Hagen replies to Hirschfeld (2008)

Original article/commentary:

Evolutionary Psychology 6(1): 186-189 L. Kirk Hagen, Department of Arts and Humanities, University of Houston-Downtown, hagenk@uhd.edu

Abstract

Hirschfeld’s (2008) thoughtful comments on my article on the bilingual brain are a valuable contribution to what I find to be an exciting and fruitful interdisciplinary investigation in evolutionary linguistics. I think his reply will help us flesh out both the biological and the environmental forces that have led to the human endowment for language. Even so, Hirschfeld’s conclusion – that the well-known difficulties which adults face in acquiring second languages are somehow proof of an environment in which early hominid bands frequently commingled - is at variance with virtually everything we know from the many disciplines that are now involved in the debate over the evolutionary origins of language.

Keywords

bilingualism, language acquisition, evolutionary psychology.

Full article

Download PDF (free)