Child Language Flashcards
If text uses interrogatives
what can be said
- they reflect Bruner’s social interactions theory as it shows the fundamental significance of parents interaction upon child language development
if text uses turn taking
what can be said
- if met: reflecting interactional function - if not: why? ill? distracted? — shows how parents are teaching children the ART OF CONVERSATION
if child has an accent
what can be said
- impacts current language development e.g.”…” - illustrates idiolect tendencies e.g. “…” - using informal language, suggest in a familiar/comfortable environment - uses natural idiolect patterns - reflects spoken mode
if there is a contraction of negation
what can be said
- when contracts auxiliary “do” to “don’t” -> sign of Bellugi’s stage 3 of negation - illustrates post-telegraphic tendencies due to HIGH GRAMMATICAL ABILITY
if a child says “sheeps” and “waters”
what can be said
- CHILD IS EXPERIMENTING WITH PLURALITY - virtuous error = Chomsky (Nativist Theory)
Addition
- when extra vowel sound is added to end of words e.g. Bickie -> biscuit
change of location verbs
the verbs “put” “take” (transitive verbs) - spatial awareness
change of possession verbs
eg give - children mix up change of: STATE, LOCATION, POSSESSION verbs
change of state verbs
the verbs “make” “create” (transitive verbs)
Children’s difficulty in topic - who - what
Researcher: Keenan and Schieffelin - said children have limited attention span - that why emphasise/point etc - they assume “adults know everything” and can piece together that child is saying - difficulty using the definite article (the) - someone know and indefinite (a) - someone not known
Egocentric speech
Child talking to themselves for self guidance, through an activity (Piaget, ages 3-5)
egocentric speech
- children often take part in egocentric speech - involves talking to him/her self for self guidance - helps with social-interaction
Holophrases
aka operators - one word phrases
homographs (phonology)
2 words with same spelling but diff meaning eg bow, bow (tie/curtsie)
Homonyms - 2 types
1) homophones 2) homographs
homophones
what we call words with the same sound, but different meaning (ate/eight)
Hypernym (lexis)
- word referring to broad categories/concepts e.g. dog for labrador GENERAL
Hyponym (lexis)
- word describing things more specifically e.g. proper nouns: Niagra Falls for waterfall or ford for car SPECIFIC
if adults use interrogatives/positive reinforcement/ converge ETC what can be said?
these example could reflect the Language Acquisition Support System that is part of the social interactionist theory by Jerome Bruner because the adults are scaffolding the child’s literacy development through encouragement
if better grammatical/cognitive/lexical awareness in spoken development than written what can be said?
spoken word develops faster than the written mode
if child mentions certain theme in his discourse what can be said?
demonstrates an awareness of the *** semantic field and illustrates their lexical development. Also awareness of hyponymy of ***, their semantic understanding is advanced possibly because they are interested in ***, which could therefore illustrate how interest impact a child’s langue usage
if child spells phonetically what can be said?
- experimenting with phonology - may suggest child is at Barclay phonetic/appropriate spelling stage (6) as her orthography suggest that they use sounding-out method - may be because children are often taught to read using phonics, so approach to reading may be influencing written development
if child tells story (from past) what can be said?
child understands the art of conversation, also pragmatic skills with conversion
if child use accurate verb usage (past tense) what can be said?
may contradict Chomsky who said that children often make virtuous errors with these past tense forms (comprends verbs if used frequently)
if child use intensifier what can be said?
use of adjectives modified by an intensifier gives their point of view effectively and perhaps reflects her idiolect
if child uses certain vocabulary that is relevant to her reader what can be said?
This suggests that the child is developing a good sense of writing for a specific audience and purpose and can select their lexis and style appropriately
if child uses proper nouns what can be said?
suggest an element of shared knowledge with child’s reader and thus portrays child’s reader awareness
if child uses suffix eg what can be said?
demonstrates the child’s grammatical awareness of morphology in their current literacy development
If child uses verbs (especially past tense or change of location/state/possession) what can be said?
demonstrating advanced vocabulary
if child utters an interrogative what can be said?
