child language Flashcards
what happens at the first stage (before birth)?
evidence suggests that even in the womb, the growing baby acclimatises to the sounds of its native language
what did mehler et al suggest?
- french new born babies were able to distinguish french from other languages
- they increased their sucking rate at the sound of their native language
what did fitzpatrick suggest?
- a baby’s heart rate slows at the sound of its mother’s voice
what did decasper and spence suggest?
- a baby recognises language in the womb
what happens during the pre-verbal stage (0-4 months)?
- the baby expresses itself vocally through sounds of discomfort or reflexive actions e.g. crying
-this is also known as the vegetative stage
-these are instinctive noises, not language - stage is broken down in 3 sections: cooing, babbling and proto words
what happens during the pre-verbal stage: cooing (2+ months)?
- the child makes comfort sounds and vocal play using open mouthed vowel sounds
- they gain increased control over their vocal chords
what happens during the pre-verbal stage: babbling (4+months)?
- repeated consonant and vowel sounds
- sounds resemble adults more clearly
two types of babbling: variagated and cannonical
what did petito and holowka suggest?
that babbling comes from the right hand side of the mouth
what are bilabial sounds?
sounds made by the lips
what is the term for repeated vowel or consonant sounds? e.g. dadadada
reduplicated monosyllable
does babbling have any meaning?
no, therefore they are not a baby’s first words.
- the baby will experiment and exercise their articulators (parts of the body that makes sounds)
what is a phoneme?
the smallest unit of sound within language e.g. ‘p’, ‘d’, ‘t’
what is phonemic expansion?
during babbling, the numbers of phonemes produced increases
e.g. ‘-ab’ turns into cab, jab, dab, fab
what happens during the pre-verbal stage: proto-words? (9-12 months)
- the child will use word-like vocalisations
- these do not match actual words but are used consistently for the same meaning
- e.g. ‘mmm’ is used for ‘give me that’ and may be accompanied by gestures such as pointing, or ‘ray ray’ for raisons
- also known as scribble talk
what happens during the holophrastic stage? (12-18 months)
an infant will enter the holophrastic stage and begin to use proto-words
what are diminutives?
- parents help reduce the scale of an object through addition
- e.g. doggie is easier to say phonologically
what is substitution?
- swapping a sound that is easier to produce within a word
- e.g. ‘fink’ instead of ‘think’
what is assimilation?
- one consonant or vowel being swapped for another
- e.g. ‘lorry’ turns to ‘borry’
what is deletion?
- omitting a particular sound within a word
- e.g. ‘tephone’ instead of ‘telephone’
what is phonemic reduplication?
between babbling and word production, a child may produce reduplication words, which are characterised by repeating a syllable.
- e.g. dada
what happens during the holophrastic stage: intonation?
- intonation patterns begin to resemble speech
- begin to rise intonation at the end of speech
- other variation in rhythm/ emphasis may suggest a greeting or calling
what did cruttenden research?
- tested adults and children to see if they could predict football scores through intonation.
- adults were successful whereas children up to the age of 7 struggled.
what happens during the holophrastic stage: understanding?
- although the child is unable to speak, they may understand the meaning of certain words.
- word recognition is usually clear by the end of the first year, e.g. ‘no’, and ‘bye bye’
what did bortfield et al suggest?
- babies will turn their heads at the sound of their own name and appear to listen for longer
