Chapter 4 Flashcards
A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviors
Communcation
A system of symbols that can be spoken, written, signed and used for communication
Language
- Gesture
- Oral Language
- Written Language
Modes of Communication
Use of nonverbal communication (eye contact, hand movements, body language) to express or assist in expressing one’s ideas or desires; may include vocalizations; preverbal.
Gesture
Use of spoken language to communicate one’s wants and needs (learned without formal instruction- but how??)
Oral Language
Utilizaed alphabetics system; found in books, notes, text messages, etc; most complex mode of communication; requires formal instruction
Written Language
- Phonology
- Morphology
- Semantics
- Syntax
- Pragmatics
Components of Language
Rules associated with sound combinations and pronunciation of sounds
Phonology
Modifications of words, using inflections (morphemes)
Morphology
Smallest units of meaningful speech
morphemes
Involves words and their meanings; vocabulary
Semantics
Rules governing word order and word classes
Syntax
The use of language within the communicative context
Pragmatics
- Involves conversational rules
- Appropriateness of language
- How social context affects language
Pragmatics
For most children, language develops…
predictably.
- Nurturists
2. Naturists
Theories of Language Acquisition
Says that “Children are born with no knowledge or language”
Nurturists
Says that “Children acquire language as a result of direct interaction with caregivers; a clean slate”
Nurturists
Says that “Language is innate; children are born with certain merchanisms and abilities that predispose them to learn language”
Naturists
commonly known ‘Nurturists’ (BVTP)
- BF Skinner
- Vygotsky
- Tomasello
- Piaget
Says that “children learn language behaviors because they are reinforced by adults”
BF Skinner
Behavioral Theory
BF Skinner
Says that “everyday social interactions (feeding, dressing, playing) involve langauge; children learn language as a bi-product of interacting; they imitate what they hear from loves ones; loved ones support their learning”
Vygotsky
Social Interactionist Theory
Vygotsky
He added that “the social nature of language provides the motivation to talk; to acquire language”
Tomasello
Says that “language is a bi-product of cognitive development. Language is learned, because children perceive and organize their experiences into meaningful units. These organizational units become language”
Piaget
Cognitive Theory
Piaget
Terminology associated with cognitive theory (SAAE)
S-Schemata
A- Assimilation
A- Accommodation
E- Equilibrium
A concept, mental category, or cognitive structure
Schema/Schemata
Use to “file” all new information
Schema/Schemata
Will become categories for language
Schema/Schemata
Cognitive process whereby a person includes a new stimulus into an existing schema
Assimilation
You “scan” your existing schemata when you encounter new stimuli
Assimilation
Decide: Where does it fit?
Assimilate it
Developing new schemata to allow for the organization of stimuli that do not fit into existing schemata
Accommodation
A balance between assimilation and accommodation
Equilibrium
Too much assimilation results in categories that are too broad to be useful
Equilibrium
Too much accommodation results in too many categories to be useful
Equilibrium
Lifelong process
Equilibrium
They are prewired or hardwired for language
Naturists
“Language is an innate ability and children only need exposure to language for these inborn abilities to be set in motion”
Naturists
commonly known ‘Naturists’
- Noam Chomsky
2. Gleitman/ Pinker
- Linguistic Acquastion Device
2. Linguistic Universals
Noam Chomsky
An abstract mechanism located somewhere within the brain that allows children to acquire language at a rapid pace and be creative in their sentence constructions
Linguistic Acquastion Device
Children are “prewired” with grammatical rules that are languages have in common (syllables, nouns & verbs, etc.)
