Child Language Acquisition

Question 1

Stages of acquisition

Answer 1

All children learn at different rates, but there are accepted stages that a child will progress through before fluency

Question 2

Pre-Birth

Answer 2

even before the baby is born, it can recognise its mother’s voice. Nearly 6 months before birth, the ear bones have formed and hearing begins

Question 3

Pre-verbal (has substages)

Answer 3

-First noise is crying, usually for a physical reason. Lets it exercise its vocal cords/folds and begins to understand that making a noise will gather attention.
-when a baby doesn’t receive attention from crying, it might realise that there is no point

-cooing: begins around 2 months old. begins to experiment with noises that can be made when the tongue and back of the mouth come into contact, distinct from crying and more experimental.

-babbling: happens around 6 months old and resembles the vowel and consonant sounds used in spoken language

-reduplicated babbling: is simpler and appears first. involves a baby creating the same sound e.g. ba ba ba ba ba

-variegated babbling: emerges slightly later and involves variation between consonant and vowel sounds. still doesn’t sound like recognisable words as a whole

Question 4

Holophrastic stage

Answer 4

first words are likely to appear at 1 year old
this stage is usually when a child conveys a whole sentence worth of meaning in just a single word and labels things around them. the child learns that things have names

Question 5

Non verbal communication

Answer 5

In the early stages, a child may use non-verbal communication to clarify their intended meaning, using gestures and facial expressions

Question 6

Proto-words

Answer 6

made up words that a child will use to represent a word that they might not be able to say or pronounce yet.

Question 7

Phonological development

Answer 7

-by age 3: m, b, j (y), n, w, d, p, h
-by age 4-5: t, ng, k, g, f, v, ch, j
-by age 6: sh, th, s, z, l, r, zh
Plosives come early, fricatives mostly later because they require the use of the teeth

Question 8

Articulatory ease and perceptual discriminability

Answer 8

Some children are quick to acquire sounds due to ‘articulatory ease’ (how easily they can produce sounds) and ‘perceptual discriminability’ (how distinctly they can hear sounds)

Question 9

Non standard phonological features

Answer 9

-reduplicated words: characterised by a repeated syllable (Moo-Moo for cow)
-diminutives: reduce the scale of the object by addition. Doggie is phonetically easier for a child and more appealing to say

Question 10

Substitution

Answer 10

swapping one sound for another (yellow to lellow)

Question 11

Assimilation

Answer 11

One consonant or vowel is swapped for another

Question 12

Deletion

Answer 12

Omitting a particular sound within a word (final consonant or weak syllable)

Question 13

Consonant cluster redactions

Answer 13

reducing phonologically complex units into simpler ones, from two or more consonants down to one (ambulance to amblance)

Question 14

Diminutives

Answer 14

dog to doggy

Question 15

Two word stage

Answer 15

around 18 months
-a child starts to put two words together to convey meaning. More refined than holophrases since the potential meaning has narrowed.

-the need for non-verbal communication lessens. they are beginning to understand grammar, an understanding of the relationship between the words used

-we have a “vocabulary spurt” or “naming explosion”. 18 months onwards or when a child has acquired 50-100 words, a cognitive change occurs. they realise all things have names and gain a “naming insight”

-may acquire two or three words per day and by the age of 2 should have acquired 300 words

Question 16

Egocentric

Answer 16

children are mostly aware of their own relationships with their surroundings

Question 17

Telegraphic stage

Answer 17

around the age of 2
children begin producing longer more complex utterances. Includes the key content words within the sentence to convey meaning.

likely to omit the grammatical words which are required for structural accuracy but not for meaning.
A child at 30 months (2.5 year) might say “me going to park”. Used the object pronoun instead of the subject pronoun, as well as omitting the auxiliary verb and the definite article.

Question 18

Romania Late 80s-90s

Answer 18

Children sent to orphanages, orphanages were overwhelmed and could only meet physiological needs and didn’t nurture children properly. Many didn’t learn to speak until later than most children.

