11. Introduction to language and communication Flashcards
what are the 4 lines of inquiry?
animal communication, child language, adult normal language, aphasic language
what are the three connecting links between the lines of inquiry?
between animal communication and child language is talking chimps.
Between child language and adult normal language is language in 8-14 yr olds
between adult normal language and aphasic language is slips of the tongur
what are the three complexities of language
pragmatics, slips of the tongue and earlygramar
Define pragmatics
the branch of linguistics dealing with language in use and the contexts in which it is used, including such matters as deixis, the taking of turns in conversation, text organization, presupposition, and implicature.
what is an example of paragmatics?
“There is quite a draft in here”
what is an example of early grammar
“Mum, he goed away!!”
what is an example of slips of the tongue?
“with this wing i thee red”
what is psycholinguistics?
the study of relationship between linguistic behaviour and the psychological processes (e.g. memory, attention) thought to underlie it”
the study f the internal processes that we are able to reveal.
what is the common aim for people who call themselves psycholinguists
to find out about structures and processes that underlie a human’s ability to speak and understand language
why is it called speech perception?
so called becuase of its reliance on the perceptual system
what is speech perception?
how sounds and sound sequences are analysed and identified as they relate to meaning. it is more than auditory perception because ot plays a critial role in the indeitification of speech sounds
what are two ways of recognising speech sounds?
phonology and phnemes
define phonology
study of the principles that govern the organisation of sounds in a language and how sounds vary
define phonemes
minimum unit of sound (perceptually discriminable) that conveys meaning in a particular langauge
what are problems in decoding (in recognising speech sounds)?
o Speech is not discrete (“whatareyadoing”)
o Phonetic segments (sound segments at the level of pronunciation) are not invariant (e.g., /p/ in pill vs. spill)
o Pronunciations might differ
o Speech is not always clear (cocktail party phenomenon) – BUT we can selectively attend and meaning plays a role
what is the purpose of speech?
to communicate - listen for meaning
how is meaning conveyed?
by a number of things o Syntax o prosody (Stress, rhythm, pitch) o Rules of conversation o Shared world knowledge o non-verbal cues (non-verbal communication)
what are pragmatics?
use and comprehension of language in everyday life
what is syntax?
the rules according to which words are arranged to convey relationships of meaning within (and also between) sentences
what is some early evidence of syntax?
o Presented 20 combinations of letters M, V, R, T, and X, combined according to pre-specific rules (an artificial grammar)
o Identification task: 81% of new but grammatically constructed latter stings correctly identified
how is syntax langauge acquired?
implcitly
what are some syntac cues?
Word order, word class (e.g. verb, noun, adjective), affixes, word meaning, prosody (rhythm, annotation, stress)
what are types of synaptic cues?
prosody, and semantics/word meaning
define prosody
patterns of stress, pitch and rhythm: o ‘John gave Sam the book’ o ‘John gave Sam the book’ o ‘John gave Sam the book’ o ‘John gave Sam the book’ o ‘John gave Sam the book?
define semantics/word meaning
strong cue to syntax and subsequent interpretation of sentence.
o ‘Smoking volcanoes can be dangerous’
how to syntax and semantic structures relate?
through surface deep structure
what is surface structure?
grammatical structures of sentence (concrete)
what is deep structure?
underlying meaning of a sentence (abstract)
what is the transformational rules?
rules showing relationship between sentences with same meaning but different surface structures.
- John hit the ball = ball was hit by john
what are slips of the tongue?
insights into mechanisms of speech planning e.g. with the wing I thee red’ (Spoonerism) • ‘relevance’ → ‘relevance’ • ‘a tank of gas’ → ‘a gas of tank’
how does the brain embody language?
through the Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s area
what happened to patietn Tan?
