Reviewed by Angela Tan, University of California, Los Angeles

The Chomskyan approach to linguistics postulates that there is a difference between competence (i.e. an idealized mental capacity that resides in individuals) and performance (i.e. the actual production of utterances). The interactional instinct departs from this traditional viewpoint by postulating that ‘competence is performance’ (101). Language emerges from interactions between speakers, which eliminates the need to posit a biologically innate set of grammar (termed universal grammar in some instances).

Ch. 1 introduces how grammar can be viewed as a complex adaptive system (CAS), which ‘emerged through local interactions among participating agents’ (18). It is argued that languages are culturally transmitted and are thus interactional artifacts. Ch. 2 then presents evidence for the emergence of language by looking at pidgins and creoles, Nicaraguan Sign Language, and grammaticalization. Ch. 3 argues for the role of context in the study of language emergence, as opposed to seeing language as autonomous or analyzing sanitized syntax. This chapter introduces two key approaches—conversation analysis and the usage-based approach—and highlights how they each contribute to the interactional basis of language.

Ch. 4 presents behavioral evidence for the interactional instinct, in which developing children have the innate drive to attune to, mirror, and elicit interaction with other interactants in their environment through gestures, facial expressions, and vocalizations. Attention is also given to the caregivers, who are the primary sources of interaction for the infants, and how these caregivers behave differently with the infants then they do around adults. This motivates the social bonding between the child and the caregiver that ensures the child’s language acquisition.

Ch. 5 introduces a model of social affiliation that may undergird this interactional instinct. This model demonstrates how the dual system of consummatory and appetitive rewards become part of the child’s affiliative memory. The neurobiological account of affiliation shows how opiates released during the interactions between the caregiver and the infant endow in both parties the feelings of calm, well-being, and euphoria. This also deepens the bond between the caregiver and the infant and functions as the motivational mechanism that guarantees infant language acquisition.

Ch. 6 argues that affiliation precedes the primary language acquisition, in which the child’s affiliative drive binds it closely to sources of language input, allowing the child to acquire language. However, second language acquisition is never guaranteed due to neurobiological changes and variation as the child develops. The conclusion of this volume explores the relationship between the interactional instinct and other fields, such as linguistics, psychology, and biology.

The interactional instinct is revolutionary in its perception of language evolution and acquisition. It is a rich resource for a wide range of audiences as it brings together the fields of discourse, linguistics, and neurobiology and has implications on other fields like anthropology and psychology. Extensive and yet concise, this book will be a valuable read for scholars and researchers.