Question 19

Skinner

Answer 19

-through experiments on rats and pigeons, he proposed the theory that all behaviour is a result of the conditioning.
-introduced the concept of operant conditioning. This was defined as behaviour that is spontaneous but the consequences of which will affect behaviour.
Linked to positive and negative reinforcement. If a child is using grammatically accurate sentences, for example, a mother might praise the child for their verbal efforts, making the child more likely to repeat this. Negative reinforcement describes the opposite, a less favourable response will not be praised or might be corrected, making them less likely to repeat.

Question 20

Problems with negative reinforcement

Answer 20

-children are more likely to be corrected on truth vale than on linguistic accuracy, so negative reinforcement doesn’t occur very often.
-There is evidence that correction can actually hamper their language development.

Question 21

Chomsky (LAD and Universal Grammar)

Answer 21

responded to Skinner’s behaviourist theories. Introduced the concept of a Language Acquisition Device which went against the traditional view that the human brain is like a blank canvas. Argued that the brain is naturally programmed to acquire language and work out grammar systems and syntax.
Universal grammar refers to the global capacity for children to learn languages at similar rates in similar ways. Similarities between world Languages and grammatical structure are used as evidence
Virtuous errors is used as justification of LAD. This is a child’s errors in grammar, inflections, and syntax because they attempt to apply rules they recognise from the language around them. They may say “I swimmed” instead of “I swam”. An adult wouldn’t have said this so it couldn’t be imitated.

Question 22

Children and irregular verbs

Answer 22

Don’t use the correct suffixes. May say “teached” instead of “taught”. This goes against the behavioural approach

Question 23

Opinions on LAD

Answer 23

LAD is rejected generally as it does not place sufficient importance on the role of the caregivers to influence acquisition. Evidence suggests that children who lack sufficient exposure to language and acquisition will never really catch up with their language acquisition.

Question 24

LAD

Answer 24

(Language Acquisition Device) All humans are born with an innate language learning capacity. This predisposition contains our understanding of syntax.

Question 25

Universal Grammar

Answer 25

(Chomsky )the notion that all human languages possess the same general capacity for acquisition

Question 26

Tabula rasa

Answer 26

Blank Slate. Children are born with fresh and undeveloped brains (a blank slate for learning)

Question 27

Genie

Answer 27

locked up from 20months to 13 years old by her father and exposed to no social interaction. She was discovered in 1970 to have no speech. Despite numerous interventions she never acquired languages beyond a basic level.
Reinforces the concept of a critical period in the formative years of a child. Wikipedia

Supports social interactionism and contradicts Chomsky.

Question 28

Virtuous Errors

Answer 28

Mistakes made based on what the child already knows. Tends to happen with irregular verbs.

Question 29

Eric Lenneburg

Answer 29

Coined the phrase ‘critical period’, referring to the first few years of life (up to 3 or 4) during which sufficient social interaction is essential for a child to gain full mastery of a language.

Question 30

Piaget

Answer 30

Proposed stages through which children progress as their language and thoughts matured. Focused on cognitive development and suggest that learning is at the core of development. suggested children wouldn’t develop until particular stages had been reached.

Question 31

Piaget’s stages of development

Answer 31

-Sensorimotor stage (0-2): child begins to interact with their environment, using their senses and physical movement.

-Pre-operational stage (2-6/7): learns to speak and develops imaginative focus, becoming capable of representing the world symbolically. Remains egocentric, struggling to understand others’ point of view. Begin questioning to develop understandings.

-Concrete operational (6/7-11/12): Stops being egocentric and begins to understands the point of view of others.

-Formal operational stage (11-16+): There will no longer be a problem with logical thought and thinking becomes more abstract.

Question 32

Jerome Bruner and Social Interactionism

Answer 32

Bruner rejected Chomsky’s LAD and focused on the importance of interaction with caregivers. Suggested the importance of Language Acquisition Support System (LASS). Refers to the caregivers and other important participants in a child’s life, placing emphasis back on the child’s social situations to explain how a child is presented with opportunities to learn language with the help of adults. Suggested that caregivers help by questioning, encouraging and supporting the child. While Skinner focused on imitation, Bruner focused on the need for quality input (using a high pitched voice in negative reinforcement to seem more positive)

Question 33

LASS

Answer 33

Language Acquisition Support System- caregivers and others who play a role in the child’s language development. Coined by Bruner.

