Child Language Acquisition Flashcards
Why is it easier to acquire a language when younger?
Lenneberg
Brain is at its most elastic
Critical period to learn a language up until age 7
After it becomes harder
Hockett (1963)
Language has 16 defining characteristics
Looked at what made human communication different
Said creativity is one of the features unique to human language
Linguistics creativity involves creating new sentences for effect, accent and dialect- giving the same message using different phrasing, when a child says a ‘novel utterance’ (one not copied from parents)
Kellog (1933)
Chimpanzees couldn’t learn language because they don’t have the appropriate articulators to produce the same speech sounds as humans
Gardener et al (1969)
Chimpanzees can learn up to 85 signs (sign language)
Raffaele (2006)
Chimpanzees can communicate via lexigrams, when a keyboard with an image is pressed and a computer says the corresponding word, 348 symbols learned
Is a chimpanzee’s ability to learn language due to nature or nurture?
Nature- vast number of signs learned suggests there is some innate contribution
Nurture- they are simply copying someone else
-chimps were taught how to recognise sounds and symbols
Describe a limitation of chimpanzees being able to learn language
It is a lengthy and laborious process
Only learned nouns- struggled with more abstract concepts
When they successfully learned words they were rewarded through food and play- positive reinforcement
Therefore their desire to talk is for rewards and not to communicate
Language development before birth
Ear develops in third trimester (7 months)
Foetus can differentiate between sounds and begins to recognise distinctive properties of their native language
Brain responses of newborn infants differ when they hear foreign languages
DeCasper and Spence (1986)
Babies sucked on dummies more when mothers read a story they had read in last 6 months of pregnancy
Fitzpatrick (2002)
Heartbeats of unborn babies slowed when they heard their mothers voices
Evaluate Fitzpatrick (2002)
Slowing of heartbeats perhaps due to connection with parents rather than use of language
Katherine Nelson (1973)
Placed early words of children into 4 categories: naming, action, social and modifying (description)
Found 60% of a child’s first 50 words were nouns
Noam Chomsky
Argues structures in the human brain allow for capacity to learn and use languages
Believed rules for language acquisition is innate and strengthens naturally as humans grow and develop- nativism
Hypothesised the LAD (language acquisition device)
Hypothetical tool in the brain that allows humans to learn a language
An inherent aspect of the brain that is preprogrammed with specific grammatical structures common to all languages- universal grammar
According to Chomsky explains why children are able to learn a language so quickly with little formal instruction
Where is the LAD found?
Left hemisphere of brain
Universal grammar
Theory there is an innate biological component of the language faculty
The idea there are innate constraints on what the grammar of a possible human language could be
Nativism
Language is an innate capacity, and human beings are born with a set of language rules.
Virtuous errors
Grammatical errors that are understandable and logical through incorrect assumption about/ overgeneralising of a grammatical rule (eg hurted, goed, feeled)
Novel utterances
New utterances- constructions made by a child that are not imitated
How does a child’s use of virtuous errors and novel utterances support the idea of nativism?
It is unlikely children would have heard these constructions so it is not imitated- they have logically created these words/ phrases
Name the pre-verbal stages
Vegetative/crying
Cooing
Babbling
Proto-word
Describe the ‘vegetative’ pre verbal stage
Approximate age of 0-4 months
Includes reflex crying noises
Instinctive responses for food, sleep etc rather than a desire to form words
Describe the ‘cooing’ pre verbal stage
Approximate age of 3-6 months
Open mouthed sounds- experimental sounds when tongue and back of mouth come into contact
Describe the ‘babbling’ pre verbal stage
Approximate age of 6-12 months
Repeated consonant vowel sounds and combinations of these
Reduplicated- repeatedly creating the same sounds
Variegated- variation in consonant vowel sounds being produced
Describe the ‘proto-word’ pre verbal stage
Approximate age of 9-12 months
Babbling sounds that seem to match actual word sounds
Between pre verbal and grammatical stages
What is the purpose of communication at each pre-verbal stage?
Vegetative- survival
Cooing- conveying emotion
Babbling- trying to formulate sounds
Proto word- trying to communicate using sounds
Why do the approximate ages for the pre verbal stages overlap?
Different rates of development for individuals
Describe babbling
When babies start to babble, the number of phonemes (sounds) they create increases
Later in this stage, they reduce the number of phonemes they use- phonemic contraction
Babies then concentrate on reproducing only the phonemes they hear in their native language
Babies of different nationalities start to sound different around this stage (around 10 months old)
Describe how aspects of babbling support nativism
When the number of phonemes created increases, suggests there may be some innate aspect- where do these sounds come from?
