Chp 8 Language Acquisition Flashcards
innate
this is determined by factors that are present from birth
innateness hypothesis
a hypothesis that humans are genetically predisposed to learn and use the language
imitation theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear
reinforcement theory
theory of language acquisition that says that children learn to speak like adults because they are praised, rewarded, or otherwise reinforced when they use the right forms and are corrected when they use the wrong ones
active construction of a grammar theory
theory of language acquisition that says that children acquire a language by inventing rules of grammar based on the speech around them
connectionist theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children learn language through neural connections in the brain. A child develops such connections through exposure to language and by using language
social interaction theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language through social interaction–in particular with older children and adults–and prompt their caregivers to supply them with the appropriate language experience they need
linguistic universals
property believed to be held in common by all natural linguistics
universal grammar
the theory that posits a set of grammatical characteristics shared by all natural languages. Also, the name of this set of shared characteristics
critical period
age span, usually described as lasting from birth to the onset of puberty, during which children must have exposure to language and must build the critical brain structures necessary in order to gain native speaker competence in a language
neglected children
child who is neglected by caretakers, often resulting in significantly lower exposure to language as a child
feral child
child who grew up in the wild without care by human adults, often with animals
homesign
a rudimentary visual-gestural communication system (not a language- that is developed and used by deaf children and their families when a signed language is not made available for their communication
child-directed speech
speech used by parents or caregivers when communicating with young children or infants. In many western societies, child-directed speech is slow and high pitched and has many repetitions, simplified syntax, exaggerated intonation, and a simple and concrete vocabulary
high amplitude sucking (has)
experimental technique used to study sound discrimination in infants from birth to about six months. Infants are given a special pacifier that is connected to a sound-generating system.
conditioned head turn procedure
experimental technique usually used with infants between five and eighteen months with two phases: conditioning and testing
voice onset time
the length of time between the release of a consonant and the onset of voicing, that is, when the vocal folds start vibrating
trends in word learning
complexive concepts, overextension, underextension, relational terms, diectic expressions, complex verbs
complexive concepts
associating a word with many others things by making many small leaps in meaning
Overextension
extending word’s meaning beyond what is appropriate.
example: “Fly” used to refer to not only small insects but specks of dirt, dust, break crumbs.
Underextension
applying words to smaller sets of objects than appropriate
less common than overextension. generally among older children acquiring category names like mammal and fruit.
example: a tomato is a fruit; whales and dolphins are mamma
Relational Terms
Example: Large vs Small.
6 foot tall elephant vs. 6 foot tall dog
Diectic Expressions
Personal, temporal, or spatial aspects - depends on situation
example: here/there, this/that, close/far
Complex Verbs
give/take, sell/buy, abstract - think, believe
