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
What is evidence of Chomsky’s language acquisition device
evidence of Chomsky’s language acquisition device is the fact children all have the same language universal’s and they all learn through similar stages of development
How does medical research support Chomsky’s LAD
medical research supports Chomsky’s LAD as it shows there are specific areas of the brain for language
How does Bard and Sachs criticise Chomsky
Bard and Sachs criticises Chomsky as they found a child’s language accelerated when there was interaction with a language therapist, in comparison to when the child only listened to TV and radio
How does Pinker support Chomsky
Pinker supports Chomsky as he believes there is a language instinct that humans have evolved to convey messages and negotiate social relationships
How can Chomsky and Pinker be applied to a transcript
Chomsky and Pinker can be applied to a transcript where children are resisting correction from adults and over/under-extension as children construct own language to their own accord and inventing words like “whented” for went
Weakness of Chomsky’s nativist approach
A weakness of Chomsky’s nativist approach is it doesn’t focus on children’s further language development and also there is no experiments, just hypotheses
What is Piaget’s cognitive approach
Piaget’s cognitive approach is the idea that children learn a concept before they learn the language to articulate the concept
What is a problem with Piaget’s cognitive theory
A problem with Piaget’s cognitive theory is that children with learning difficulties such as Williams syndrome can still use language beyond their understanding
How can Piaget’s cognitive approach be applied to a transcript
Piaget’s cognitive approach can be applied to a transcript where child is clearly playing with words showing they’re trying to understand it or where child keeps saying “why” as they want to understand more or where child seems confused or isn’t responding to when adult is speaking
What is Bruner’s interactionist approach
Bruner’s interactionist approach is the idea that children interact with people to learn conversational ability like turn-taking and children learn language to get what they want
What is Bruner’s language acquisition support system
Bruner’s language acquisition support system is a support for language provided by parents
How can Bruner’s interactionist approach be applied to a transcript
Bruner’s interactionist approach can be applied to a transcript where children are enjoying or seeking interaction and where children know when to speak and how to talk (conversational skills and pragmatic awareness)
What is used to measure child’s grammatical developments
Mean length of utterance is used
What is mean length of utterance
Mean length of utterance is all the free morphemes and bound morphemes added up
What is free morpheme
Free morpheme is a part of a word which can stand by itself, like “go” in “going”
What is a bound morpheme
Bound morpheme is part of a word which can’t stand by itself such as “ing” in “going”
What are the stages of grammatical development
Stages of grammatical development are pre-linguistic stage, babbling, one-word, two-word, telegraphic and later multiword stage
When is pre-linguistic stage
Pre-linguistic stage is the first 6 months
What happens in pre-linguistic stage
In pre-linguistic stage, child cries and growls until the vocal tract reshapes
When is babbling stage
Babbling stage is from 6 to 9 months
What happens in the babbling stage of grammatical development
In the babbling stage, child forms proto-words using consonant vowel consonant vowel structure which sound like real words such as “dada”
When is one-word stage
One-word stage is from 9 to 18 months
What is one-word stage
One-word stage is when child communicates in holophrases and also gestalt phrases
What is holophrase
Holophrase is one word used to convey a whole sentence
What is gestalt phrase
Gestalt phrase is two words child has chunked together that they’ve heard but can’t segment like “allgone”
What are Nelson’s categories of first words
Nelson’s categories of first words are naming, social, action and modifying
When is two-word stage of grammatical development
Two-word stage is 18 to 24 months
What is two-word stage
Two-word stage is when child produces often syntactically correct two-word utterances and develop understanding of intonation and stress
What does Bloom say two-word phrases can indicate
Bloom says two-word phrases can indicate possession, performing an action, explaining location and desire
When is telegraphic stage
Telegraphic stage is from 24 to 30 months
What is telegraphic stage
Telegraphic stage is when child uses 3 and 4 word utterances and begin to form questions, create negatives and create declarative sentences
When is later multiword stage
Later multiword stage is past 30 months
What is later multiword stage
Later multiword stage is when child forms functional structures usually without grammatical error
How many sounds does David Crystal say children need to master
David Crystal says children need to master 40+ sounds
What does David Crystal say are the hardest sounds to pronounce