Question 34

Object Permanence

Answer 34

an understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen or touched. develops at about a year of age

Question 35

Leo Vygotsky and Scaffolding

Answer 35

Suggested the importance of “doing” and collaborative play for a child to be able to develop and emphasised the importance of a caregiver to act as a more knowledgable other. This can direct the child to move within the zone of proximal development. This is just beyond what a child is capable of doing already so a caregiver must give the support (scaffolding) for the child to develop beyond their current ability.

Question 36

Michael Tomasello (Usage Based Approach)

Answer 36

outlined a usage based model of language acquisition and development, arguing that it goes beyond being a special instinct.

The ability to learn language is social (driven by pre-disposition to be cooperative) and relies on using the same kinds of cognitive processes as other forms of learning (walking, drawing etc).

These are Domain General abilities

Question 37

Michael Tomasello’s findings

Answer 37

identified that by 9-12 months, children use a pattern forming ability (applies to many learning contexts), allowing them to understand the intentional aspect of language. Children build generalisations about how words form larger syntactic constructions or schemas, which allow them to develop grammatical patterns.

Question 38

Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 38

describes the difference between what a child can do with help and what they can do without guidance. Coined by Vygotsky.

Question 39

Features of child directed speech

Answer 39

-More pronounced intonation to draw attention to key morphemes or lexemes
-Simplified vocabulary that helps establish keywords (dog rather than german sheperd)
-Repeated grammatical frames that help draw attention to new elements within those frames (asking questions)
-Simplified grammar- shorter utterances
-Actions that accompany speech (paralinguistic features)
-More obvious lip and mouth movement

Question 40

SES and Language Acquisition

Answer 40

High SES (socioeconomic status) mothers use longer utterances and more different words when they talk to their children than low SES mothers and thus children have larger vocabularies.
Low SES mothers are found to talk less and use less varied vocabulary during interaction with their children than high-SES mothers.
Children from high SES heard 11,000 utterances a day while low-SES children heard 700.
Low SES used speech more often to direct children’s behaviour while high SES use it more often to elicit conversation from their children.

Question 41

American Mothers and Kenyan Mothers

Answer 41

There are differences between the way middle class American mothers communicate with their children compared to the Gusii mothers of Kenya. Gusii mothers rarely made eye contact and only responded to vocalisations when children were in distress. Follows from the cultural beliefs that babies cannot understand speech and thus it is senseless to talk to them before they are older and can understand what is being said.

Question 42

Kaluli Tribe of Papua New Guinea

Answer 42

Babies strapped to mother’s as they worked and talk was not directed at babies. They still develop speech because they hear it and they see it.

Question 43

Jean Gleeson Berko

Answer 43

A test to explore child’s ability to apply grammatical rules and constructions. Made up the word “wug” to describe a creature. Children would apply typical plural rule (adding bound plural suffix s) to refer to two “wugs”.

Also, fathers tend to use more commands and tease children more and would refer children to their mothers for domestic needs (this was in 1975).

Question 44

Research on development suggests that:

Answer 44

Baby talks contributes to mental development, helping them learn function and structure of a language.
Responding to babble with meaningless babble aids development
despite having no logical meaning, but the verbal interaction teaches them the bidirectional nature of speech.

Question 45

Holt and Willard 2000

Answer 45

-Social constructive theory states children need a knowledgable other in order to acquire acute language skills
-a child needs to see themself in people who they determine to be more knowledgeable
-this relationship is advantageous

Question 46

Typical development of vocabulary

Answer 46

-first recognisable word at 12 months
-productive vocabulary of 50 words at 18 months
-most reach 200 words at 24 months
-most 2000 at 3 years
-most children learn 10 words per day

Question 47

Operant conditioning

Answer 47

Involves the influence of consequence to a behaviour through the use of positive reinforcement and punishment. A child encountering an object and naming it correctly would be praised while the one that names it incorrectly is corrected.

