John L. Locke
Encyclopedia
John L. Locke is an American
biolinguist
who has contributed to the understanding of language development
and the evolution of language. His work has focused on how language emerges in the social context of interaction between infants, children and caregivers, how speech and language disorders
can shed light on the normal developmental process and vice versa, how brain and cognitive science can help illuminate language capability and learning, and on how the special life history of humans offers perspectives on why humans are so much more intensely social and vocally communicative than their primate relatives. In recent time he has authored widely accessible volumes designed for the general public on the nature of human communication and its origins.
in 1963, and both an M. A. and a Ph.D. in speech pathology, audiology and speech science from Ohio University
in 1965 and 1968 respectively. He went on to postdoctoral fellowships in psychology at Yale University
and Oxford University in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1972-74.
He is currently a Professor of Language Science at Lehman College
, the City University of New York
. He has previously been on the faculty at the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland
, Harvard University
, and at the University of Sheffield
, and Cambridge University in the UK.
Locke’s research has been funded by a wide variety of sources including the National Institutes of Health
, the Axe-Houghton Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foundation
, the March of Dimes
, the Cape Branch Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund
. He has held significant roles in the American Speech. Language, and Hearing Association, the Linguistic Society of America
, and the Society for Research in Child Development
.
He has been honored as a recipient of the Science Award from Ohio University
(2002) and the Faculty Recognition Award for Research and Scholarship from Lehman College
(2009).
He was a founding editor of the journal Applied Psycholinguistics, and has served on numerous other editorial boards. His administrative roles have included: Director of the Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics, Lehman College
, City University of New York
(2003–2007), Head of the Department of Human Communication Science, University of Sheffield
, Sheffield, England (1995—1998), Founding Director and Senior Research Scientist, Neurolinguistics Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital
, Boston, Massachusetts (1984–1995), Director and Professor, Graduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions (1983–1995), Director and Professor, Linguistic Institute, University of Maryland
, College Park (1982), and Director, Speech and Hearing Laboratory, Institute for Child Behavior and Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1969–1980).
He has recently authored two additional volumes directing attention to the significance of speech communication in the modern world, (reviewed by, among others, the New York Times and the Washington Times) and to eavesdropping and gender differences in understanding of human communication and the human condition.
Key articles among the more than 100 that he has published include fundamental contributions to: a) the understanding of infant babbling and how it lays foundations for speech, b) various aspects of communication disorders and how they illuminate the language faculty and neurolinguistics, c) a groundbreaking contribution to the understanding of how language evolved in humanity based on a theory of parental selection, and d) the role of human life history (with Barry Bogin
) in language evolution, based on the argument that the prolonged developmental period of humanity includes a childhood and an adolescence, phases that are absent in non-human primates, and both of which provide extensive and long-term opportunities for learning that lay groundwork for human language and culture. Locke's collaborator, Barry Bogin, has written widely on the origins of human childhood as a special stage of development and to related topics that led to the collaboration. Locke is a widely sought-after lecturer, and has been invited to speak on his work to audiences around the world.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
biolinguist
Biolinguistics
Biolinguistics is the study of the biology and evolution of language. It is a highly interdisciplinary field, including linguists, biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, mathematicians, and others...
who has contributed to the understanding of language development
Language development
Language development is a process starting early in human life, when a person begins to acquire language by learning it as it is spoken and by mimicry. Children's language development moves from simple to complex. Infants start without language. Yet by four months of age, babies can read lips and...
and the evolution of language. His work has focused on how language emerges in the social context of interaction between infants, children and caregivers, how speech and language disorders
Speech and language pathology
Speech-Language Pathology specializes in communication disorders.The main components of speech production include: phonation, the process of sound production; resonance, opening and closing of the vocal folds; intonation, the variation of pitch; and voice, including aeromechanical components of...
can shed light on the normal developmental process and vice versa, how brain and cognitive science can help illuminate language capability and learning, and on how the special life history of humans offers perspectives on why humans are so much more intensely social and vocally communicative than their primate relatives. In recent time he has authored widely accessible volumes designed for the general public on the nature of human communication and its origins.
