
child is very unlikely to survive. This helplessness of human infants is in marked+ R* e3 F7 F7 l5 j
contrast with the capacity of many new born animals to get on their feet within __4__
g0 T L7 o% G4 d' ]- P V( V; Y, N minutes of birth and run with the herd within a few hours. Although young8 W- Z: g* f$ I+ a& e: y
animals are certainly in risk, sometimes for weeks or even months after birth, __5__
. Z |& Q2 z) j) U8 N compared with the human infant, they very quickly develop the capacity to
3 K" {* X& }, J3 @/ P fend for them. __6__ B: i5 G& T8 i0 B
It is during this very long period in which the human infant is totally- n" i) k8 W+ R7 ^* b
dependent on the others that it reveals the second feature which it shares with all __7__- t# M' E* Q; X7 X( V" Y. e% D
other undamaged human infants, a capacity to learn language. For this reason,+ }# @+ [) |3 [. s9 u/ z+ l9 B0 F! n
biologists now suggest that language be “ species specific” to the human race, __8__
$ F- ?1 a/ W6 h that is to say, they consider the human infant to be genetic programmed in __9__
( i% g; v, q& p: O9 d2 z% @1 ` such way that it can acquire language. This suggestion implies that just __10__: I6 @; o/ Y% v, j7 ~4 {. m
as human beings are designed to see three-dimensionally and in color and just; z5 |1 `7 L& V1 |. I
as they are designed to stand upright rather than to move on all fours, so they( L- d7 L+ e. I1 `( F
are designed to learn and use language as part of their normal development as
* ?2 ~7 E* V! K# O% k well-formed human beings. |