S. Krashen
Aliens
It is possible that alien language
will be completely different from human languages. McKenna (1991) has suggested
that aliens are already here and are already communicating with (some of) us:
the aliens are psilocybin mushrooms and communication happens when we eat
them.
Communication with aliens has been reported in accounts of
UFO alien abductions. In the vast
majority of cases, communication from alien to human is telepathic (e.g.
Fuller, 1966, Jacobs, 1998). It is not
clear whether the aliens understand spoken language; Jacobs argues that
human-alien communication is also telepathic
(http://www.ufoabduction.com/telepathy5.htm).
Clearly, research in this area has only begun.
Science-fiction: Star Trek
Science-fiction writers often
assume that at least some aliens will use ordinary human-type language, or
languages that are easily translated into human language by translating
devices.
The universal translator of
Star-Trek has little trouble doing this, acquiring and translating at the same
time. Its occasional problems and hesitations reveal that it operates on the
principle of comprehensible input: the translator does not try to produce and
then adjust its system when the communication fails (comprehensible output) nor
does it get corrected. Rather, it listens and understands, and gradually
acquires the system (see e.g. Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Episode 30:
Sanctuary).
In general, Star Trek gets a mixed report card on language
acquisition theory. In the first episode of the series Star Trek Enterprise, Ensign Sato was observed using a version of
the audio-lingual method in teaching an alien language at Star Fleet academy
(Star Trek Enterprise, Episode 1: Broken Bow). But in a subsequent episode,
Sato presented a perfect portrayal of a Monitor over-user (Krashen, 1981),
hesitant to speak without a firm conscious knowledge of the grammatical system
of an alien language. Captain Archer persuaded her that the survival of the
Enterprise was more important than the subtleties of the future tense.
Fuller, J. (1966) The Interrupted Journey. New York:
Berkley Publishing Corporation.
Jacobs, D. (1998) The
Threat. New York: Simon and Schuster.
McKenna, T. (1991) The Archaic
Revival. New York: HarperCollins.
This made me reread Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin. Her hero is an ethnologist whose character is partly based on that of her father, Alfred Kroeber, called the Father of American Anthropology because of his work with Native Americans. There are ansibles which can transmit instantaneous messages across the galaxy, etc., but he learns to communicate with the many different species that he encounters through ... comprehensible input.
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