Child language acquisition Flashcards
What are proto-words?
‘Made up’ words that a child will use to represent a word they might not yet be able to pronounce.
When does a child say their first word?
Around their first birthday
What is non-verbal communication?
All the ways communication occurs that do not involve words.
What is reduplication?
Repeated syllables within a word
What are diminutives?
The reduction in scale of an item through the way the word is created
What is addition?
Adding an additional suffix to the end of a word in order to change the way in which the word is produced and interpreted.
What is substitution?
The process of swapping one sound for another that is easier to produce.
What is assimilation?
One consonant or vowel is swapped for another.
What is deletion?
Omitting a particular sound within a word
What is consonant cluster reduction?
Reducing phonologically more complex units into simpler ones - from two or more consonants down to one.
What is Berko and Brown’s (1960) study?
It showed that a child rejecting an adult’s articulation of the word ‘fish’ as ‘fis’ in favour of the correct pronunciation.
The child continued to articulate the word as ‘fis’ however.
This shows that even though a child is unable to articulate the sound they understand that it is not correct.
When does the two-word stage take place?
Around 18 months.
What is the two-word stage?
When a child starts to put two words together to convey meaning. The utterance is more refined than the child’s previous holophrases as the potential meaning has narrowed.
What does the two-word stage show in a child’s development?
They are beginning to understand grammar for the first time, as they are demonstrating an understanding for the relationship between the words used.
What does the two-word stage coincide with?
The beginning of what is known as a ‘vocabulary spurt’. It is believed that from about 18 months onwards - or when a child has acquired between 50-100 words - a cognitive change occurs in children, as they begin to realise that all things around them have names and gain a ‘naming insight’ so they move from a slower lexical development to a period of more rapid acquisition.
How many words does a child acquire during the period when they gain a more rapid acquistion?
Two to three new words a day and it is generally thought that by the age of 2 a child will have acquired 300 words.
When does the telegraphic stage take place?
Around the age of 2.
What is the telepgraphic stage?
When a child will move from placing two words together to producing longer and more complete utterances.
What does the telegraphic stage include?
Include the key content words within the sentence to convey meaning, but will likely omit the grammatical words which are required for structural accuracy but are not necessary to convey meaning.
How many words will a child use in an utterance in the telegraphic stage?
Three words or more
When does the post-telegraphic stage take place?
Around the age of 3
What is the post-telegraphic stage?
When a child’s speech becomes increasingly like adult speech, since grammatical words that were previously omitted will now start to appear within a sentence alongside the consonant words.
What is expected by the age of 4 in the post-telegraphic stage?
The child be speaking in largely grammatically accurate and complete sentences.
What are content words?
Words within a sentence that are vital to convey meaning.
What are grammatical words?
Words within a sentence that are necessary to demonstrate structural accuracy.
What does Skinner believe?
Behaviorist.
All behavior is a result of the conditioning we have experience rather than free will.
Operant conditioning and positive/negative reinforcement
What did Chomsky develop?
The language acquisition device (LAD).
What does Chomsky argue?
That the human brain has a naturally programmed ability to work out the systems in terms of grammar and syntax.
What is the LAD?
The idea that all humans are born with an innate learning language capacity
What is tabula rasa?
A blank slate. Describes the idea that children are born with underdeveloped, fresh brains.
What is universal grammar?
A term coined by Chomsky.
The notion that all human languages possess similar grammatical properties which the brain is ‘hard wired’ to be able to decode and use.
What are virtuous erros?
Grammatical errors that are understandable and logical through an incorrect assumption being made about grammar rules.
Why has the LAD been rejected?
The theory does not place sufficient importance on the role of caregivers to influence language acquisition.
What is the critical period?
The age at which a child will be most receptive to learn language.
What did Lanneburg suggest the critical period age to be?
Up to the age of 5
What does Piaget focus on?
Cognitive development
What did Piaget suggest?
At the core of a child’s development of understanding is the learning that a child undertakes and that a child cannot develop until particular stages of cognitive development are reached.
What are the four stages of cognitive development outlined by Piaget?
- Sensorimotor stage
- Pre-operation stage
- Concrete operational stage
- Formal operational stage
What age does the pre-operational stage take place?
2-6/7 years
What age does the concrete operational stage take place?
6/7-11/12 years
What age does the formal operational stage take place?
11-16+ years
What does Bruner focus his research on?
