Child Language Acquisition Flashcards
What is the primary goal of using child-directed speech (CDS)?
To simplify communication so children can more easily understand and acquire language.
When an adult uses a higher pitch and exaggerated intonation while talking to a baby, what is the purpose of this?
To help maintain the baby’s attention and interest.
What is a common strategy used in CDS to encourage language development by expanding on the child’s utterance?
Recasting
What does “recasting” mean in child-directed speech?
Repeating the child’s sentence in a grammatically correct or more complex form.
When a child says “doggy run” and the adult responds, “Yes, the dog is running!” this is an example of
E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Expansion
Why is a slower speech tempo often used in child-directed speech?
It gives the child more time to process the sounds and meaning.
Which strategy involves repeating what a child says in a more sophisticated or grammatically correct way?
Expansion
“Parental scaffolding” is a key feature in child-directed speech. What does this involve?
Gradually adjusting the complexity of language to match the child’s growing abilities.
What is the function of repetition in child-directed speech?
To build the child’s confidence in understanding and using language.
When talking to children, why do adults often emphasise and repeat key words?
To help the child focus on important words and their meanings.
Talking to yourself out loud about what you’re doing, especially when a child is watching is a CDS strategy called:
S _ _ _ T _ _ _
Self Talk
Asking open-ended questions and waiting for their response could be described as a feature of what?
Child Directed Speech
What is “substitution” in the context of phonological errors?
Replacing one sound with another, often easier, sound.
A child says “pat” instead of “cat.” This is an example of:
S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Substitution
What is the term for a child’s tendency to replace a difficult sound with a simpler one, such as “w” for “r” (e.g., saying “wabbit” for “rabbit”)?
Substitution
When a child omits the final consonant in a word, for example, saying “ca” instead of “cat,” this is called:
(Final consonant) deletion
What is “consonant cluster reduction”?
When a child omits one or more consonants in a group of consonants (e.g., “poon” for “spoon”).
A child says “gog” instead of “dog.” What type of error is this?
Assimilation
“Reduplication” occurs when a child repeats a
W _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (e.g., “baba” for “bottle”)
Whole Syllable
A child says “nana” instead of “banana.” What kind of phonological process is this?
Deletion of an unstressed syllable
What is “assimilation” in phonological errors?
Changing a sound to make it more like another sound in the word (e.g., “gog” for “dog”).
A child says “tee” instead of “tree.” What type of phonological error is this?
Consonant cluster reduction
What does “deletion of an unstressed syllable” refer to?
Removing the quieter, less emphasized syllable in a word (e.g., saying “nana” for “banana”).
A child says “pider” instead of “spider.” This is an example of:
Consonant cluster reduction
According to Bruner, what is the primary factor that drives language development in children?
Social interaction and communication with caregivers
What is the name of the supportive framework that adults provide to help children learn language, according to Bruner?
Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)
The gradual removal of support as the child becomes more competent. What aspect of social interactionism would this describe?
Scaffolding
Bruner emphasized the importance of interaction between children and adults in structured, routine settings. What is the term for these repetitive interactions, like mealtime or story time, that support language learning?
Scaffolding routines
What is the role of the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) in Bruner’s theory?
It represents the external social and cultural framework that supports language learning.
How does Bruner’s theory of social interactionism differ from Chomsky’s theory of language acquisition?
Bruner emphasises social interaction and cultural context, while Chomsky focuses on an innate language acquisition device.
In Bruner’s view, the interactional routines used by caregivers when speaking to children help achieve what goal?
Structuring the environment to make language predictable and easier to learn.
What is the term for the way adults modify their speech patterns when talking to young children, a concept central to Bruner’s theory?
Child-directed speech
In what way does Bruner’s concept of scaffolding change over time during a child’s language development?
The adult provides less structured guidance as the child becomes more independent.
What is Bruner’s primary criticism of theories that focus solely on the innate biological mechanisms for language development?
They underestimate the role of social interaction and cultural context in language learning.
According to Skinner’s behaviourism, how do children learn language?
By imitating adults and receiving reinforcement
What type of reinforcement is central to Skinner’s explanation of how children acquire language?
Negative reinforcement
When a child says “milk” and the caregiver responds by giving the child milk and praising them, this is an example of P _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Positive reinforcement
A child repeats words or phrases they hear from adults.
What would Skinner call this?
Imitation
What does Skinner mean by operant conditioning in the context of language development?
Language learning occurs as a result of reinforcement and consequences.
How does Skinner’s theory explain the development of more complex sentences in children?
Caregivers provide reinforcement as children attempt increasingly complex speech.
Which theory is most clearly associated with virtuous errors? Why is this?
Nativism - because it shows children apply grammatical rules without being taught them
What is a virtuous error?
A logical mistake - where a grammatical rule is applied to an irregular form e.g. I runned using a regular -ed inflection
How many morphemes are in the following sentence?
‘The doggies runned over there’
7
What is a morpheme?
The smallest unit of meaning
Name the phonological error: The doggy goes over there
Addition
Name the phonological error: Can I see babbit [rabbit]?
Assimilation