Question 48

In support of Behaviourism

Answer 48

Has explained other behaviours in humans and animals
Evolution has shown that simple mechanisms are most likely to evolve and behaviourism provides a reductionist solution to language learning.
Requires little consideration of mental processes, which have been difficult for linguists to research

Question 49

Criticism of Behaviourism

Answer 49

Chomsky asked questions that couldn’t be answered by the behaviourist model.
-why do children make mistakes that they don’t hear adults making?
-How do children learn syntax through observation of the environment?
-What has occurred when children produce novel constructions?
Chomsky answered these questions with his Universal Grammar theory.

Question 50

Principles and Parameters

Answer 50

(Chomsky)
Principles are aspects of grammar and syntax that occur in every language
Parameters are aspects of grammar that act as switches. They can be turned on or off depending on which language is used in the input.

Question 51

In Support of Universal Grammar

Answer 51

Some elements of syntax occur in every (natural) language. Evidence of this is the use of creoles from pidgins , which demonstrated that children form grammatical rules from scratch.
There are brain disorders that affect language but not any other cognitive abilities.

Poverty of the Stimulus: stimuli don’t provide enough positive or negative evidence to teach us grammar.

Question 52

Criticism of Universal Grammar

Answer 52

Virtuous errors also evidence that children don’t learn strict rules, but probabilistic patterns. These are corrected as knowledge of the language develops.
There is no scientific evidence for a LAD. Some argue that it doesn’t fit with Darwinian evolution.

Question 53

In Support of Social Interactionism

Answer 53

Language is used predominantly for social reasons. In many cultures, adults use Child Directed Speech (CDS) to help children understand and replicate language seemingly instinctively.

Question 54

Criticism of Social Interactionism

Answer 54

In Samoa and Papua New Guinea CDS is not used and this hasn’t been shown to affect acquisition.
Studies tend to focus on middle classes in Western cultures.

Question 55

In Support of the Usage Based Approach

Answer 55

Humans can detect patterns better than other species. This ability is involved in language acquisition, as language is compositional in nature.

Rejects the nativist assumption that the input is of little significance, as children are almost always exposed to language when they are awake.

Question 56

Criticism of the Usage Based Approach

Answer 56

There is little evidence suggesting (or objecting to the idea) that children use concrete patterns to develop their use of syntax. There is still research needed.

Ambridge and Lieven (2011) showed that intention reading and joint attention don’t develop until at least one year of age.

Question 57

In Support of (Piaget’s) Cognitive Approach

Answer 57

Idea of stages of development are well accepted, e.g. morphemes developing in the same order across all children. It therefore makes sense that language develops alongside cognitive ability.

Children explore simple concepts in their early speech and only progress to more complex concepts as their cognitive abilities develop.

Question 58

Criticisms of the Cognitive Approach

Answer 58

Vygotsky criticised the lack of consideration of cultural factors. Also argued that some tasks are too difficult for children to perform alone and therefore need support of speakers.

There must be other factors behind acquisition because, in this case, there would be no advanced speakers to learn from.

Question 59

Pragmatics in Acquisition

Answer 59

With the use of CDS, politeness features are learned behaviours and are encouraged from a young age.
Politeness strategies and positive/negative face are involved in social interaction when a child starts to engage in conversation and interact with others.

Parents encourage children to say please/thank you.

Grice’s maxims might be difficult for children to follow (egocentrism).

Developed and secured through play.

Question 60

What politeness features might a caregiver use to reinforce politeness?

Answer 60

-use of certain words
-asking for permission
-not shouting
-not using taboo language

Question 61

Catherine Garvey and Susan Ervin Tripp

Answer 61

Catherine Garvey 1977: published ‘play, the developing child’ considered the importance of play for language development. There is a value in pretend tea party to help growth of vocabulary.
Susan Ervin Tripp wrote ‘play in language development’ on how children learn from each other in play and have to collaborate in a way that they don’t with adults. Argues imaginative play is critical for children to experiment with language in unfamiliar and different ways.