He had aphasia and could not produce words well
what happens when you have wernicke’s aphasia?
youre able to produce language nad have conversations but conversations did not make sense, so they retained grammar but had not retained the menaing. Production is superficially okay but it is devoid of meaning
what does the child need to lean?
phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, nonverbal communication
phonology
system of sounds
morphology
combining sounds into meaningful words
syntax
combining words into sentences
semantcs
meaning system
pragmatics
appropriate use of langauge
what is involved in an infant’s speech perception?
typical order in which responses to different stimuli appear, with approximate ages. they are neonate
define neonate
startle responses, head turning, preference for mother’s voice, soothed by voice, can discriminate speech sounsd
what occurs at 1-2 months in an infant’s speech perception
smiles and responds to speech
what occurs at 3-7 months in an infant’s speech perception
responds differently to tone of voice
what occurs at 8-12 months in an infant’s speech perception
responds to name, ‘no’, phrases from routines, recognises some words
what are findings intentionality in paralinguistic communication?
some evidence that as early as 6 months babies seem to communicate intentionally (mosier & Rogoff, 1994)
what are the types of intentionality shown in later part of year one>
o Rejection (e.g. pushing away a toy) o Request (e.g. greeting gesture to obtain object, lifting arms to be picked up) o Comment (e.g. pointing at object repeatedly to get adault to attend)
when do first words and meaning occur?
between 9 and 12 months
what are protowords?
Preverbal vocalisations used consistently in set situations and containing certain sound patterns. Not meaningful to others: invented by child
what are first words?
mostly refer to concrete objects in the environment
what are overextentions and underextentions?
occur when interferences go wrong
what is involved in the acquition of grammar?
holophrases and the ability to use nonverbal guestures,
what are holophrases
‘one-word sentence’ (child name, request, edmand, questions e.g. “milk”)
what happens before and after the acquisition of grammar?
one word at a time (12-15 months)
what happens after the acquision of grammar?
vocabulary spurt, at 18 months as many as 50 words
what is fast mapping?
explains rapid acquisition
at what age do children head towards grammar?
2-5 years old. they go from 2-word stage to three to sentences
what happens when a child heads towards grammar?
more rules of language is inferred however over regularisation (e.g. foots, hitted, goed)
what does overregularisationr reflect?
active participation in learning langauge rules
what is motherese?
child directed speech - exaggerated innotations and speech. preferred by babies. it creates two way interaction
how do adults interpret vocalisation?
any is meaningful
what is adult speech
o refers to concrete objects and events
o changes with perception of child’s linguistic competencies (e.g. Snow, 1972)
o involves joint attention
o can include recasting of children’s speech
what are the behaviourist theories of speech>
Skinner - langauge is learned through stimulus - response contingencies which are reinforced
what is an exampe of skinner’s theory?
says “donkey” when he sees a donkey and the adult says yay and is all happy and indicates that the identification is correct
what are mechanisms that the behaviourist theorists believe in?
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, imitation
what is the nativist theory (the case for nature) in regard to speech
undiversal grammar and langauge acquisition device
what is universal grammar
innate set of linguistic principles that is shared across cultures
language acquisition device
(LAD) - inborn mechanisms for acquiring language.
what is the nativist theorists process?
linguistic inpur -> LAD linguistic skills knowledge –generates–> phonology semantics morphologyy syntax –determines–> comprehension grammar production
what are the interactionists theories?
the cognitive theoru social comminicationn theory and others
what is the cognitive ttheory in regards to speech
language as aspects of general cognitive development - depends on maturation and experience
social communication theories
communication and social context of language use are critical
what are types of interactiionists theories
both childrens innate abilities and the environment shape the development of langauge
what are positive effects on cognition of being bilingual?
o bilingual children score higher on metalinguistic ability, attentional flexibility, analytical reasoning (Bialystok, 1999)
what are disadvantages of being bilingual>
− Apparent disadvantage in processing speed BUT not when controlling for social class (Taylor & Taylor, 1990)
what is the critical period to learn language?
age of acquisition determines proficiency. onset at 2 yrs old and finihses at 13 years old. hoever no known neurolological basis for the end point
what is the rate of acquisition
adolescents and adults are faster
how is the facility of acqistion affected?
bu similarity between langauges
how is pronounciation affected bu age?
poorer the higher the age of arrical or acquisition
what is idem?
the global comprehension and syntax/morphology
how is succcess of second langauge acquisition?
by the individual factors of motivation and acculturation
what comes first thought or langauge?
the language we speak influences our way of thinking and how we percieve the world
does language affect perception and memory>
no
what is the strong version of lingustics>
language determines the way we thing. this is no longer held
what is the weak version of linguistics>
distinction coded in one language may not be found in another; unique characteristics of a language may influence thought and behaviour in subtle ways.
