LanguageLanguage Development and Acquisition
Wild Child: The Story of Feral Children
This clip is a trailer for a documentary about wild, or feral, children. The girl featured here grew up for six years, surrounded by dogs rather than humans.
The girl has many qualities characteristic of dogs, including barking rather than speaking. How do you think her upbringing has affected and may continue to affect her speech? How might you explain it in terms of the critical period hypothesis?