Child Language Acquisition

Question 1

Skinner

Answer 1

Behaviourism Theory - linked with the theory of imitation, relates to parents positive feedback, through the process reinforcement and repetition

Question 2

Aitchison

Answer 2

Labelling - Children make the connection between sounds of words and the objects that they refer to

Packaging - Children begin to learn that words can have a range of meanings, meaning overextension and underextension become hurdles

Network Building - Grasping connections between words, and understanding synonyms and opposites

Question 3

Chomsky

Answer 3

Suggested everyone is born with the innate ability to understand the rules of language, called the LAD

Question 4

Goffman

Answer 4

Face Theory - We adopt a different identify (face) depending on who we are talking to

Question 5

Piaget

Answer 5

Takes the cognitive approach - that a child needs to have developed certain mental abilities before they can acquire particular aspects of language

Question 6

Bruner

Answer 6

Suggests that there is a Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) There is a support system where caregivers support children in social situations.

Question 7

Lenneburg

Answer 7

The Critical Period Hypothesis - Which states that without linguistic interaction before the ages of 5-6 language development is severely limited

Question 8

Vygotsky

Answer 8

Private Speech and Zone of Proximal Development

Private Speech - When a child talks to themself

ZPD - When a child needs a caregivers help to interact

Question 9

Snow

Answer 9

Motherese encourages babies to make different sounds

Question 10

Preverbal stage

Answer 10

0-12 Months

• Soundless communication
• Body Language
• Talking Sounds
• Turn Taking/Eye Gazing

Question 11

Holophrastic Stage

Answer 11

11- 18 Months

• One word can mean a range of sentences in this stage
• Children increase their understanding of intonation and gesture

Question 12

Two-word utterances

Answer 12

18-24 Months

• Children communicate using strings of two words
• They typically lack grammatical complexity
• Utterances follow a specific pattern:
  Location phrases: Object/person + location
  Action phrases: Agent + action / Action + Victim

Question 13

Telegraphic Stage

Answer 13

18-24 Months

• Children begin to develop sentences that consist of three or more words
• Sentences will increase in grammatical complexity as the children at this age are exposed to more language

Question 14

Overextension

Answer 14

For example a child refers to oranges and apples as ‘ball’

Question 15

Underextension

Answer 15

A child refers to her boots as shoes for example

Question 16

Virtuos error

Answer 16

A child says ‘i falled over’ or ‘i runned away’

Question 17

A child says “daddy go work”, what is there stage of development

Answer 17

Telegraphic

Question 18

A child says “me like ice cream”, what grammar is correct and what is incorrect

Answer 18

Correct syntax, incorrect pronouns

Question 19

A child says ‘Timney’ instead if ‘Chimney’ what process is at work

Answer 19

Substitution for ease of communication

Question 20

A child says ‘ca’ instead of ‘cat’. What process is at work

Answer 20

Shortening for simplicity

Question 21

A child says ‘nana’ instead of ‘banana’ what process is at work

Answer 21

Imitation, shortening for ease of communication, assimilation

Question 22

The Wug Test

Answer 22

Jean Berko - children were all asked to pluralise the word wug and they all said “wugs” which suggests that children have an innate ability to make nouns plural (links to Nativism)

Question 23

What is most common word class in a child’s first 50 words

Answer 23

Nouns

Question 24

How might turn taking be established between carer and child

Answer 24

Question and answer teaches children the rules of turn taking

Question 25

Who was Genie and what did she prove

Answer 25

A girl locked up in her house until she was 13, she had little exposure to language until that point and was unable to learn language after that point, supports the critical period hypothesis (Lenneburg)

Question 26

Who was Jim and what did he prove

Answer 26

Hearing son born to deaf parents, his only interaction came from television and radio. His language was behind where is should be proving the need for interaction with parents (Skinner)

Question 27

7 Stages of writing development

Answer 27

1. Scribbling - Random marks on a page
2. Mock handwriting - Children draw shapes on paper
3. Mock letters - Children produce random letters
4. Conventional letters - Children start matching sounds with symbols
5. Invented spelling - Most words are spelled phonetically
6. Appropriate Spelling - Sentences become more complex, writing becomes more legible
7. Correct spelling - Speaks for itself