THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE IN HUMAN BEINGS

WHAT IS LANGUAGE? LANGUAGE BEING AS A CODE/STRUCTURE

Every aspect of our lives involves language. Therefore, why is it really necessary

for people to understand the importance of language? What is the precise definition of

language? How language is currently understood? These questions will be addressed in the

following pages.

Many authors now describe the concept of language from a totally different

perspectives. This is because each of them belongs to different cultures, beliefs, customs,

but they all conclude that language is the main characteristic that differentiates us from

animals, since it is a skill that only we possess. Winick C. (1996) defined language as “A

system of arbitrary vocal symbols, used to express communicable thoughts and feelings and

enabling the members of a social group or speech community to interact and to co-operate.”

(P. 14). It is the medium of oral expression that every living being capable of speaking uses

to communicate and make itself understood.

According to the aforementioned, language is a product not of one cause but of

several factors. It is, in fact a social creation, a human invention an unconscious invention

of a whole community. Whitney (1995) stated the following:

Language is a mere incident of social life and cultural growth. It is such a big

mistake to argue that at some point men were dedicated to creating and placing

expressions for their own use and that of their descendants, since, in another period,

the succession of expressions was just beginning. Since each period provides just
 what has the occasion in which they live, nothing more. Language production is a

continuous process, because it varies with the circumstances and habits of speech

communities, but never ceases. There was never a moment in history where the past

was more advanced than the present. (pp. 50-51).

Additionally, Professor Whitney (1995) affirm that language is as much an

institution as a body of unwritten laws, and it has been called forth by the needs of

developing society. (P. 25). Language is a constituent element of civilization. It raised man

from a savage state to the plane which he was capable of reasoning. Man could not become

man except by language. An essential point in which man differs from animals is that man

alone is the sole possessor of language. No doubt animals also exhibit certain degree of

power of communication but that is not only inferior in degree to human language, but also

radically diverse in kind from it.

Sociologically, language molds the individual from infancy. The child comes to

know most of the things of the world through language. It is one of the most marked,

conspicuous, as well as fundamentally characteristic of the faculties of man. Having said

this, according to Noam Chomsky's research, children are born with an innate ability to

speak. They are able to learn and assimilate communicative and linguistic structures.

Thanks to the Universal Grammar Theory, Chomsky proposed a new paradigm in language

development. According to their postulates, all languages that we use human beings have

common characteristics in their own structure.

From this evidence, Professor Chomsky deduces that language acquisition during

childhood can occur thanks to the ability of human beings to recognize and assimilate the

basic structure of language, a structure that constitutes the essential root of any language.
The importance of language for man and society cannot be minimized. As a personal thing,

language is not only a mode of communication between individuals but is also a way for

the expression of their personality.

On the other hand, the connection between cultures that exist at a given time and

place comes from the past and is the result of the accumulation of things, attitudes, ideas,

knowledge, errors and prejudices. As we have seen, animals are unable to speak, except for

a few sounds and, therefore, unable to have any civilization. It is only the man who through

language has acquired a high degree of it. Because of this, it is important to understand how

it is possible that during all this time a civilization or exchange of ideas has been created

and why.

First of all, a contact between languages may occur between languages which are

genetically related or unrelated, speakers may have similar or vastly different social

structures, and patterns of multilingualism may also vary greatly. In some cases the entire

community speaks more than one variety, while in other cases only a subset of the

population is multilingual. Second, lingualism and lectalism may vary by age, by ethnicity,

by gender, by social class, by education level, or by one or more of a number of other

factors. Not only, in some communities there are few restrictions in situations in which

more than one language can be used, but in others there is great diglossia, and each

language is limited to a particular type of social interaction. (Matras, Y., 2009).

To conclude, the people of different parts of the world speak different languages.

Not only that, people living in the same territory use different languages or speak different

dialects. These differences in the language of the people of the world have served to limit

inter-group communication and perpetuate social isolation. No doubt, a universal language

may help in the cultural unification of the people of the world and remove

misunderstanding that grow out of inability to communicate effectively, but the practical

difficulty is to find out such a language. Since language is a great medium of

communication the assumption has been made that if the people of the world have the same

language it may help a great deal in removing the culture barriers and bring the people of

the world nearer to each other thereby serving the cause of international understanding and

cooperation. (Gave, J., 2004).

Finally, the proponents of different languages claim that ‘their language is better

than any other language and that it alone provides a more efficient means of

communication that it is more explicit, more logical, more flexible and far more easier to

master’. Efforts have also been made to improve the existing languages, to make them more

simplified and logical. But as yet no universal single language has been agreed upon and

consequently the linguistic differences continue. It is also difficult for any people to learn

more readily any other language than the mother-tongue.

Inés María Castro Mier

Karen Margarita Contreras Hadechini