Child-Language Acquisition Flashcards
What is Lenneberg and Chomsky’s critical period
Lenneberg and Chomsky’s critical period is a period of time when a child can learn language and if not then a child won’t be able to have fully developed language system
What conditions did Genie (1970) live in
Genie (1970) was 13 year old girl who lived whole life in straight jacket in isolation and if she made a noise her father beat her and would only communicate by barking
What were the results of Genie (1970) conditions
The results of Genie (1970) conditions were that she couldn’t speak or stand but after excessive rehabilitation she learnt words but couldn’t ask questions or understand English grammar
What did Berko want to test
Berko wanted to test whether children could innately apply grammar rules to nonsense words
How did Berko conduct wug test
Berko gave children a random object and told them it is called “wug”, then two of that object is shown and child is asked what it is and other questions like “what do you call a man who wugs”
What did Berko wug test find
Berko wug test found children under 4 could not apply many grammatical rules to change “wug” but those aged 4 and 5 could do this confidently
What did Berko wug test conclude
Berko wug test concluded that there is a set of internalised abstract linguistic rules which make children able to form plurals, past tenses and possessives of words that they haven’t heard before and so language is genetic
What was Berkos explanation for child language acquisition
Berkos explanation for child language acquisition was that children are born with capability to use language but this is only developed through interaction with others, so there is an innate potential to learn
What are the five stages of word development
The five stages of word development are before birth, crying, cooing, babbling and the first word
What is the before birth stage of language development
The before birth stage of language development is where a baby acclimatises itself to the sounds of its native language in the womb
Who provided evidence of the before birth stage of language development
Mehler (1988) provided evidence of the before birth stage of language development
What was Mehler’s (1988) evidence of before birth stage of language development
Mehler’s (1988) evidence of before birth stage of language development was that French new born babies were able to distinguish French from other languages as the baby’s were played French speaking when in the womb
What is the crying stage of language development
the crying stage of language development is when a child expresses itself vocally through crying to signal hunger, distress pleasure etc
What is the cooing stage of word development
The cooing stage of word development is around 6-8 weeks old where child plays with sounds like “coo” and “goo” due to the fact they have increased control over vocal cords
What is the babbling stage of word development
The babbling stage of word development is around 6-9 months old when child uses bilabial consonant and vowel combinations like “ba”, “ma” and “da” as fusing lips is easiest to do
What is phonemic expansion part of babbling stage
phonemic expansion part of babbling stage is where phonemes are extrapolated onto other words like “ban” going to “dan”
What is phonemic contraction part of babbling stage
phonemic contraction part of babbling stage is around ages 9-10 months old when baby discards phonemic sounds that they don’t need in their language
What is evidence of phonemic contraction
evidence of phonemic contraction is when children’s language becomes distinguishable depending on nationality since one country uses different phonemes to another
What are other parts of babbling stage
Other parts of babbling stage are intonation where baby commonly raises intonation at end of utterance and gestures used and increased understanding of words even if they can’t say it themself
What is the first word stage of word development
the first word stage of word development is typically around 12 months and the word has to be recognisable and have a clear meaning with context
What is deletion
Deletion is when final consonant of word is deleted like “do” instead of “dog”
What is substitution
Substitution is when sounds that develop later are replaced by easier sounds like “pip” instead of “ship”
What is addition
Addition is where extra vowels are added to the ends of words like “doggie” and “mummy”
What is assimilation
Assimilation is where consonant or vowel sounds in a word are changed for another sound in the same word (like early plosive sounds) such as “gog” for “dog”
What is reduplication
Reduplication is where whole syllables are repeated such as “dada” and “mama”
What is consonant cluster reduction
consonant cluster reduction is where consonant clusters that are difficult to articulate are reduced like “pider” instead of “spider”
What is deletion of unstressed syllables
deletion of unstressed syllables is where opening syllables in polysyllabic words are omitted like “nana” instead of “banana”
What is stopping
Stopping is where child uses a plosive sound instead of fricative sound as it’s easier to produce like “do” for “shoe”
What is fronting
Fronting is a type of substitution where alveolar sounds produced at the front of the mouth like “t” “d” “n” and “s” replaces velar sounds produced at back of mouth like “k” so like “tat” for “cat”
What is gliding
Gliding is a type of substitution where “L” or “R” sound is replaced by “W” or “J” like “wock” for “rock”
What is a mismatch
A mismatch is a phonological error where there is no named type of substitution that has occurred
What is Berko and Brown’s “Fis” phenomenon
Berko and Brown’s “Fis” phenomenon is that children could understand proper pronunciations even if they don’t know how to produce it - as they could understand the word fish but not fis, even though they said fis
What is Benedict’s ages for 50 word comprehension and production
Benedict’s ages for 50 word comprehension is 1 year and 1 month old and 50 word production is 1 year and 9 months
What is average age of lexical development
average age of lexical development is 18 months for 50 words 7 years for 4,000 words
What does lexical development age support
lexical development age supports interactionist approach as you have more interaction as you grow older so learn more words
What is over-extension
Over-extension is where words are stretched to include things that aren’t part of that words meaning, like calling all animals “dog” or calling all dogs the name of your own dog
What is under-extension
Under-extension is where word meanings are restricted like a child thinking they are the only one called their own name or their dog name is only their dog
What is categorical over-extension
categorical over-extension is where one member of a category is extended to all members of the category like calling all round fruits “apple”
What is analogical over-extension
analogical over-extension is where a word for one object is extended to another category like calling a round fruit “ball”
What is Skinner’s behaviourist approach
Skinner’s behaviourist approach is that language is acquired by positive and negative reinforcement and children are originally a blank slate which is ready to learn by interaction
Weakness of Skinner’s behaviourist approach
A weakness of Skinner’s behaviourist approach is that over-correcting child’s language through reinforcement is bad as it knocks confidence and children should learnt without hinderance
How can Skinner be applied to a transcript
Skinner can be applied to a transcript where adults are teaching language and children are imitating and children are repairing mistakes and where adult is praising a child for correctness
What is Chomsky’s nativist approach
Chomsky’s nativist approach is the idea that children are born with a language acquisition device that allows them to assemble a set of grammar rules as they hear language
