The genesis of creole languages is important to the field of linguistics for at least two reasons. As newly emerging languages, creoles provide a unique window on the human language faculty and on the development of language generally (Veenstra 2008). They also offer insight into what are arguably universal linguistic structures. Two opposing theories have been in contention in the literature with respect to creole genesis: (1) that creoles owe their origin to the lexifier and substrate languages of their speech community and to other environmental influences (McWhorter 1997); and alternatively, (2) that universal innate linguistic structures or principles are the generative source of creole grammar (Bickerton 1981). Both theories have a claim to at least partial correctness. This thesis adds new evidence in support of the universalist/innatist argument. This thesis examines five written creole languages and two signed creole languages of geographic and historical diversity and focuses on the grammatical system of case, word order, and agreement of these languages as one axis along which to investigate the issue of creole genesis and universality. The signed languages in particular offer unique data, especially the data from Nicaraguan Sign Language, where there was an absence of significant lexifier and substrate influences. Patterns of what are termed core indispensable features in these seven language systems are uncovered, examined and compared. Further comparison is made with the case, word order, and agreement features of the world's languages generally and of creole languages as a subset of the world's languages, based on data in the World Atlas of Language Structures (Dryer & Haspelmath 2009) and in the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (Michaelis et al. 2013b), respectively. The findings and contributions to the field made possible from the data in this thesis are that there are commonalities in the case, word order, and agreement systems of the subject creole languages that qualify as core indispensable features and that these features are generated by universal innate linguistic expectations. These commonalities are: (1) that morphological case inflection is not a core indispensable feature; (2) that SVO word order is a core indispensable feature; and (3) that agreement as a feature, seen only when word order is apparently verb final, occurs only in the signed creole languages and is more accurately interpreted as topicalization incorporated into SVO word order rather than as an independent core feature. Nicaraguan Sign Language presents especially compelling evidence for these conclusions.

This is a case study that focuses on the oral proficiency in English manifested by the 4-year-old sonof the author. He speaks Swedish as his L1 like his both parents but has been exposed to Englishsince he was one year old from using a tablet. The child’s spoken production was recorded andtranscribed with a focus on the plural-forms and the genitive. An important field that this case studyis motivated by is how child language development may be connected to the concept of innatism,that language is based on innate principles (Lightbown & Spada, 2013:20) as it has been found that anumber of languages are acquired according to predictable patterns and processes (Moskowitz,1994:621-627) such as a the u-shaped learning process and over-generalization which has beenfound when investigating both L1 and L2 acquisition (Abrahamsson, 2013:663). The aim of thisstudy is to find possible similarities within the learning process: whether L2 acquisition follows thesame developmental patterns as in L1 acquisition by analyzing the recordings mainly targeting theplural and the genitive morphemes produced by a 4-year-old L2 speaker of English. Findings in thisresearch revealed that the child demonstrated a similar developmental pattern in the form of theu-shaped learning process (Abrahamsson, 2013:663).

