Question

For optional extra-credit, respond to one or more of the questions below. They're pretty general, so they should not take too long, but I encourage you to use specific examples (quotes/paraphrases) from whatever Unit Overview 1 material you choose for this task.

NOTE: You can earn up to 20 extra-credit points for this task, but in Grades, the possible points are indicated as 0.0 so that the students who don't do this assignment are not penalized.

General Guidelines for Citing Sources: When you quote (exactly copying the wording) or paraphrase (completely changing the wording) the ideas from outside sources, use in-text citations, following these guidelines:

• Lead into quotes/paraphrases with attribution phrases, e.g., S/he says....According to the article...As explained in the lecture...
• Use quotation marks around any wording that you borrow/copy from sources (and make sure the quote is accurate).
• Completely reword (but still cite) any ideas you paraphrase from the source.
• At the end of the sentence with a quote or paraphrase, add a parentheses with the quote's or paraphrase's page, paragraph, or episode number--or use "n.pag" for sources without page numbers. Add a period after the parentheses (but not after the last word of the quote or paraphrase). In later DQ postings, I'll give you more detailed instructions about citing sources.

Examples of Paraphrases, Quotes, and In-Text Citations

Paraphrase:  Scientists have expressed varying, sometimes conflicting views about communication in humans and other species. "The Gentle Genius of Bonobos" video explains that the Bonobo chimps developed language skills when the researchers illustrated language use while interacting with the chimps (n. pag).   

Quote: However, the article "How Did Language Begin" questions the idea of actual language in non-humans and asserts that "animal communication systems, in contrast, typically have at most a few dozen distinct calls, and they are used only to communicate immediate issues such as food, danger, threat, or reconciliation" (2).

Discussion Questions (DQs)

1. Summarize (briefly describe) the 2-4 ideas you found most interesting in the Unit 1 Overview.
2. Aside from using spoken, written, or signed words, how else do humans communicate?
3. How do you think human language is similar to and different from the ways that animals and insects communicate?
4. If you've come across other interesting sources, I encourage you to add the titles or links here.

Answer 1

Answer: Language has been an impediment and an inherent characteristic of the humans, which have been the corner stone of the development and progress of the humans. The ability to communicate using a language has not only ushered the development of the human beings, but also multiplied the tenacity of the progress of the all-round development of the masses.

                                   Language has been the primary factor that had led to the inter-change and exchange of thought process among the people, but it has also increased the communication level. The use of language has allowed the people to share their ideas and beliefs thereby creating a sense of inter dependence and understanding, hence increasing the possibility of a unified progress and development of the common people.

                                 However, the use of language had led to the unification of the people using the common dialect and thereby the formation of the various territories and States across the globe. This has further led to the possibilities of advancement of one territory over another, and in some scenarios, language has also been the factor diving the people in to various dialects and areas, hindering the sense of unified progress and growth.

                                We have lately witnesses, how language has also been a factor mobilizing the inter-relation between the various species of creatures, specially those close to the humans, to understand the essence of the language the people speak, and act in a way that expresses their shared ideas with the common man. The animals have lately been a huge beneficiary of the shared ideology with the humans because of the existence and viability of language.