Academic history and awards
Locke has studied and worked in the United States and the United Kingdom. He received a B. A. in speech communication from Ripon CollegeRipon College
Ripon College can refer to:*Ripon College - US college*Ripon College, North Yorkshire - secondary school*Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire - theological college...
in 1963, and both an M. A. and a Ph.D. in speech pathology, audiology and speech science from Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
in 1965 and 1968 respectively. He went on to postdoctoral fellowships in psychology at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Oxford University in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1972-74.
He is currently a Professor of Language Science at Lehman College
Lehman College
Lehman College is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, USA. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within the City University in 1968. The college is named after Herbert Lehman, a former New York governor,...
, the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
. He has previously been on the faculty at the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and at the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, and Cambridge University in the UK.
Locke’s research has been funded by a wide variety of sources including the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
, the Axe-Houghton Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foundation
James S. McDonnell Foundation
The James S. McDonnell Foundation was founded in 1950 by aerospace pioneer James S. McDonnell. It was established to "improve the quality of life," and does so by contributing to the generation of new knowledge through its support of research and scholarship. Originally called the McDonnell...
, the March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
, the Cape Branch Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund
Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, especially for society's most vulnerable.-History:...
. He has held significant roles in the American Speech. Language, and Hearing Association, the Linguistic Society of America
Linguistic Society of America
The Linguistic Society of America is a professional society for linguists. It was founded in 1924 to advance linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The LSA has over 5,000 individual members and welcomes linguists of all kinds. It works to advance the discipline and to communicate...
, and the Society for Research in Child Development
Society for Research in Child Development
The Society for Research in Child Development is a professional society for the field of developmental psychology, focusing specifically on child development. It is a multidisciplinary, not-for-profit, professional association with a membership of approximately 5,500 researchers, practitioners,...
.
He has been honored as a recipient of the Science Award from Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
(2002) and the Faculty Recognition Award for Research and Scholarship from Lehman College
Lehman College
Lehman College is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, USA. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within the City University in 1968. The college is named after Herbert Lehman, a former New York governor,...
(2009).
He was a founding editor of the journal Applied Psycholinguistics, and has served on numerous other editorial boards. His administrative roles have included: Director of the Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics, Lehman College
Lehman College
Lehman College is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, USA. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within the City University in 1968. The college is named after Herbert Lehman, a former New York governor,...
, City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
(2003–2007), Head of the Department of Human Communication Science, University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, Sheffield, England (1995—1998), Founding Director and Senior Research Scientist, Neurolinguistics Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
, Boston, Massachusetts (1984–1995), Director and Professor, Graduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions (1983–1995), Director and Professor, Linguistic Institute, University of Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
, College Park (1982), and Director, Speech and Hearing Laboratory, Institute for Child Behavior and Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1969–1980).
Brief summary of works
Locke is the author of two volumes that have played central roles in the understanding of child language development in a biological context, the first focused on the development of phonological capabilities, which Locke views as greatly under-emphasized in the study of the emergence of human language, and the second a far-ranging synthesis of evidence related to the acquisition of language. These works have been cited hundreds of times in the scientific literature, and have influenced works related specifically to phonological development, to language development in general, to language evolution, and to broad topics on developmental theory.He has recently authored two additional volumes directing attention to the significance of speech communication in the modern world, (reviewed by, among others, the New York Times and the Washington Times) and to eavesdropping and gender differences in understanding of human communication and the human condition.
Key articles among the more than 100 that he has published include fundamental contributions to: a) the understanding of infant babbling and how it lays foundations for speech, b) various aspects of communication disorders and how they illuminate the language faculty and neurolinguistics, c) a groundbreaking contribution to the understanding of how language evolved in humanity based on a theory of parental selection, and d) the role of human life history (with Barry Bogin
Barry Bogin
Barry Bagel Bogin is an American physical anthropologist trained at Temple University that researches physical growth in Guatemalan Maya children, and is a theorist upon the evolutionary origins of human childhood. He is presently at Loughborough University in the UK, after professorships at the...