Babies of different nationalities start to sound different around 10 months- if seen by all babies then must be some innate rather than environmental aspect
Describe how aspects of babbling may contradict nativism
Phonemic contraction requires the presence of parents to know which sounds to preserve
Name and describe the types of sounds created by babies as they develop
easiest
Stopped sounds- when air is momentarily stopped from being released ‘p’
Reduplication- where the same vowel consonant combination is repeated ‘da da’
Variegated babbling- as above except vowel sound changes ‘da de’
Consonant cluster- where a number of consonants are combined ‘fr’
Friction sounds- where there is a vibration of air while air is released eg ‘s’ in ‘pleasure’
most difficult
Petitto
Study of whether babbling is linguistic or accidental
When we talk our mouth is more open on the right side as the language centre is in the left side of the brain
Videoed 5 babies with English speaking parents and 5 babies with french speaking parents babbling
Reviewed footage using the laterality index to measure the ‘lopsidedness’ of the mouth when babbling
Found when babbling the mouth on the right side opened wider- confirming babbling is a fundamentally linguistic activity
How does the Petitto study support nativisim?
Seen in French and English babies- universal and therefore innate
Describe the holophrastic stage
The stage where language comprehension is more developed than language production- we understand more than we can say
Have to use other forms of communication to support one word utterances eg body language, gestures
Groups of sounds ordered developmentally
Early 8- m, b, j (y), n, w, d, p, h (by age 3)
Middle 8- t, ŋ (ng), k, g, f, v, ʧ (ch), dʒ (j) (by age 4-5)
Late 8- ʃ (sh), θ, ð (th), s, z, l, r, ʒ (zh) (by age 6)
How does the presence of a developmental order of sounds support nativism?
Shows biological component in production of sounds
Describe the mistakes children make when speaking
Addition- adding an extra vowel to create a CVCV structure eg doggy
Deletion- leaving out the last consonant of a word eg mou instead of mouse
Reduplication- the repetition of particular sounds and structures eg mama
Substitution- one sound is swapped for another easier sound eg babbit instead of rabbit
Assimilation- one consonant is swapped for another, usually one produced previously or needed in same utterance eg babbit
Consonant cluster reduction- children find it difficult to produce multiple consonants so reduce them to smaller units eg tuck rather than truck
Berko and Brown (1960)
Child referred to plastic inflatable fish as ‘fis’- phonological error (deletion)
Even after adult modelled proper pronunciation, child kept making same error as they didn’t see that they were making an error
Biological explanation- even though standard English has been modelled, the child is physically unable to produce the ‘sh’ phoneme as it requires complex articulators
Supports Chomsky- children won’t respond to corrections as language is hard wired and innate construction/ novel utterance- not heard from parents
Tomasello (2009)
Called one word utterances ‘holophrases’
Indivisible units of language that convey a single complete communicative intention
Means child has taken a complete speech act (full sentence) from an adult, determined the adult’s intention and reduced it to a single word
Children learn forms and functions of words and understand intentional aspects of language (links to usage based theory)
How does intonation affect holophrases?
Affects the intended meaning of one word utterances
eg rising intonation= a question
Supports nature- intonation is so subtle and there are so many variations that it must have some innate aspect for a child as young as one to understand
Supports nurture- child directed speech- parents often rise intonation to be more engaging
How may an utterance such as ‘daddy gone’ be considered a holophrase?
Despite being two words they do not appear seperately in the child’s speech
The child might not have segmented the two words- they see it as one
only when repeated by child multiple times
Usage based approach
Childrens environments are often rich in language- offers the basis for a child’s early utterances- nurture
Children pick up ‘chunks’ of language and create productive structures from them -> adapt them to generate new and creative forms of their own
These ‘chunks’ are called constructions- a ready made chunk of language that can be used to express multiple ideas- depending on context has different meanings
Child forms patterns which create mental schema- builds up understanding and knowledge of language
Ibbotson (2012)
Children create and learn constructions such as:
more X , put X here , there’s a X
When a child hears constructions like this, they find similarity in the way things work or sound
These reliable patterns give the child a foothold into learning complex syntax
Are children just imitating language?