Linguistic Universals
Says that “Children have innate knowledge of word categories (noun-verb), or innate conceptual knowledge (object-action) which helps them understand new words they encounter”
Gleitman and Pinker
Says that “Children can use their innate understanding of grammar to figure out new words”
Gleitman
“Syntactic Bootstrapping”
Gleitman
Figuring out something new from something you already know
Bootstrapping
“tunking” example
Syntactic Bookstrapping
With general understanding of a verb (action) when they hear a new one they can figure it out because of the syntax (how it’s used in sentence)
Syntactic Bookstrapping
“Semantic Bookstrapping”
Pinker
Based on the child’s general idea of what an object is vs an action is. They can generaliza new words as either nouns or verbs
Semantic Bootstrapping
Prelinguistic Communication
Birth-12 months (1 year)
Vocalizations that occur BEFORE the first word
Prelinguistic Communication
The sound of early language (3)
- Cooing
- Babbling
- Jargon
Receptive Vocabulary Developing (words child understand but doesn’t yet produce, 3-50 words)
Prelinguistic Semantic Development
No expressive vocabulary in this stage (just cooing, babbling, jargon and gestures to communicate)
Prelinguistic Semantic Development
Caregiver behaviors that assist infants in learning language (2)
- Child-directed speech
2. Joint Reference
Slower rate; increased pitch variations, long pauses, frequent repetition (motherese;parentese)
Child-directed speech
Directing a child’s attention to a particular object or action and then labeling it when both child and caregiver are attending
Joint Reference
Intentionality
Prelinguistic Pragmatic Development
Use of verbal and nonverbal behaviors to indicate wants and needs
Prelinguistic Pragmatic Development (INTENTIONALITY)
Parents respond to child’s gestures and vocalizations as they interpret what they mean by them
Prelinguistic Pragmatic Development (INTENTIONALITY)
As the parents’ behavior reinforce the child’s behaviors, they occur more often
Prelinguistic Pragmatic Development (INTENTIONALITY)
Dore’s Primitive Speech Acts (5)
- Labeling
- Requesting an object or action
- Refusing an object or action
- Calling-to get attention
- Repeating-imitating
Organized prelinguistic behaviors according to the social function they serve; both verbal and non verbal
Dore’s Primitive Speech Acts
First Words: Speech Development
12-24 months
Linguistic stages begin with the appearance of the first word
First Words: Speech Development
Child’s first words sound different from adult productions, due to slowly developing speech sounds.
First Words: Speech Development (SPEECH)
Initial pronunciations are simplified using Phonological Processes
First Words: Speech Development (SPEECH)
Slowly, processes are extinguished, as adult productions are mastered
First Words: Speech Development (SPEECH)
First words: Semantic Development (4)
- Receptive Vocabulary
- Expressive Vocabulary
- Jargon remains coming
- Protowords
Grows to 500 words
Receptive Vocabulary
Grows to 250 words
Expressive Vocabulary
First words emerge shortly after first birthday
Expressive Vocabulary
First words consist of (4)
- 60% nouns and proper names
- 15% early action words
- Few interaction words- “hi” “bye-bye”
- Few descriptive words- “mine”
Emerge along with real words
Protowords
Also known as “Phonetically consistent forms”
Protowords
Word-like productions used consistently to label objects or actions
Protowords
Bear no resemblance to adult form of word
Protowords
Used consistently to refer to only that object or action
Protowords
Adults learn what they mean and reinforce them as though they were true words
Protowords
Toward the end of the first year, two-word utterances emerge
First words: Semantic Development
Social functions described by Dore continue to be used
First words: Pragmatic Development
Words allow child to express them more clearly
First words: Pragmatic Development
Social words allow child to learn social interaction and cultural routines
First words: Pragmatic Development
Behaviors related to books that children demonstrate before they begin to read
First words: Pre-literacy Development
- Expressing interest in books
- Holds/turns books to upright and ready position
- Turns pages front to back
First words: Pre-literacy Development
Early Language: Speech Development
Age 2-3 (25-26 months)
Speech sounds continue to develop, phonological processes continue to be suppressed
