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What questions do linguists ask?
- What is language?
- Where does language come from?
- How is it possible to convey messages by making sounds or signs?
- How is it possible to mean more than you are actually saying?
- Are only humans capable of learning language?
- Where in the brain is language stored?
- Why is it easier to learn a language as a child than as an adult?
- Why do languages have dialects? Are some dialects better than others?
- Why do languages change?
- How is language deliberately used to deceive, degrade, oppress or disempower people?
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Why is insight into human language important?
We need insight into what language is, and how it functions to address a vast number of practical problems.
Here are some examples:
- How should languages be taught in schools?
- Should education be through one's mother tongue, through a second language, or through two languages simultaneously?
- Can growing up with more than one language result in delayed language development?
- How can threatend languages be saved?
- Should users of signed languages have linguistic rights?
- Should all languages in a multilingual country enjoy equal status?
- How can people be empowered through language?
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