A CONNECTIVIST EXPLANATION OF WHY AND HOW WE LEARN TO SPEAK

Abstract

The relational network theory is a connectivist model that allows us to understand that a person’s linguistic system is, at the same time, a biological system and a product of culture. Indeed, the development of linguistic structures that have their seat in the brain is what makes it possible for individuals to interact with each other in the most varied communicative situations, each of which takes place in the context of culture. This paper offers a relational and connectivist explanation of why and how human beings learn to speak. We learn to speak because we need to communicate, that is, we need to continuously recognize and exchange the most diverse types of meanings, and mother language learning consists in the creation of a network of relationships, a vast and complex system of interconnected nodes. These explanations of why and how language is learned are consistent not only with directly observable linguistic evidence, but also with the neurological evidence provided by neuroanatomy and connectomics.