David Crystal says the hardest sounds to pronounce are those that are at the end of words
What are Belluggi’s stages of negative formation
Belluggi’s stages of negative formation are:
1) saying “no” at start of sentences
2) moving “no/not” to middle of sentence like “I not want that”
3) eventually a correct form
How does David Crystal disagree with Belluggi’s stages of negative formation
David Crystal disagrees with Belluggi’s stages of negative formation by saying there are 6 stages (but agrees with Belluggi’s 1st and 3rd stage)
What is David Crystals 6th stage of negative formation
David Crystals 6th stage of negative formation is saying “no” without actually saying it, such as “well it’s cold today” when asked to go to the park - pragmatics are extended
What is David Crystals 1st stage of question development
David Crystals 1st stage of question development is using intonation to signal question being asked
What is David Crystals 2nd stage of question development
David Crystals 2nd stage of question development is using “wh” interrogative forms like what and who
What is David Crystals 3rd stage of question development
David Crystals 3rd stage of question development is manipulating word order to create more detailed questions e.g. “where is mummy going”
What are virtuous errors
Virtuous errors are when mistakes logically occur and show child’s language development
What is an example of a virtuous error
an example of a virtuous error is overgeneralisation (over-applying grammatical rules) such as runned, saided
According to Brown, why do virtuous errors increase as child gets older
virtuous errors increase as child gets older according to Brown because they try to imitate others for example by overgeneralising past tenses to all words without deducting exceptions to grammar rules
What does Brown’s U-shaped graph show
Brown’s U-shaped graph shows that as child gets older, they increase virtuous errors but once they grasp sense of adults grammar, they perform correct forms of words
What are patterns of derivational morphology in child’s language
patterns of derivational morphology in child’s language are conversion, affixation and compounding
What is conversion (derivational morphology)
Conversion is using a word as a different word class, such as “jammed” from “spread the jam”
What is affixation (derivational morphology)
Affixation is applying endings to words to create new ones such as “it’s CROWDY in here”
What is compounding (derivational morphology)
Compounding is joining existing words together to create new ones e.g. “horsey-man” for a centaur
What is Halliday’s regulatory pragmatic
Halliday’s regulatory pragmatic is is to influence like “give me/pick up”
What is Halliday’s interactional pragmatic
Halliday’s interactional pragmatic is to develop or maintain relationships like “I love you/hi”
What is Halliday’s personal pragmatic
Halliday’s personal pragmatic is to convey opinions and ideas like “me like….”
What is Halliday’s representational pragmatic
Halliday’s representational pragmatic is to convey facts or information like “it is hot/I am three”
What is Halliday’s imaginative pragmatic
Halliday’s imaginative pragmatic is creating an imaginary world like “me superman”
What is Halliday’s heuristic pragmatic
Halliday’s heuristic pragmatic is to learn about the environment like “wassat?”
According to Brown, why do children violate positive and negative faces
children violate positive and negative faces as they don’t understand faces and the need for them to be respected - this develops through pragmatics
What are Dell Hyme’s 4 strands of communicative competence
Dell Hyme’s 4 strands of communicative competence are linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence
What is Hyme’s linguistic competence
Hyme’s linguistic competence is understanding words and sentences and how to form them
What is Hyme’s sociolinguistic competence
Hyme’s sociolinguistic competence is understanding register (when to speak formally/informally
What is Hyme’s discourse competence
Hyme’s discourse competence is knowing how conversations work like not interrupting and when to answer questions
What is Hyme’s strategic competence
Hyme’s strategic competence is knowing how to use language to achieve what you want like using it for flattery or using it to make self look smart
How does Bancroft say parents help communicative competence develop
Bancroft says parents help communicative competence develop through Peekaboo which reflects turn-taking
How do parents generally develop child’s communicative competence (not Peekaboo)
Parents generally develop child’s communicative competence through asking questions, expressing agreement or disapproving such as “don’t do that” even when child doesn’t understand
When does child’s conversational skills develop
child’s conversational skills develop at ages 2-4 when they learn turn-taking, when to respond to questions, greetings and forms of politeness like “please” and “thank you”
When does child’s conversational skills significantly develop further
child’s conversational skills significantly develop further when they start school as they learn how to speak in a formal setting and understand needs to interact
