Computers and computer technologies are now ubiquitous in academia and, indeed, in most areas of modern Western life. While some hold reservations about the true contribution made by computers, many, if not most, believe the limitations for us now are not with computers but with our imagination.

Universities and technical institutes have embraced computer technologies with enthusiasm and many faculties now will not accept essays or assignments if they have not been put through a word-processor. Registration, course information and, increasingly, course content are available through the Internet. The internet has a wealth of information and resources (a good deal of the material for this essay was downloaded from the internet) and in reality it is only cost which inhibits universal access. The real revolution for academia, however, lies not in the mere exchange of words and pictures but in the construction and exploration of new and exciting artificial worlds. It is the relevance and contribution of these artificial realities or simulations to the Evolution of Language (henceforth EOL) debate that is the topic of this essay.

In the first part of this essay I take a look at what a computer simulation^[1] is and in particular what a simulation of the origins and evolution of a language/communication system is. I ask why we would want to build such simulations and look at what modelling opens up to us. Some recent work is reviewed. The essay then moves on to look at tendencies in the field and shifts that appear to be taking place.

In the final section I take a look at some of the theoretical and practical problems that surround simulation work in EOL studies and look at how the work fits in to the overall research enterprise.