) in language evolution, based on the argument that the prolonged developmental period of humanity includes a childhood and an adolescence, phases that are absent in non-human primates, and both of which provide extensive and long-term opportunities for learning that lay groundwork for human language and culture. Locke's collaborator, Barry Bogin, has written widely on the origins of human childhood as a special stage of development and to related topics that led to the collaboration. Locke is a widely sought-after lecturer, and has been invited to speak on his work to audiences around the world.
Quotations
- The child's path to spoken language (1993)
- When the human infant travels the path to spoken language, its behavior—and certainly that of its mother—may suggest some things about how our present way of doing socially communicative business evolved in the species. Finding out how something is, ontogenetically, implies how it might have arisen in evolutionary history and this is intriguing enough in its own right. But my fascination with the relationship between the two is not limited to an interest in phylogeny itself. Rather, when one thinks about how language "takes off" in the infant, one naturally wonders how the linguistic capacity may have evolved, and this too begins to look like an ontogenetic matter (p. 18)
- Language and life history (with Barry Bogin) (2006)
- ...we envision an evolutionary connection between language ... and the life history stage of childhood. We propose that in evolutionary history, growth factors working in concert with selection for reproductive success initially produced a short childhood that was later used for, and extended by, vocal and verbal learning. With continuing increases in the duration of childhood and the complexity of the new proto-linguistic behaviors, both childhood and essential components of language evolved. (p. 260)
Additional readings from John L. Locke
- Locke, J. L. (1968). Questionable assumptions underlying articulation research. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 33, 112-116.
- Locke, J. L. (1970). Short-term memory encoding strategies of the deaf. Psychonomic Science, 12, 233-234.
- Locke, J. L., & Goldstein, J. (1973). Children’s attention and articulation. Language and Speech, 16, 156-168.
- Locke, J. L., & Kutz, K. (1975). Memory for speech and speech for memory. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 18, 176-191.
- Locke, J. L., & Scott, K. (1979). Phonetically mediated recall in the phonetically disordered child. Journal of Communication Disorders, 12, 125-131.
- Locke, J. L. (1990). Structure and stimulation in the ontogeny of spoken language. Developmental Psychobiology, 23, 621-644.
- Locke, J. L. (1992). Neural specializations for language: a developmental perspective. Seminars in the Neurosciences, 4, 425-431.
- Locke, J. L., Bekken, K. E., McMinn-Larson, L., & Wein, D. (1995). Emergent control of manual and vocal-motor activity in relation to the development of speech. Brain and Language, 51, 498-508.
- Locke, J. L. (1998). Social sound-making as a precursor to spoken language. In Hurford, J. R., Studdert-Kennedy, M., & Knight, C. (Eds.), Approaches to the evolution of language: social and cognitive bases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Locke, J. L., & Hauser, M. D. (1999). Sex and status effects on primate volubility: clues to the origin of vocal languages? Evolution and Human Behavior, 20, 151-158.
- Locke, J. L., & Macaruso, P. (1999). Handedness in developmental dyslexia: direct observation of a thousand subjects. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 12, 147-156.
- Locke, J. L. (2001). First communion: the emergence of vocal relationships. Social Development, 10, 294-308.
- Locke, J. L. (2008). Cost and complexity: selection for speech and language. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 251, 640-652.
- Locke, J. L. (2008). Lipsmacking and babbling: syllables, sociality, and survival. In Davis, B. L., & Zajdo, K. (Eds.), The syllable in speech production: perspectives on the frame content theory. Taylor & Francis.
- Locke, J. L. (2009). Evolutionary developmental linguistics: naturalization of the faculty of language. Language Sciences, 31, 33-59.