Les connaissances de génétique humaine viennent d’évoluer profondément avec un changement de paradigme majeur : l'émergence de l'épigénétique, en rupture avec l'ère du «tout génétique». L’objectif de notre recherche est d'analyser jusqu'à quel point ces changements se sont opérés dans l’enseignement secondaire en biologie dans 19 pays. Nous interrogeons les relations entre science et société et plus précisément entre connaissances scientifiques, valeurs (par exemple celles qui fondent les idéologies innéistes, sexistes, voire racistes) et pratiques socioculturelles(spécifiques aux pays, à leurs systèmes éducatifs, aux religions). Cette thèse relève de la didactique de la biologie. Sa première partie présente d’une part et de façon succincte quelques connaissances de génétique humaine pour situer ce changement récent de paradigme et d’autre part, le contexte didactique de ce travail fortement lié à l’analyse des conceptions chez les enseignants et dans les manuels scolaires.La seconde partie est consacrée à la méthodologie. Élaborée conjointement avec les différentes équipes du projet BIOHEAD-CITIZEN, elle se compose d’une grille d’analyse pour les manuels scolaires et d’un questionnaire de 10 pages pour analyser les conceptions des enseignants. L’outil statistique des analyses multivariées est présenté de façon simple pour permettre à un lecteur non averti d'en maîtriser le sens.La troisième partie présente et discute les résultats, qui sont de deux types :- Analyse critique des manuels scolaires. Dans la majorité d'entre eux, ont été identifiés des indices montrant un ancrage de conceptions innéistes, souvent implicites. Par exemple, les images de jumeaux monozygotes suggèrent dans tous les pays que leur façon de s'habiller serait déterminée par leurs gènes. D’autres indices, en revanche, différencient les pays entre eux. Par exemple le syntagme programme génétique, aujourd'hui fortement contesté par les scientifiques, reste très présent dans certains pays (France, Finlande, Liban, etc.), alors qu'il a récemment disparu dans les manuels scolaires tunisiens, et qu'il n'est traditionnellement pas utilisé dans d'autres pays (ex-union soviétique).– Analyse des conceptions d'enseignants de 19 pays à propos du déterminisme génétique des performances et traits humains (7050 enseignants du primaire et du secondaire, de lettres et de biologie). Ces conceptions illustrent de fortes interactions entre les valeurs des enseignants et leurs connaissances sur l’hérédité. Il existe des différences importantes entre les pays. Par exemple des pays d’Europe méditerranéenne (France, Italie, Portugal) sont moins innéistes que les pays non européens. En Finlande, les enseignant(e)s sont à la fois plus innéistes qu'en France,mais tout aussi féministes. De façon plus générale, les conceptions des enseignants varient significativement avec leur degré de croyance et de pratique religieuse mais indépendamment de la confession religieuse. Elles varient aussi en fonction de leur âge, de leur sexe et de leur niveau d’étude. Au total, nos analyses mettent en évidence des systèmes de conceptions : les plus innéistes sont en même temps les plus créationnistes quant à l'évolution, et correspondent à certaines opinions politiques, religieuses et sociales.La conclusion insiste sur l'importance pour les enseignants de prendre conscience de la complexité de ce qu'ils enseignent en génétique humaine. La formation des maîtres gagnerait à les familiariser avec une approche critique des manuels qu'ils utilisent, mais aussi de leurs propres conceptions, en particulier en sachant identifier les interactions, fréquentes en génétique humaine,entre valeurs et connaissances scientifiques. / The rise of epigenetics as a major new paradigm for human genetics has profoundly transformed the field, marking a rupture with the “all genetics” era. The aim of our research is to analyze the effect of these changes for biology teaching in secondary education in 19 countries. We examine the relationship between science and society and more specifically between scientific knowledge, values (e.g. those associated with innatist, sexist or racist ideologies) and socio-cultural practices (specific to countries, their educational systems, and religions).This thesis is in the didactics of biology. The first part briefly presents some elements of human genetics to help situate the new paradigm, as well as introducing the educational context of this work, which highlights the analysis of conceptions among teachers and school textbooks.The second part is devoted to methodology. Developed in collaboration by the 19 teams of theBIOHEAD-CITIZEN project, it consists of a framework for analysing textbooks and the useof a 10-page questionnaire to assess teachers' conceptions. The statistical tool of multivariate analysis is then presented in a widely accessible manner. The third part presents and discusses the results, which are of two types:- Critical analysis of school textbooks. The majority of them still contained innatist conceptions, although often only implicit, as with images of monozygotic twins suggesting in all countries that their way of dressing is determined by their genes. However, other elements differed from one country to another. For example, the term "genetic program", now strongly challenged by scientists, is still regularly used in some countries (France, Finland, Lebanon,etc.), while it has recently disappeared from Tunisian textbooks, and has never been widely used in some others (like the former Soviet Union).- Analysis of teachers' conceptions about genetic determinism for human traits and performances in 19 countries (7,050 primary and secondary school teachers, in literature and biology). These conceptions illustrate the close interaction between teachers’ values and their knowledge about heredity. There are important differences between countries; for example,teachers in Southern Europe (France, Italy, Portugal) are less innatist than outside Europe. In Finland, the teachers are more innatist than in France, but not more sexist. More generally ,teachers’ conceptions vary significantly with their degree of belief in God and religious practice, irrespective of religious denomination. Conceptions also vary according to age, sex and level of education. Overall, our analysis highlights the concept of a ‘system of conceptions’: the most innatist groups are also the most creationist, and are characterized by certain political, religious and social features.The conclusion emphasizes the importance for teachers of becoming aware of the complexity of human genetics. Teacher-training needs to include a critical approach not only to textbooks, but also of the teachers’ own conceptions, helping them to identify interactions between values and scientific knowledge.

