Genie’s Inability to Learn Grammar

Russ Rymer’s A Silent Childhood portrays the story of a “feral child” named Genie. With the discovery of feral children, various experts have wondered: Will “feral children” ever be able to fully grasp the grammatical structures of a language? In hope of answering this question, scientists turned the life of Genie into a personal laboratory. Genie, having lived for eleven of her thirteen years in virtual solitary confinement was undertaken by a number of …

…children” can ever retain the grammatical structures of a language. Although she made huge strides and was subjected to many tests, Genie never had the ability to use grammar correctly. As a result of being subjected to so much observation, it was concluded that Genie was a pretty crass form of exploitation (Rhymer, 1992, p.77). Although professionals study many children under similar circumstances, none has discovered a “feral child” achieving the grammatical capacity of ordinary people.