Chapter 8 Language Acquisition Flashcards
Active Construction of a Grammar Theory
Theory of child language which says that children acquire a language by inventing rules of grammar based on the speech around them.
Attention Getter
Word or phrase used to initiate an address to children.
Attention Holder
A tactic used to maintain children’s attention for extended amounts of time.
Babbling
A phase in language acquisition during which the child produces meaningless sequences of consonants and vowels. Generally begins around the age of six months.
Bilingual
State of commanding two languages; having linguistic competence in two languages. In machine translation, a system that can translate between only one language pair.
Canonical Babbling
The continuous repetition of sequences of vowels and consonants like [ mamama] by infants; also called repeated babbling.
Child-Directed speech
Speech used by parents or caregivers when communicating with young children or infants. In many Western societies, child-directed speech is slow and high-pitched and has many repetitions, simplified syntax, exaggerated intonation, and a simple and concrete vocabulary.
Code-Switching
Using words or structural elements from more than one language within the same conversation ( or even within a single sentence or phrase).
Complexive Concept
A term used in the study of child language acquisition. A group of items ( abstract or concrete) that a child refers to with a single word for which it is not possible to single out any one unifying property.
Connectionist Theory
Theory of language acquisition which claims that children learn language through neural connections in the brain. A child develops such connections through exposure to language and by using language.
Conversational Turn
The contribution to a conversation made by one speaker from the time that she takes the floor from another speaker to the time that she passes the floor on to another speaker.
Critical Period
Age span,usually described as lasting from birth to the onset of puberty, during which children must have exposed to language and must build the critical brain structures necessary in order to gain native speaker competence in a language.
Feral Child
Child who grew up in the wild without care by human adults, often with animals.
First-Language (L1) Acquisition
The process by which children acquire the lexicon and grammatical rules of their native language.( In the case of native bilinguals, both languages are acquired as first languages.)
Foreign Accent
An accent that is marked by the phonology of another language or other languages that are more familiar to the speaker.
Fossilization
Process through which forms from a speaker’s non-native language usage become fixed ( generally in a way that would be considered ungrammatical by a native speaker) and do not change, even after years of instruction.
High Amplitude Sucking (HAS)
Experimental technique used to study sound discrimination in infants from birth to about six months. Infants are given a special pacifier that is connected to a sound-generating system. Each suck on the pacifier generates a noise, and infants’ sucking behavior is used to draw conclusions about discrimination abilities.
Holophrase
A one -word sentence.
Homesign(System)
A rudimentary visual-gestural communication system (not a language) that is developed and used by deaf children and their families when a signed language is not made their communication.
Imitation Theory
Child language acquisition theory that claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear.
Innate
Determined by factors present from birth.
Innate Hypothesis
A hypothesis that humans are generally predisposed to learn and use language.
Linguistic Universal
Property believed to be held in common by all natural languages.
Multilingual
The state if commanding three or more languages: having linguistic competence in three or more languages. In machine translation, a system that can translate between more than two languages.
Neglected Child
A child who is neglected by caretakers, often resulting in significantly lower exposure to language as a child.
One- Word Stage
Stage in first-language acquisition during which children can produce only one word at a time ( Also called the holophrastic stage.)
Overextension
In the study of child language acquisition, a relationship between child and adult perception of word meaning: the child’s application of a given word has a wider range than the application of a given word has a wider range than the application of the same word in adult language.
Overgeneralization
In the study of child language acquisition, a relationship between child and adult application of rules relative to certain contexts: a process in which children extend the application of linguistic rules to contexts beyond those in the adult language.
Reinforcement Theory
Theory of child language acquisition which says that children learn to speak like adults because they are praised, rewarded, or otherwise reinforced when they use the right forms and are corrected when they use the wrong ones.
Sequential Bilingualism
Bilingualism in which the second language is acquired as a young child.
Simultaneous Bilingualism
Bilingualism in which both languages are acquired from infancy.
Social Interaction Theory
Theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language through social interaction in particular with older children and adults-and prompt their caregivers to supply them with the appropriate language experience they need.
Telegraphic Stage
A phase during child language acquisition in which children use utterance composed primarily of content words.
Telegraphic Utterance
Utterance containing primarily content words ( in the style of a telegram with many function words and function morphemes left out).
Two-Word Stage
Stage in first-language acquisition at which children produce two-word utterances in addition to one-word utterances.
Underextension
Application of a word to a smaller set of objects than is appropriate for mature adult speech or the usual definition of the word.
Universal Grammar
The theory that posits a set of grammatical characteristics shared by all natural languages. Also the name of this set if shared characteristics.
Variegated Babbling
Production of meaningless consonant-vowel sequences by infants
Voice Onset Time (VOT)
The length of time between the release of a consonant and the onset of voicing, that is, when the vocal folds start vibrating.
Conditioned Head-Turn Procedure (HT)
Experimental technique usually used with infants between five and eighteen months with two phases: conditioning and testing. During the conditioning phase, the infant learns to associate a change in sound with the activation of visual reinforcers, first presented at the same time and then in succession, such that the infant begins to anticipate the appearance of to the visual reinforcers and look at them before they are activated. During the testing phase, when the infant looks to the visual reinforcers immediately after a change in sound, it suggests that the infant has perceived the change in sound, thereby demonstrating the ability to discriminate between the two sounds involved.