Both Plato and the Cambridge Platonists hold the view that moral knowledge depends primarily on cognitive resources which are innate to the mind. There is, nevertheless, a need for our minds to be prompted through experience in order for knowledge to occur. The following study is an attempt to reconstruct and compare the accounts in Plato and the Cambridge Platonists of the empirical conditions that are required for knowledge. For Plato, these conditions are a result of a decline in political and psychological constitutions, through which the intellect is increasingly developed. Dialectical analysis of received customs, laws, opinions, and language may then reveal the moral ideas upon which the polity was initially based and which remain implicit in common sense throughout the historical decline. Philosophical knowledge consists of a recollection of the ancient wisdom which was revealed to the original lawgiver by the gods. In the Cambridge Platonists, philosophical knowledge likewise consists of a recollection of revealed knowledge that stood at the foundation of a form of life, namely, Judaism. The revival of ancient Greek and Jewish philosophical theories in modern times heralds the end of history, in which the complete system of knowledge is both attainable and necessary for salvation. From the perspective of humanity as a whole, knowledge is initially granted through revelation, then generally forgotten, and finally recollected in a highly intellectual age of deteriorating morality and stability. The esoteric traditions of knowledge, coupled with recent developments in science and philosophy, act as the prompts for knowledge, given an intuitive basis that has been formed through the spread of Christianity. This intuitive basis serves as the concrete way in which the natural anticipations of the mind are gradually shaped in order to recognize the truth when it appears in a shrouded manner in modern philosophy. Both Plato and the Cambridge Platonists are critics of the similar intellectual trends in their times and they respond with similar arguments; however, unlike Plato, the Cambridge Platonists are unable to connect their rational critique with their genetic critique of modern ideas, rendering the latter ineffective. / Thesis (Ph.D, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-24 16:19:49.145

Every individual is born with different natural competencies that can be honed by both voluntary and involuntary environmental stimuli. The response our genotype decides to make, if any, towards those stimuli, determines how well our competencies develop. Each person’s coding and variations of genes will result in unique qualities in their phenotype, or physical structure. As a result, a person has various traits that are displayed through their behavior. DNA is genetically shown to express itself through traits by up to 75%. This leaves a sort of buffer of around 25%. This region is available for us to adapt to our environmental stimuli. Your innate qualities will not reach their full potential without stimulation from the environment, in a leadership case, with education and training and therefore it can be argued that environmental exposure is necessary to fully expose the potentials and capabilities of an individual, rather than instill a new skill or develop a talent that was not existent before. Innate leadership is not a permanent state, on the contrary, it is a continuously adaptive situation demanding contextual evolutionary changes or resignation from the subject occupying the role. When the needs and demands of a society or era outweigh the relevance of the innate leaders' traits and competencies, an evolution of leadership is needed to maintain a positive relationship between all parties involved. As a result, the innate leader will begin to lose their innateness in their role and unless they evolve and adapt (because the two actions are not the same) to new contextual needs, their tenure as leader will begin to be detrimental and counter-functional. What we want to put forward is a real, universal and constructive understanding of what makes a human happy, motivated and productive and how an innate person in context is a much better solution in the short and long run, for those around them when put to a task.