Child Language Flashcards
Imaginative language is
Language is used to tell stories and jokes and to create an imaginary environment
What was the order in which Brown found inflections to be most commonly acquired in?
1) ing
2) plural ‘s’
3) possessive ‘s’
4) the, a
5) past tense ed
6) third person singular endings e.g. He singS
7) The auxiliary verb ‘to be’
What difference in language can a baby recognise pre birth?
It can recognise the difference between its own language and other languages. This has been explained by differences in rhythm and intonation
Personal language is
This is the use of language to express feelings, opinions and individual identity e.g. Me good girl
Cruttenden 1979 divided inflectional acquisition into 3 stages, what were they?
1) children memorise words on an individual basis
2) awareness of rules is shown in terms of plurals but this can lead to overgeneralisation e.g. ‘They runned’
3) correct inflections are used
Between what ages did Brown (1973) investigate children’s language?
20-36 months
Representational language is
The use of language to convey facts and information
What is the order of the stages in child language development?
1) cooing
2) babbling
3) holophrase
4) two word
5) telegraphic
6) post-telegraphic
What is phonemic expansion?
The 1st of babbling, where a child’s range of phonemes expands
Features of the Post-Telegraphic stage
- Determiners are used correctly
- Sentences with more than one clause start to be used
- Coordinating conjunctions begin to be used
- Inflectional affixes begin to be acquired
What is addition?
Adding a vowel sound to create a CVCV (consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel) word
By 36 months how many words will be in a child’s active vocabulary?
2000
Heuristic language is
Language used to gain knowledge about the environment e.g. ‘What is that tractor doing’
How long before birth do a baby’s ear bones form?
6 months
At 9-10 months there is then a reduction in the range of phonemes used, what is this called?
Phonemic contraction
What has research shown about parents abilities to decipher the cries of babies?
That they can do it regardless of the nationality of the baby. They can also identify different types of cry from a baby e.g. Angry, hungry
What is variegated babbling?
Variations in the constants and vowels produced e.g. Manamoo
This occurs after reduplicated babbling
What is the most important language development stage of a babies first year and when does it start and end?
Babbling 6-12 months
What did Jacques Melher find out and when?
In 1988 found that babies could distinguish between French and other languages at 4 days old. Although his evidence was that they sucked their dummies more vigorously when they hear French
When does a baby usually say their first word?
At the end of their first year
What is cognitive language acquisition theory and who coined it?
It was coined by Jean Piaget: children develop their linguistic competence alongside their ability to understand the world around them
Rescoria 1980 noted 3 forms of overextension, what were they?
1) categorical overextension e.g. The hyponym ‘apple’ is taken to stand for the hypernym ‘fruit’
2) Analogically overextension- extending a label by linking similar actions e.g.calling a cat a scarf because they can both be stroked
3) mismatch or predicate statements- statements which convey some form of abstract information e.g. Referring to a cot as doll. Because the doll is often in the cot
What did Del Hyme talk about?
Communicative competence- all the skills associated with communication
What’s overextension?
Applying a label to more objects than it should have e.g. Referring to all 4 legged animals as ‘doggy’
Name 3 examples of deletion
1) final consonants dropped
2) unstressed syllables deleted
3) consonant clusters are reduced
What did Bloom 1973 conclude about the two word stage?
It is extremely ambiguous e.g. Mummy sock
Could mean that it is the mothers sock or that the baby wants its mother to put their socks on
When a child reaches 18 months how many words will be in their productive vocabulary?
50
What did Bloom 2004 find out?
The ratio of nouns to verbs in most dictionaries is 5:1
Which nation does not use CDS?
Samoa
Up to how many new words a day do some linguists estimate children can learn?
10 words a day
What is network building?
Grasping the relationship between hypernyms and hyponyms
What are the two types of CDS
Motherese and fatherese
What was the behaviourist theory?
B.F. Skinner: children learn primarily through imitation and patterns of positive and negative reinforcement from their carers
By 24 months how many words will be in a child’s active vocabulary?
200
What is underextension?
Applying a label to fewer objects than the child should e.g. Only referring to the milk in your bottle as milk but not to all other milk
What did saxton (2010) investigate?
Common patterns in the vocabulary of children under 18 months e.g. Mama, dads, dog, kitty etc
What is the critical period theory and who coined it?
E.Lenneberg coined it and it stated that children have a limited period during which their language ca develop rapidly. After this, language development is much harder.
Does the babbling stage continue even after the child can use real words?
Yes, for a few months
Instrumental language is
When the child uses language to express their needs e.g. ‘Want juice’
What is the nativist theory of child language acquisition and who coined it?
It was coined by N.Chomsky and says that children mare born with in inbuilt LAD, they have an innate ability to acquire language
What is a diminutive?
A reduction of the scale of a word via addition e.g. Doggyand kitty
What does a rising intonation at the end of a sentence indicate?
That it is a question
Who conducted the ‘wugs’ experiment and what was it?
Conducted by Jean Berko (1958) the wugs experiment was used to test children’s understanding of plurals
Can a child understand much more than they can say?
Yes, family names, basic responses and shaking of the head are related to familiar situations
What age does the telegraphic stage begin?
Around 2 years old
What did Braine 1963 coin?
The pivot schema approach to the two word stage with one main word, a pivot and the other word is a slot which can be changed
What was the interactional theory of child language acquisition and who coined it?
J.Bruner coined this theory- children learn through the input of their carers, correcting and supporting their linguistic development
What is packaging?
Entails the word’s range of meaning, over and underextension have been completed before this stage
Between what ages does the cooing stage take place?
6-8 weeks
What did Nelson 1973 find out?
60% of a child’s first 50 words were nouns?
Who investigated Jim and what was special about him?
Bard and Sachs 1977
- son of deaf parents
- not deaf himself
- TV used as a substitute for interaction
- speech development was slowed until he started attending language classes
What is labelling?
Making the link between words and the objects to which they occur e.g. Mummy referring to the child’s mum
Examples of substitution
- R becomes W e.g. Story-> Stowy
- Th becomes D, N, F e.g. Dat or Fumb
- T becomes D e.g. Toe becomes Doe
- P become B e.g. Pig becomes Big
What is the telegraphic stage?
When the child begins to use more complex utterances
What is the language acquisition support system and who coined it?
Coined by J.Bruner, 1983 it is a system by which caregivers support their child’s linguistic development and social situations.
Regulatory language is
Where language is used to tell others what to do e.g. ‘Go away’
Interactional language is
Language being used to make contact with others and form relationships e.g. ‘Love you mummy’
Example of a 30 month olds speech?
“Me going on trip”
In that crying stage what do babies learn to control?
They learn to control their airflow, this will be useful later in language development
What is virtuous error?
A mistake made by a child when they show an awareness of rules e.g. Mouses
What is the recent trend, that is thought to increase the intelligence of a baby?
To play classical music
Which two examples show that a lack of social interaction means that children can’t learn language?
Genie and Jim
What are the three stages of learning negatives?
- Dependence upon ‘no’ and ‘not’
- Don’t and Can’t begin to be used
- More negative forms e.g. Didn’t isn’t etc
What were Michael Halliday’s seven functions of language?
1975
1) Instrumental
2) regulatory
3) interactional
4) personal
5) heuristic
6) imaginative
7) representational
What are baba and mama examples of?
Reduplicated monosyllables