Even though input and output match, they see patterns and are creative
Virtuous errors may still occur
Tomasello (2003)
Rejects Chomsky’s UG
Said ability to learn language is driven by human pre-disposition to communicate
We rely on cognitive processes to acquire language
Identified by 9-12 months children make use of pattern forming ability
Children use these words and constructions to form larger syntaxes
The more times you hear an utterance the more likely you are to understand and acquire it
Child directed speech (CDS)
How the behaviour of caregivers is adapted to support language acquisition in children
Aims to attract and hold the child’s attention and help the child understand the language
Examples of CDS
Exaggerated ‘sing songy’ intonation
Concrete nouns (cat,train)
Names instead of pronouns eg mummy instead of I
LASS
Language acquisition support system
Proposed by Bruner
Network of adults that interact with a young child, supporting the child’s language development
Bruner
Believes children can learn language through regular exposure to interaction and communication
Children learn when adults around them speak because the purpose of language is to communicate with others
Agreed with Chomsky that children have some instinctive drive and ability to learn language but also believed this learning wouldn’t be possible without the adults around the child
Overextension
Rescorla (1980)
When a child reaches 18 months they have a productive vocabulary of around 50 words
Children have a lot to do with the little vocabulary they have so must be creative
Therefore children’s early words are often overextended to cover more things that have similar properties
Applying a label to more referents than it should have
eg Daddy to all males
Sea to all bodies of water
Duck to every bird
Underextension
Rescorla (1980)
Occurs less frequently
A child uses a word but only applies it to a specific situation
Eg apple to only green apples
Car to only mummys car
Evaluate the use of over/underextension
Nurture- exposed to objects in their environment allowing them to access properties
Nature- children are trying to seek connections-sign of an innate capacity to make sense of language
Jean Aitchison
Stage 1 - labelling, linking words to objects
Stage 2 - packaging, children explore what labels apply to, over/underextension happens here
Stage 3 - network building, connections are made between words, understanding opposites and similarities in meaning
Two word stage
18 months+
Vocabulary ‘spurt’ - when a child has acquired between 50 and 100 words - a cognitive change occurs - they gain naming insight
Move into a period of rapid lexical acquisition
Two to three new words per day
Children speak using content words- words in a sentence vital to create meaning
Child can now break language into segments
Usually the two words are in a grammatically correct sentence (SVO order)
Lenneberg (1967)
Critical period hypothesis
Language development is subject to critical period effects
We have ‘cut off points’ which we need to have acquired aspects of language by
We have ‘periods of peak plasticity’ where it is easier to learn language
Genie case study
Girl abused until the age of 13
Locked away and deprived of human contact
Followed some patterns expected when learning language initially eg babbling/making sounds
Her vocabulary size increased rapidly at first- could say many words
However she lacked the ability to use grammar or sentence structure
Had passed the critical period and therefore couldn’t learn language
Describe operant conditioning
Developed by Skinner
Part of the behaviourism approach
Believed only observable behaviour can be studied and anything in mind is misconception or irrelevant
Suggests organisms do what they do naturally until they accidentally encounter a stimulus that created conditioning resulting in a change in behaviour
Skinner placed a rat in an operant conditioning chamber- known as Skinner Box
Contained a lever that released food when pressed
ABC’s:
A- antecedent- accidentally presses lever releasing food
B- behaviour- presses leaver purposefully to release more food
C- consequence- food keeps coming out
Applied this to language acquisition- a positive or negative response given by caregiver can influence the way children talk
Positive reinforcement = giving praise or encouragement
Negative reinforcement = lack of feedback
Genie case study - behaviourist/nativist/interactionist/usage based explanations
Behaviourist- she didn’t receive any negative or positive reinforcement so continued with her natural / instinctive behaviour due to lack of stimuli - behaviour didn’t change so language never developed
Nativist- her LAD wasn’t activated so couldn’t process any words she heard leading to a lack of universal grammar- couldn’t acquire sentence structure, passed Lenneberg’s critical period
Interactionist- lacked a LASS so didn’t have anyone encouraging her to learn language, also not exposed to CDS so less engagement with the language
Usage based- unable to build mental schema due to being deprived of a language rich environment- didn’t have patterns of language so couldn’t acquire grammar or sentence structure
Jim case study
Bard and Sachs (1977)
Study of child ‘Jim’
Hearing child with deaf parents
Parents wanted son to speak English so watched lots of TV and listen to radio
However his progress was limited until he interacted with a speech therapisr
Patterson (2002)
Found children learnt words from a shared book experience, not television
O’Doherty (2011)
Dora the Explorer only facilitated language acquisition when there was some form of reciprocal social interaction
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Children’s language gets more complex when logical reasoning improves
Language of a child reflects development of their logical thinking
Children take an active role in the learning process
As children interact with the world they add new knowledge
Argues until infants understand object permanence they struggle to name things, hence why language is acquired properly after a year
Piaget’s stages of mental development
0-2 years = sensory motor stage - interact with environment using senses and physical movement, child is egocentric, begin to understand object permanence
2-6 years = pre operational - developing imagination, start to question a lot as trying to understand world, still egocentric
7-11 years = concrete stage - stop being egocentric, can appreciate other people’s perspectives
11-16 years = formal operational- thinking becomes more abstract