This question demonstrates the child’s commutative awareness and could show post-telegraphic tendencies (or transitioning)
if child writes text at home (multiple texts, showing different functions) what can be said?
their apparent willingness to write unaided by an adult suggest their cognitive and social skills are developing alongside her writing skills
if data occurs between family members in their home what can be said?
we expect to see a close tenor and find natural language patterns, due to the relaxed environment
if evidence of homophones/phonic knowledge what can be said?
These phonetic based approaches may suggest that the child has learnt how to read using a phonic approach in school and is thus applying this to her writing form Theory: Barclay stage 6 bc attaching spelling with sound Child has range of orthography strategies that demonstrates their developing literacy skills
if get written texts and they are writing to entertain readership (GAP) what can be said?
seen though narrative storyline/*** that they develop such as *** which illustrates audience awareness (quotes can just be as simple as “they got an ice cream” - describes)
IF MENTION KROLL SAY THIS>>>
However, this theory implies a linear approach, whereas we this child across this texts(s) exhibiting different skills of this model, which may suggest that contextual factors are influencing his written development. (then give example where child has used same language at different ages *only works if multiple texts*. Say why they have done this: teacher educated them?) Illustrates aspects of the behaviourist theory by Skinner as it may suggest that children are learning and imitating adult figures around them; imply significance of the school learning environment surrounding __ development.
if mum/dad/caregiver impacts child’s current language usage socially what can be said?
shows how important the family role is in developing the children’s discourse
if use past tense verb what can be said?
these temporal references illustrates a cognitive awareness of time, as proposed by researcher Piaget
intransitive verbs
verbs which do not requite objects eg she was EATING
Open words
content words in 2 word utterances eg FOOD in “more food” and STICK “give stick”
Parenthetical phrase
Exert opinion “I think”
Past Tense: - What does changing noun to verb show e.g. microwave - What does the -ed suffix show
- impressive use of conversion - demonstrates a creative grammar usage and - experimenting with morphology - concept of time - Piaget’s cognitive Theory - such morphology experimentation reflects a post-telegraphic stage of development
Pivot words
function words in the 2 word utterances eg MORE in “more food” and GIVE in “give stick”
Recasting
- subtle form of reinforcement. - form of modelling that parents use to help children acquire the language - thus part of child directed speech e.g. “he hurted himself” “he hurt himself, did he”
Reduplication (phonology/lexis)
- repetition of certain sounds/syllables e.g. bababa
Sensori-motor stage
Piaget described as the stage from birth to approximately 2 years old. - this period is the time time of rapid cognitive growth for children
socio-dramatic play
- children play together using role play bc its enjoyable practices social interaction/negotiation skills - begins at 3/4 yo
Stage of development: Post-telegraphic
(36months+) - 3 years - more grammatically complex combinations where syntax is standard
Stage of development: Telegraphic
(24-36 months) - 2-3 years - where a child uses two/three word utterances N misses out function words but the meaning is still clear
Stage of development: Two-word stage
(18-24 months) 1.5 - 2 years - Roger Brown best theory for this stage - involves two-word combinations and this and the holophrastic stage together can be known as the SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
Stages of development: Holophrastic
(12-18 months) - 1 -1.5 years - one word utterances aka operators which convey a whole meaning - often nouns n content words
Theory: 3 stages of negative formations in young children Stage 1
Main researcher: Ursula Bellugi Stage 1: The child uses ‘no’ and ‘not’ at the beginning/end of sentence e.g. “no read book” (TWO-WORD/TELEGRAPHIC STAGE) “no”/”not” = negative determiners/particles
Theory: 3 stages of negative formations in young children Stage 2
Main researcher: Ursula Bellugi Stage 2: The child moves the determiners ‘no’/’not’ inside the sentence e.g. “I no read book” (TELEGRAPHIC STAGE)
Theory: 3 stages of negative formations in young children Stage 3
Main researcher: Ursula Bellugi Stage 3: The child attaches the negative to verbs securely e.g. auxiliary ‘want’ in “do not want to read” and copula ‘am’ in “I am not reading the book” (POST-TELEGRAPHIC STAGE)
Theory: Aitchison
Three stages of lexical development: 1. labelling 2. packaging 3. network building
Theory: Amy Sheldon
- girls try to negotiate a settlement to disputes - boys make threats/issue directives
Theory: Behaviourist
Researcher: Skinnner - said children learn language by trial and error and by imitating adults - their behaviour is then reinforced with negative/positive feedback from the caregiver= operant conditioning
Theory: Bowerman
said children often make overgeneralisation with changing verbs when their vocabulary is developing (if use verb correctly: chid has great grammatical competency)
Theory: Cognitive What was Piaget’s idea?
