2 - learning to use sentences & Atypical development Flashcards
how many languages are there in the world?
over 5000
what are the key components of grammar?
syntax and morphology
what is syntax?
the organisation of words into large structures (sentences etc)
how is children’s knowledge of syntax tested?
using novel words (e.g. point to where the lion weefed the dog)
what is morphology?
the analysis of word structure
what is inflectional morphology used to mark in English?
tense (walk - walked)
person (I walked, he walks)
number (dog, dogs)
possession (my dog’s bone)
how can you test if a child understands the function of inflectional morphemes?
use a novel word
‘this is a wug, now there are two…’
what is the development trajectory that children follow when developing morphology?
- discover an inflection
- over apply the inflection (I like mouses, overregulisation)
- balance applying inflection productively and remembering exceptions
what are some theories of grammatical development?
nativist approach: Chomsky
constructivist approach
what is the nativist approach of grammatical development?
children cannot learn by creatively copying what they hear around them because of:
- the poverty of the stimulus problem
- the no negative evidence problem
so he proposed a universal grammar
what is Chomsky’s universal grammar?
grammatical categories and principles used to generate the grammatical sentences of the world’s languages
it is proposed to be innate
what is a criticism of universal grammar?
no complete account of what innate knowledge makes up universal grammar
little consideration of learning algorithms or child as social being
what is the constructivist approach of grammatical development?
emphasis on learning
there is no poverty of stimulus nor negative evidence problem
grammar is learnable based on children’s capacity for statistical learning from social interaction
emphasis on social context and learning mechanisms
what is a criticism of the constructivist approach?
no fully worked account of how different learning mechanisms interact to allow children to produce language based on what they have previously heard
what are pragmatics?
the component of language whereby we vary linguistic forms according to people speaking to and context
what do pragmatic skills involve?
- tuning into relevant context and common ground
- understanding communicative intentions and inferring what someone meant
- making multiple communicative moves in sequence during conversation and manage steady information flow
how do children learn to tune into relevant context?: pragmatic skills
learning different referring expressions (saying ‘it’ or ‘the dog’ or ‘the big red dog’)
request for clarification help to develop this skill (‘which dog?’)
when do children begin to combine words into sentences?
around 2-years-old
what is evidence of querying intentions?
5-year-olds query why someone said what they did if it does not fit their predictive model of language
e.g. the horse with ears when its the only horse
what is developmental language disorder (DLD)?
a language impairment that cannot be explained by hearing loss, other developmental disorders, or a brain injury and is causing a functional problem
what makes the investigation and remediation of DLD difficult?
covers a number of heterogeneous sub-groups and child often have other difficulties (like ADHD)
how many does DLD effect?
2 in 30 children
what is sensorineural deafness?
hearing loss in the inner ear - the cochlear isn’t working well
what is auditory neuropathy sensory disorder?
sounds are received normally by the cochlear but become disrupted as they travel to the brain
what is conductive deafness?
sound can’t pass efficiently into the inner ear, often cause by blockages such as fluid in the middle ear (glue ear) while temporary can effect speech development
how is deafness often identified?
newborn hearing screening - screens for sensorineural loss
how do cochlear implants work?
convert sound into electrical signals and send them directly into the auditory nerve, doesn’t completely ‘fix’ hearing
who uses cochlear implants?
children with severe/profound hearing loss that haven’t benefited from hearing aid
how do deaf infants learn to communicate?
deaf infants with deaf parents learn to look to their parent more
hearing parents often struggle to support joint attention
how does deafness affect speech development?
often a delay in early communicative development
what are the consequence of language delay?
delays in pragmatics e.g. understanding deception or sarcasm can be delayed into adulthood
delays in social cognition - ToM
important to support children’s access to language
why is pragmatic development affected by childhood deafness?
limited access to a fluent, natural language model, be it signed or spoken