The importance of a child’s interaction with caregivers as the key to language development.
What did Bruner develop?
LASS - language acquisition support system
What is LASS?
This refers to the caregivers and other important participants within a child’s life.
What is cognitive development?
A child’s development of thinking and understanding.
What is scaffolding?
The support provided by caregivers though modelling how speech ought to take place in order to help a child’s language development.
What is egocentric?
Thinking only of themselves, without understanding or regard for the feelings of others.
What is object permanence?
An understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen or touched.
What did Vygotsky suggest?
The importance of ‘doing’ for a child, to be able to develop. He also focused on the importance of the caregiver to act as a more knowledgeable other (MKO).
What is a more knowledgeable other (MKO)?
The older participant in an interaction who might offer support to a child so they they can further their own development or learning.
What is the zone of proximal development (ZPD)?
Describes the area between what a child can already do and that which is beyond their reach. It is the area a caregiver may offer support or scaffolding to help learning.
What is child directed speech (CDS)?
The ways a caregiver adapts their speech to help a child with their language development.
What is expansion?
Where a caregiver might develop the child’s utterance to make it more grammatically complete
What is recast?
The grammatically incorrect utterance of a child is spoken back to the child but in a corrected form
What is a mitigated imperative?
An instruction given in a way so it does not appear as a command but more of a suggestion.
What tribe is studied for CDS in Papua New Guinnea?
Kaluli tribe
Outline why the Papua New Guinnea tripe is signficant to CDS research:
The Kaluli tribe has been identified as not using specific child directed speech and yet the children do not experience late or impaired language development as a result.
What did Jean Berko Gleason identify about fathers?
Fathers tend to use more commands and teased children more. They referred their children to their mothers should any domestic need arise
What did Jean Berko Gleason identify about mothers?
Tended to use less complex constructions and were more sensitive and responsive to their children.
What did Vygotsky suggest about social interaction with others?
That is was critical in developing understanding and that play facilitated learning.
What did Susan Evin Tripp suggest about the importance of play in language development?
Important as children can learn from each other and have to work together in a way which does not occur in adult-child interactions. It is critical for children to experiment with language in unfamiliar and different ways.
What did M.A.K. Halliday suggest?
By having an intended outcome or motivation for using language, a child will be more motivated to use language.
What is the IRF structure?
Initiation, response and feedback.
The mother asks a question, the child then provides a response to the question and the mother praises the child for giving an appropriate answer.
What is overextention?
When a child uses a more specific word to label a more general noun.
What are the two groups of overextention?
Analogical and categorical
Who defined the different types of extention?
Rescorla
What is Analogical overextention?
When a child tries to make links between different objects according to similar properties or use.
What is categorical overextention?
When a child refers to all objects within the same category with the same name
What is underextention?
When a child uses a more general word but will only apply it to a very specific situation or thing.
What is a hypernym?
More specific word choices that are all within the same semantic field.
Who was the Wug test made by?
Jean Berko
What did Aitchison identify?
Labelling, packaging and network building
What is labelling?
Associating sounds with objects in the world around the child.
Linking words to things.
Understanding the concept of labels.
What is packaging?
Starting to explore the extent of the label.
What is network building?
Making connections between the labels they have developed.
What did Brown outline?
Five stages of language development that focused on the child’s grammatical development.
What does Catherine Snow suggest?
Motherese - how mothers use language towards their children
What does John Snarey suggest?
Fathers interact differently with their children to how mothers interact with their children.
‘Roughhousing’ - playing rough
What is Bard and Sachs case study on ‘Jim’?
‘Jims’ parents were deaf.
Although he was exposed to various uses of language such as the TV and radio Jim passed the critical age (coined by Lenneburg).
Interactions with a speech therapist helped him acquire language
What does Grice suggest?
A set of maxims which must be present in conversation.
What does Myzor believe?
CDS helps aid social development but does not help linguistic development.
What did Cliffe Pye research?
How different cultures learn language - all children acquire language around the same time but not all cultures use CDS
What example does Pye use?
Samoan families do not speak to the children until they are around 18 months old = language acquisition may be more innate.
What do De Villiers and De Villiers state?
It is rare for caregivers to give direct feedback about the correctness of their child’s language - language must be more innate.
What percentage of 5-7 year olds could correctly use the -s ending for ‘wug’?
97%
What percentage of 4-5 year olds could correctly use the -s ending for ‘wug’?
76%
