What does the public think about language science?

Despite the long tradition of using the scientific method to study language, there is a widespread, if largely anecdotally based, feeling among language scientists that the general public does not perceive language to be a classic object of scientific study. The goal of the current study was to investigate this notion. We report the results of three experiments conducted in informal science learning environments that: (i) confirm the public thinks of science and language as fundamentally different objects, and (ii) show there are some areas of language science that are more readily accepted as science than others. Our results also suggest that high-impact demonstrations of core linguistic phenomena may be used to encourage people to recognize that language can be, and often is, an object of scientific study. Although the public has an incomplete understanding of the study of language, we argue that the strong humanistic approach with which the public associates the study of language can be seen as an opportunity to broaden participation in science.