Chapter 2: Human Language vs Animal Communication Systems
Consider the following questions
Animal communication in comparison to human language is a popular topic for general and popular news magazines. Because reporters who are not experts in animal communication write these articles, they often present new discoveries about the communication of animals as if they have language just like humans. Find two such articles and explain, considering what you have learned about animal communication systems, how these articles misrepresent the nature of what the animals are doing.
Recent discoveries about how prairie dogs communicate may or may not provide challenges to linguists' claims that animal communication systems and human language are significantly different. Read several recent academic articles and support your claim that language is/is not the appropriate term for the systems that animals use.
Suggested Readings
Berwick, R. C., & Chomsky, N. (2013). Birdsong, Speech, and Language: Exploring the Evolution of Mind and Brain. MIT press.
Bickerton, D. (1990). Language and Species. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fitch, W. (2010). The Evolution of Language. Cambridge University Press.
Maynard Smith, J., & Harper, D. (2003). Animal Signals. Oxford University Press
Pepperberg, I. M., & Pepperberg, I. M. (2009). The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots. Harvard University Press.
Spencer, M. (2003). Amusements on Animal Language. Continuum Publishing.
Von Frisch, K. (2014). Bees: Their Vision, Chemical Senses, and Language. Cornell University Press.
