THE PROMISE OF ANIMAL LANGUAGE RESEARCH (DOLPHIN, APE, ACQUISITION)

Research over the past two decades has yielded some noteworthy results and a great deal of controversy in the field of animal language research (ALR). This dissertation critically reviews some of the recent reports of language acquisition by apes and dolphins and proposes that a closer relationship between ALR and linguistics is necessary for future progress in both fields. It is demonstrated that ALR sheds light on the process of language acquisition in humans: by comparing the results of language training in a chimp to language acquisition in a child we can see that both share a common non-linguistic stage of language learning. While the child goes on to acquire language, the chimp does not. Animals may be prevented from acquiring language by biological constraints, but this can only be clearly established by future work in which appropriate language models are employed. Current knowledge of linguistic processes in language acquisition and language change suggest new approaches for ALR. In particular, since recent work on creole languages has demonstrated their importance as a key to Universal Grammar, it is proposed that a creole-based model is the most appropriate language model for future research in ALR.