Question 62

Importance of Play

Answer 62

a child who can play with other children is more likely to engage in play that supports language development. Piaget and Vygotsky considered importance of exploration of environment and cognitive development.

Question 63

Discourse

Answer 63

playing peekaboo is one of the first ways children engage in discourse (turn taking). From this, children learn the turn taking nature of conversation.
They become familiar with question and answer adjacency pairs.
Sinclair and Coulthard 1975 suggested IRF structure (initiation, response, feedback) as a way of analysing discourse.

Question 64

Michael Halliday’s early language functions

Answer 64

‘taxonomy language’:

-instrumental: expresses need

-regulatory: used to tell others what to do

-interactional: used to make contact with others and form relationships

-personal: used to express feelings, opinions and individual identity

-heuristic: language used to gain knowledge about the environment

-imaginative: here language is used to tell stories and jokes and to create imaginary environments

-representational: use of language to convey facts and information

Question 65

Berko and Brown 1960

Answer 65

a child referred to a plastic ‘fis’. Didn’t accept when adults pronounced it so, but did when they said ‘fish’. The child didn’t make the link between what they were saying and what they were hearing.
In another study, children couldn’t pronounce “mouse/mouth”,”cart/card”,”jug/duck” distinguishably but could point to pictures of the objects in a comprehension task.

Question 66

Children are born universal…

Answer 66

but it has been proven that at 3 years old they can distinguish between their mother’s language and other ones. They are born capable of producing any sound in the human language. At a year, they contract their range to the language in their native country.

Question 67

Mastery of consonant and vowel sounds

Answer 67

Children master consonant and vowel sounds at about 6 or 7. Children struggle more with consonant sounds at the ends of the words (stops). Stops are sounds where the air flow is stopped completely.

Question 68

Learning Grammar

Answer 68

-A younger child will use simple and shorter, grammatically incomplete sentences within their utterances. Older children are able to demonstrate variety beyond simple sentences and incorporate conjunctions within grammatically complex sentences as they move into and beyond the post telegraphic stage.
-Grammar incorporates a child’s understanding of how words can be altered to convey meaning. A child may know to add the inflection s to create a plural after repeated exposure to it.

Links to Berko.

Question 69

Katherine Nelson on Lexis and Semantics 1973

Answer 69

children can understand more than they can produce verbally.
found that 60% of first words acquired are nouns. The rest either: expressed or demanded action (verbs), modifiers (adjective and edverbs) and personal and social words (bye sorry etc)
A 2012 Daily Mail article gave the top 25 words a two year old should know are mostly one or two syllables.

Question 70

Eve Clark

Answer 70

focused on how children attribute meaning to their lexical choices and how children develop semantic understanding of the new words they encounter. When refining their understanding, there are two main areas of confusion: over and under extension

Question 71

Over Extension

Answer 71

over extension: when a specific word is used to label a more general noun (all vehicles being called a car)
—analogical over extension is when a child makes links between different objects according to similar properties or use (apple being called a ball)
—categorical over extension is when objects in the same category are given the same name

Question 72

Under Extension

Answer 72

when a child uses a more general word btu only apply it to a specific object or situation.
Links to hyponomy.

Question 73

Intention reading and Joint attention (UBA)

Answer 73

understanding of the meaning behind what adults and more advanced speakers are saying

Question 74

Distributional analysis (UBA)

Answer 74

when a child learns what words can be used where and when based on how they are used in the language of adults and more advanced speakers

Question 75

Construction Grammar (UBA)

Answer 75

grammar is a collection of syntactic patterns that we learn. These relatively simple patterns can be combined to make more complex constructions of language

Question 76

Hirsh-Pasek and Treiman (1982)

Answer 76

Even four year olds adjust their language when speaking to a two year old.

Supports CDS and scaffolding.