Early Language: Speech Development
Vocabulary Spurt occurs
Early Language: Semantic Development
Grows to 900 words by age 3
Receptive Vocabulary
Grows to 500 words by age 3
Expressive Vocabulary
Learning up to five new words per day, due to fast mapping
Expressive Vocabulary
Children’s ability to hypothesize the meaning of a new word after hearing it used only one or two times
Fast Mapping
Child begins to combine 2-3 words into early sentences that express semantic relations
Early Language: Semantic Development
Semantic Relationships in Early Language: Semantic Development (6)
- Recurrence
- Rejection
- Disappearance
- Denial
- Agent + Action
- Action + Object
Recurrence
More
Rejection
No
Disappearance
No, Bye-Bye
Denial
No
Agent + Action
Daddy go; baby cry
Action + Object
Push car; go car
Overextention and underextention are common as child learns so many new words
Early Language: Semantic Development
When child uses one word to refer to many different objects (overusing the word)
Overextenetion
“everyone is mommy”
Overextention
“All dogs are buffy or all animals are dogs”
Overextenetion
Child uses one word to ONLY label an object that is specific to her
Underextention
Uses doggie only to refer to her dog buffy; doesn’t use it to refer to other dogs
Underextention
Early Language: Syntax and Morphological Development
Age 2-3 (25-36 months)
14 Grammatical morphemes emerge
Early Language: Syntax and Morphological Development
The smallest unit of meaning
Morphemes
Two types of morphemes
- Freestanding
2. Bound Morphemes
Freestanding Morphemes
Words
Bound Morphemes
Grammatical inflections that attach to words to change their meaning
Used to measure the complexity of language in preschool children
Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)
MLU
M=
L=
U=
M= Mean (average) L= Length in morphemes U= Utterance (one single spoken comment)
14 Grammactical Morphemes
- Present Progressive -ing
- In
- On
- Regular Plural -s
- Irregular Past
- Possessive ‘s
- Uncontractible Copula
- Articles
- Regular Past -ed
- Regular third person -s
- Irregular third person
- Uncontractible Auxiliary
- Contractible Copula
- Contractible Auxiliary
Example of Present Progressive -ing
Mommy driving (19-28)
Example of In
Ball in cup (27-30)
Example of On
Doggie on sofa (27-33)
Example of Regular Plural -s
Cats, dogs, classes (27-33)
Example of Irregular Past
Came, fell, broke, sat, went (25-46)
Example of Possessive ‘s
Mommy’s balloon broke (26-40)
Example of Uncontractible Copula
He is. (28-46)
Example of Articles
I see a kitty (28-46)
Example of Regular Past -ed
Pulled, walked, batted (26-48)
Example of Regular Third Person -s
Kathy, hits, begs, loses (28-50)
Example of Irregular third person
She does it. She has it. (28-50)
Example of Uncontractible Auxiliary
He is. (29-48)
Example of Contractible Copula
That man’s nice. (29-49)
Example of Contractible Auxiliary
Daddy’s eating (30-50)
- Count the number of utterances the child says
- Count the number of morphemes in each utterance
- Add all of the morphemes together
- Divide the total number of morphemes by the total number of utterances
Determining Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)
Average number of morphemes used in each utterance
MLU
The baby is crying! # of morphemes
5
No crying, baby! # of morphemes
4
Mommy is coming. # of morphemes
4
Mommy’s coming. # of morphemes
4
See baby, Mommy’s home. # of morphemes
5
Demonstrated that a child’s MLU correlates closely with the child’s age (in years) if the syntactic development is normal
Roger Brown
Age 1 to 2
MLU=
1.0 to 2.0
Age 2 to 3
MLU=
2.0 to 3.0
Age 3 to 4
MLU=
3.0 to 4.5
MLU no longer a good measure of language complexity because children learn to say more with less
after age 5
Increased vocabulary and use of sentences allow for one more advanced means of expressing needs and wants
Early Language: Pragmatic Development
Dore’s Conversational Acts (7)
- Request
- Response to Request
- Description
- Statement
- Acknowledgement
- Organizational Devices
- Performatives
Request
Information or action
Response to Request
answering questions/compliance with commands
Description
Not just naming but describing
Statement
facts, rules, feelings, beliefs
Acknowledgement
of someone else’s utterance
Organizational Devices
begin or ending conversations
Performatives
utterances that perform a particular function like: complaining, teasing, joking, warning
