Creolization: Could Adults Really Have Done It All?

Creolization is the expansion of a simplified pidgin into a more complex language called a creole. Various theories have been proposed to explain this transition; most are attempts to explain who created the creole, adults or children, and refer to processes of first or second language acquisition. However, using traditional methods of investigation, this issue has been difficult to resolve. To augment the more traditional studies of creolization, we have developed an artificial language paradigm designed to model a pidgin learning situation. This paper describes our first experiment in this line of work and relates the findings to claims made regarding the possible involvement of adults in the creolization process. The results suggest that a theory relying on adults alone may not be sufficient to explain the phenomenon of creolization.