Q15 - Babies who can hear

[griffin.811]

Im having a difficult time ruling out D.

I dont think the stim provides enough evidence for B or D.

B: The fact that babies that cannot hear use their hands to sign, does not mean they cannot make other sounds that develop their vocal tracts. I was thinking, "ok, lets say they are making random sounds, this probably isn't 'speech oriented' because they cannot hear what speech sounds like, but by the same token, how can babies that babble be said to be using 'speech oriented' vocal ability, if this is what is needed to develop language competency?

D: I thought may be correct because the fact that babies that can hear decide to try and speak, rather than sign, shows that the babies are aware of the fact there exists a purpose to speaking.

I went with B anyway, just because the entire stim played up the idea of ability to hear v not hear and their associated actions. This led me to think the answer should incorporate this idea somehow.

Thanks

I am experiencing computer issues, please ignore the post above. I've tried to edit and delet it, but both were unsuccessful.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Hey Griffin,

This is an inference question, meaning the answer needs to be more less definitive based on what you've read. Let's hit up all the answers real quick.

(A) We don't know anything about names at all!

(B) CORRECT. We see that babies begin to develop language understanding even if they can't physically speak. This tells us definitively that development can't depend primarily on the speech-oriented vocal activity.

(C) We don't know what babies do if nobody communicates around them. In the prompt, the babies always have someone communicating around them.

(D) The passage doesn't tell us anything about what babies know about language, only what they physically do.

(E) We don't know anything about the hand gesture of hearing babies.

Hope that helps!

-t

[Mab6q]

Isnt B also right because it treats language competency as if it were only speech, while the stimulus tells us that hand gestures also constitute language, and the latter does not require vocal activity.

[bernard.agrest]

Stimulus: Babies who can hear and have hearing parents start to babble as a precursor to speaking, in the same way, deaf babies with deaf parents babble in "sign", which if translated into language mimic babbling in non-deaf babies.

Question stem: Against which of the following hypothesis

A) No discussion of names or persons and whether or not they are the simplest words in a language.
B) (Correct answer choice), Language competency does not primarily depend on the physical maturation of the vocal tract _ proven by the stimulus where babies who can’t hear/speak use signs to babble, like babies who can speak/hear.
C) No discussion of idiosyncratic language in absence of adults.
D) No discussion of awareness of the babies.
E) No discussion of hand gestures by babies who CAN hear.

[christine.defenbaugh]

Excellent breakdown, bernard.agrest!