STEVEN PINKER, Psychologist, Cognitive Scientist, and Linguist at Harvard UniversityHow did humans acquire language? In this eSeminar, best-selling author Steven Pinker introduces you to linguistics, the evolution of spoken language, and the debate over the existence of an innate universal grammar. He also explores why language is such a fundamental part of social relationships, human biology, and human evolution. Finally, Pinker touches on the wide variety of applications for linguistics, from improving how we teach reading and writing to how we interpret law, politics, and literature.


Read the following presentation then answer the questions below:
  1. Do you agree or disagree with the quote?
  2. Can you define prescriptive grammar?
  3. Can you define descriptive grammar?
  4. Do you think there is an unchanging standard grammar in English?

NB: You may need to do some further reading around prescriptive and descriptive grammar.
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