Researcher: Piaget and Vygotsky - P said that children can only understand language when they understand the concept (comprehension before application) e.g. use past/future tense when know about time/abstract ideas/emotions that aren’t physical
Theory: Cognitive What was Vygotsky’s idea?
Researcher: Piaget and Vygotsky - V introduced the “more knowledgable other” - suggesting other people play a significant role in development of child language
Theory: Ferreiro and Teberosky
Claim being in a school environment can tend to restrain children’s imagination, whereas in a relaxed environment, they are free to be creative
Theory: Gunther Kress
Using inverted graphemes demonstrates a child being experimental with language (written) eg b for d (if at home - Ferreiro + Teberosky: free to be creative)
Theory: Heuristic (Taxonomy of language)
- language used to explore and gain knowledge about the environment (by questions and answers) - or the kind of running commentary that frequently accompanies children’s play e.g. ‘what is the tractor doing’
Theory: Imaginative (Taxonomy of language)
- language used to tell stories / jokes-(very impressive) and to create an imaginary environment
Theory: Instrumental (Taxonomy of language)
- expresses needs - concerned with obtaining: food, drink or comfort e.g. ‘want juice’
Theory: Interactional (Taxonomy of language)
- used to make contact with others and form relationships - used to develop social relationships - thus concerned with the phatic dimension of talk (link to social interactional) e.g. ‘love you mummy’
Theory: Katherine Nelson
- she looked at a Childs first 50 words and found that 10% of children’s early word phrases contained: nouns, then verbs, then modifiers, then personal/social words e.g. hello/goodbye/please/thankyou
Theory: Kirby
- children grasp the passive construction at four years old
Theory: Lexical development - Labelling
Researcher: Aitchison First stage:- child identifies objects and people - making link between sounds and objects which they refer (holophrases/operators) e.g. understanding “mummy” refers to mother
Theory: Lexical development - Network Building
Researcher: Aitchison Third stage:- involved grasping connections between words - understanding word opposites/ relationships between hypernyms and hyponyms
Theory: Lexical development - Packaging
Researcher: Aitchison Second stage:- starting to explore the extent of the label - often the point where over/under extension occurs e.g. calling mums coat “mummy”
Theory: Meaning Relations
Researcher: Roger Browns - at two word stage - when children first combine words, they talk about objects: pointing/naming/location - B suggested that these concepts the child has just finished differentiating in the SENSORIMOTOR STAGE - supports Nelson
Theory: Meaning Relations
agent + action =
negation =
action + location =
entity + location =
recurrence =
possessor + possession =
nomination =
agent + affected =
agent + action = do-er + done-to (car go) negation = expresses denial/rejection (no ball) action + location = do-er + place (go park) entity + location = person/thing + description/location (dolly bed) recurrence = repetition of events (more juice) possessor + possession = belonging/ownership (my teddy) nomination = labelling people/objects (that *is a* dog) action + affected = do-er + done to (drop blanky)
Theory: Michael Tomasello (contradict Skinner)
parents don’t correct their children, contracting Skinner, this saves face which encourages them, rather than putting them down
Theory: Michael Tomasello (get this on the end of essay)
demonstrates that we don’t need a self-contained “language instinct” to explain how children learn language. Their linguistic ability is interwoven with other cognitive abilities
Theory: Nativist
Researcher: Chomsky - children have an inbuilt capacity to acquire language, {Language Acquisition Device, LAD} - suggest as children learn a language they create unique utterances e.g. her not hungry - he coined term ‘ virtuous errors’ to refer to non-standard forms, e.g. sheeps rather than sheep. = OVERGENERALISATION - if uses^ supports theory as children using their LADD to formulate grammatical constructions
Theory: Nutbrown
Exposure to the environment has an effect on children’s language development eg watching Simpsons
Theory: Over extension - analogical
Main researcher: Rescorla - one word is used to describe something in a different category e.g. calling an apple and the moon “ball” bc both ball shaped
Theory: Over extension - categorical
Main researcher: Rescorla - one word is applied to everything in that category e.g. calling all round fruit “apple” [lexical awareness is developing bc using previous known terms to new words]
Theory: Over extension - mismatch statements
Main researcher: Rescorla - where children use a random word with loose associations with the objects - might be through the environment/child’s personal experience e.g. say ‘duck’ when see empty pond
Theory: Over extension - what?