Child becomes more active in book reading:
- Points to pictures
- Labels things
- Ask questions about pictures
- Focused on pictures/not yet aware of text or its value
Early Language: Preliteracy Development
Growth explodes in all areas of language
- Semantics
- Syntax & Morphology
- Pragmatics
- Preliteracy
Preschool Language Development
Preschool Language Development
Age 3-5 years
Receptive Vocabulary by age 5
3000 words
Expressive Vocabulary by age 5
2000 words
Adding different categories of words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, articles, negatives, wh-words
Preschool Language Development
Learns to produce
- compound sentences
- complex sentences
- complex verb forms
Preschool Language: Syntax & Morphological Development
Using conjunctions (and, but, if)
Compound sentences
imbedding phrases within sentences
Complex sentences
allow child to talk about past, present and future
Complex verb forms
Sentence structure is adult-like; mostly error free
Preschool Language: Syntax & Morphological Development
Like adults, child is able to use language to accomplish almost any purpose
Preschool Language: Pragmatic Development
Able to carry on extended conversations with adult or peers
Preschool Language: Pragmatic Development
- Initiates conversations
- takes turns
- maintains and changes topics
- ends conversations
- changes tone; code sifts from peers to adults
Preschool Language: Pragmatic Development
Phonological Awareness Skills definition in Preschool Language
awareness of how phonemes-syllables-words-sentences are connected
Phonological Awareness Skills consist of: (5)
- Rhyming skills
- Syllabication
- Letter-sound correspondence
- Beginning sounds
- Manipulation of sounds
Noties and is interested in text (pretends to read)
Preschool Language: Preliteracy Skills
“Reads” favorite labels and commonly recognized signs
Preschool Language: Preliteracy Skills
Monologues; in which one person speaks and one or more people listen
Narratives
Prolonged opportunities to speak, where the speaker bears total burger for communication. Requires more skill than conversation
Narratives
Allows children to produce narratives as well as participate in conversation
Complex Language Skills
Narratives differ from conversation:
- monologues
- speaker bears total burden for conversation
- require more expressive language skill
Able to tell stories about won experiences as well as things he has seen and heard
Preschool Language: Narrative Skills
Can describe problems and resolutions
Preschool Language: Narrative Skills
Includes characters and relationships
Preschool Language: Narrative Skills
Good narrative skills correlate with good reading and writing skills
Preschool Language: Narrative Skills
Types of Narratives (3)
- Fictional Story Telling
- Recalling Experiences
- Scripts
major change in language
The school years (Linguistic Development)
The ability to read and write
Literacy
Child learns strategies for comparing words to one another
The school years (Semantics)
Share spelling but have different meaning (fair, suit)
Homonyms
Different words but mean the same thing (sick, ill, big/large)
Synonyms
Opposites (big/little)
Antonyms
Figurative Language
- Language that carries a meaning that is different from its literal sense
- emerges during school years
- allows children to “play” with language
Figurative Language
Examples of Figurative Language (3)
- Metaphors
- Similes
- Idioms
Figurative Langauge=
HUMOR
Using language to develop and maintain friendships, accomplish goals, etc.
Pragmatics
Suggests that children acquire language as a result of the direct interaction with caregivers (parents and siblings) in their environment
Nurturist Theory
Focuses on the belief that language is an innate ability and children only need exposure to language for main proponents of the naturist perspective for language acquisition
Naturist Theory
Says that “language is learned through operant conditioning”
Skinner
Says that “cognitive development influences language development”
Piaget
Says that “language acquisition device (LAD) aids development”
Chomsky
Says that “innate conceptual knowledge aids development (semantic bootstrapping)
Pinker
Says that “innate knowledge of syntax aid development (syntactic bootstrapping)
Gleitman
Says that “language is learned through social interactions with caregivers”
Vygotsky
Says that “social interaction serves as a motivator for children to learn language”
Tomasello