Ch. 10 - Early School-Age Language Development Flashcards
Decentration
Process of moving from 1 dimensional description of entities / events to coordinated, multi- dimensional
e.g. not just talking about size of something, but size, shape, color etc.
Eventcast
A type of narrative that explains some current or anticipated event
Often accompany the play of young children
Metalinguistics
Refers to the use of language to talk about language
Metaphoric Transparency
The amount of literal - figurative relationships in a narrative
High or Strong relationships often result ins easy interpretation
e.g. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse
Morphophonemic
Term that is used to refer to changes in sound production related to meaning changes
e.g. jumped has a “t” sound at end
shared has “d”
both used ed at end
meaning signals past tense, but also sound signals past tense too
Story Grammar
Narrative Framework that specifies the underlying relationship of the story components
Language Development 5-12 years
- Growth occurs in all areas, but most noticeably Semantics + Pragmatics (vocab + social use of language)
- LD slows during this period + individual variation is very great
- Focus is on mastering new and existing forms of language
- Increase in size/complexity of language
- Linguistic Creativity: rhymes, songs, jokes
Cognitive Changes in Early School Years: 4 Major changes between 7-11
It Doesn’t Transform Right
Will change dramatically during the first 6 years of school
From concrete problem solving to abstract thought
- INFERRED REALITY: defined as an inference about a physical problem based on not only perceived appearances but on internal information
- DECENTRATION: ability to consider several aspects of a physical problem at once
- TRANSFORMATIONAL THOUGHT: refers to the ability to view a physical problem as existing in time and to anticipate future consequences
- REVERSIBLE MENTAL OPERATIONS: Enable a child to recognize that change can be undone or reversed
Inferred Reality Example
A preschooler often bases his judgment of a container’s volume on height alone
In contrast, a school-aged child will draw conclusions based on all physical characteristics and on personal knowledge of the volume of liquid that was poured into the container
Cognition moves from _____ to ______ during adolescence, with elementary skills gradually shifting to help a child process greater amounts of information.
CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT
Early School Age: Cognitive Maturation is most noted in what area?
Vocabulary Development
Chunking
Semantically arranging information, most often into categories (Names of animals, items found in a supermarket)
the better the chunking, the better the organization, storage, and retrieval of information
When learning new vocabulary, child will associate it with what he/she already knows
When we look at Pragmatics, we consider _____ and ________.
Genetics + Environment
Research has shown that:
Environment is important, but GENETICS is thought to have GREATER contribution in the development of this area.
Nonegocentrism
Ability to take another’s perspective
Essential for doing well in school
Why is the classroom a great influence on the development of pragmatics?
Because the school environment demands a very different set of pragmatic skills
- diff rules for talking in class
- text-related language becomes important
- required to use precise word meanings in classroom interactions
Decentration
The process of moving from very rigid, one-dimensional descriptions of objects and events to coordinated descriptions
As a speaker and a listener, the child realizes that there are many dimensions and perspectives to any given topic
Narratives
Organized in predictable, rule-governed ways that may differ due to culture
Reflect a storyteller’s experience
5/6 year old children mostly tell anecdotal narratives of a personal nature (fantasy stories are rare at this age)
Narrative development is largely learned at home
4 Narrative Types (ON TEST WRITTEN OUT)
RECOUNT: Tells about past experiences in which a child participated or observed or about which a child read and is usually requested by ADULT
EVENTCAST: An explanation of some current or anticipated event and may be used to direct others in imaginative play sequences
ACCOUNTS: Highly individualized spontaneous narratives in which children share their experiences (You know what?) and thus, are not reporting information that has been requested by adult
STORIES: Fictionalized. Endless content variation. they have known and anticipated pattern or structure in which the main character must overcome some problem or challenge
Narrative Development through Ages
2-3 years:
Can sequence forward, but can’t go backwards
Mostly involves actions
Can’t tell a coherent, casual narrative
4 -5 years:
contain many elements - such as plans and scripts
still, unable to weave a coherent narrative
5-7 years:
plot emerges, woven into a series of problems and solutions
Age 8:
Sense of plot becomes more clear
Manipulate audience + text to maintain attention - if losing interest, they may embellish
Story Grammar: 6 Narrative Features
Includes components and rules that form a narrative framework or internal structure of story
Intro
Character
Setting
Challenge
Attempts to meet challenge
Response to Outcome
Narrative Development Features
Fewer unresolved problems and unprepared resolutions
Less extraneous detail
More overt marking of changes in time and place
More introduction, including setting and character info
More complex episode structure
Closer adherence to the story grammar model
African American Narrative Characteristics
FOCUS: lengthy, personal experiences
RESOLUTION: may or may not be resolved
ORGANIZATION: experiences usually related by a theme
Spanish Speaking/Mexican American Narratives
FOCUS: frequent mention of family members
EVENTS: resolution may be present, not as important as in European, American narratives
ORGANIZATION: emphasis on relationships
European/American
FOCUS: single experience
EVENTS: chronological sequence
ORGANIZATION: topic centered, related to present conversation