Main researcher: Rescorla (1980) - divided over extensions into: - categorical - analogical - mismatch statements *found most of children’s overextension’s are categorical
Theory: Personal (Taxonomy of language)
- used to express (cognitive) feelings/opinions/individual identity e.g. ‘me good girl’ / ‘watch me’ (sometimes hidden)
Theory: Piaget’s egocentrism
Between ages 3-5 go through Egocentrism: 1. Egocentric: child concerned about themselves n what surrounds them presently After that: 2. Object permeance: aware of objects/things/people existing but not being in the same room ( this shows more advanced cognitive awareness) (sensori-motor)
Theory: Pronoun usage - three stages
Main researcher: Ursula Bellugi 1. child uses own name, rather than pronoun e.g. “Hannah play” (two word stage) 2. child recognises the I/me pronoun though not always in standard form e.g. “I play doll” 3. child uses pronouns in standard subjective (nominative) and objective (accusative) position within sentences e.g. “I play with the doll”
Theory: Pronoun usage - what 4 things can they express
Main researcher: Ursula Bellugi 1. person (the people involved in a communication e.g. I/you and understanding the nominative and accusative forms) 2. number (establishing the singular/plural forms e.g. I/we) 3. gender (he/she) 4. possession/genetive (mine/her/his/yours)
Theory: Pronoun usage - What did she identify
Main researcher: Ursula Bellugi - she identified that pronouns can be difficult words to use accurately as they express many different things
Theory: Regulatory (Taxonomy of language)
- used to influence the behaviour of others - in form of persuading/commanding/requesting -where a child tell others what to do e.g. ‘go away’ - politeness comes into this
Theory: Representational (Taxonomy of language)
- use of language to convey facts n information e.g. ‘I’ve got something to tell you’ (referential purpose)
Theory: Sachs
- boys more likely to use simple imperatives with play mate in pretend play - girls use fewer imperatives and use language that involves the other child in planning
Theory: Social Interactionist
Researcher: Bruner - fundamental role of social interaction in development of Childs language acquisition - copied Chomskys LAD, to LASS=Language Acquisition Support System (always link this theory to interactional function/close tenor being established between interlocutors
Theory: Social Interactionist What are some examples?
- child directed speech (CDS) / baby talk / caregiver language - accommodating towards a Childs language to encourage the conversation - interrogatives/turn taking - pointing
Theory: Socio-dramatic play
Researcher: Vygotsky - he linked cognitive and social development to ROLE PLAY (illustrating significance in child’s development) - role play of adults behaviours (eg till) is enjoyable but also practises social interaction and negotiation skills (Bruner’s theory) - SDP is continuation of egocentric speech (Piaget)
Theory: Spatial adjectives
-The ability to judge the positions and sizes of objects - According to Clark, these are the hardest adjectives to master (shows development of a child’s spatial awareness)
Theory: Taxonomy of language
Researcher: Michael Halliday - broke down children’s early language functions - spoken and written
Theory: Thompson
- girls more likely to ask adult for help
Theory: What are the 7 taxonomy’s of language
- Instrumental 2. Regulatory 3. Interactional 4. Personal 5. Heuristic 6. Imaginative 7. Representational
Theory: What did David Crystal say?
(negative formations) - that children use pragmatic devices to say “no” and will use words like “maybe” (thus being indirect) to portray a negative response [always link to politeness theory]
transitive verbs
verbs used with objects eg she was DEVOURING the sandwich
What are the stages of development
- Holophrastic (12-18 months) 1-1.5 years 2. Two-word stage (18-24 months) 1.5-2 years 3. Telegraphic (24-36 months) 2-3years 4. Post-telegraphic (36 months+) 3years+
what does title show
- genre conventions - reflect Kroll’s differentiation stage of literacy development due to awareness of conventions
when mentioning a theory, what must be taken note of:
important to note that theories have to generalise from a complex reality and it is necessary to take account of context at all times
