What is commonly referred to as "the forbidden experiment"
in the research of language acquisition is the use of feral children to conduct
isolation experiments involving leaving a child incommunicado in order to see what
happens in the language acquisition process.
It was common
practice centuries ago to assume that language proceeded either from nature, from
divinity, or from another weird source that would require taking the child in complete
physical isolation. The idea was that kids would speak their "natural" language if they
are not exposed to any deterrent.
It is said that a Russian
tsar raised feral children to learn what language God would motivate them to speak. It
is known that all children who lack communication and are completely isolated die during
childhood. Hence, continuing with the experiment of isolation to research language is
equivalent to pre-meditated murder, kidnapping, and lots of anti-ethical
behavior.
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