Child Language Acquisition Flashcards
What is a ‘holophrase’?
At what age are these used?
It is when children use one word to communicate a full utterance.
This usually occurs at around 18 months.
When children are around 24 months old, they are at the two word stage. What does this mean?
This is when children are at the embryonic grammar stage. The two word stage is when children put two words together rather than full sentences. The two words are still communicative and understood by the caregiver.
Eg. ‘Kiss teddy’, ‘mummy up’, ‘hands cold’.
What does “lexicosemantics” mean?
“Lexico” - Words
“Semantics” - Meanings
So it means, words and their meanings.
How many words are in the utterances at the telegraphic stage? How many months are children when they are in the telegraphic stage?
3 - 6 words in the utterances.
Around 30-36 months, emergence of some grammatical functions.
What is a virtuous error?
The overgeneralisation of grammatical rules.
What is the difference between a hypernym and hyponym?
Hypernym - Broad meaning/category
Hyponym - Specific entity
The nativist theory suggests that children have an inbuilt ability to acquire language. Which theory does the nativist theory directly challenge?
The Behaviourist Theory.
What does syntax mean?
Word order
Give an idea that suggests that children acquire language through the nativist theory.
The sheer speed at which they grasp rules and concepts suggests that children are hard wired to learn language.
Which theory does this idea support?
Children have an inbuilt ability with which they are able to deconstruct the linguistic system and reconstruct it for themselves in a way that they understand.
The Nativist Theory.
Children’s language far outweighs the language in which they have been exposed to by others. What does this suggest and which theory is supported?
The Nativist/Innateness Theory.
It suggests that children are able to naturally build on rules and concepts of language that they work out themselves.
Why might a hearing child with two deaf parents struggle to learn the rules of grammar, even if he is exposed to technology eg. a radio where he hears Standard English?
He may be hearing Standard English, however he is not receiving the same correction that a child with hearing parents would, because if he gets something wrong, he isn’t being corrected. He may reply to the radio or the TV but he doesn’t know when he’s right or wrong.
