Child language development Flashcards
when does language acquisition start
3 months prior to the birth of the child
3 months before the baby is born what features can they distinguish
length of an utterance, rhythm and emphasis
what aspects of pronunciation are acquired late
intonation, acquired through primary school
which theorist is most commonly associated with behaviourism
Skinner and his experiment ‘Skinners box’
How did Skinners box show operant conditioning?
The rats learnt that is they pressed the lever it will get food proving that positive conditioning works
How did skinners box prove negative reinforcement
Experiment when rats were drawn to the lever to escape the electric shock
Which theorist are commonly associated with nativism
Chomsky LAD, Eric Lennenburg Critical period hypothesis,Steven Pinker principles and parameters
What did chomsky say about CLA
he concluded that children can’t acquire language by simply copying, they have an inbuilt capacity to learn langauge, all languages share the same universal grammar
What is the device that Chomsky argued we all have built within
Langauge Acquisition Device
What did Eric Lenneberg say about the LAD
The LAD needs to be activated with sufficient input before a certain point in the child’s development, this is supported by cases of ‘feral’ children that can never ‘fully’ acquire sufficient grammar e.g. oxana and genie
Genie is a product of critical period hypothesis, how so?
Genie was found at 13 and a half and could not develop grammar to the same extent as children who were found at a younger age, one year after her escape her language resembled a 18-20 month year old
How does what Nativist Steven Pinker 94 say about language differently to Chomsky
He links language ability to evolution. An untaught human instinct in the way that spiders weave webs. Not an invention like writing/metalworking as all cultures posses it.
What did Jerome Bruner say about CLD
Input is vital in helping a child acquire language, interaction ‘scaffolds’ a childs language in the same way that scaffolding supports a building.
How did Bruner make a pun out of Chomsky’s LAD
Bruner named the scaffolding system the language acquisition support system LASS
What are some common features of Child directed speech
repeated grammatical frames, non-verbal communication, simplified grammar, repetition, recasting etc
