CLA Stages of Development Theorists: Telegraphic Stage

Question 1

Ursula Bellugi (1967)

(3 stages of Negative formations)

Answer 1

• Proposed that there are stages involved within the development of negatives in the aqquisition of a child’s language.
• Argues that children find it difficult to acquire negatives therefore they learn it in stages.
• Toddlers first use negatives to indicate that something is gone or away.
• Children start with using ‘no’ alone before progressing into the main stages:
• Stage 1: Using ‘no’ or ‘not’ at the beginning and end of sentences. E.g., “No wear shoes.”
• Stage 2: The use of ‘no’ or ‘not’ moves into the middle of the sentence. E.g.,”I no want it.”
• Stage 3: Child attaches the negative auxillary very and coulpa verb verb ‘be’ effecttively. E.g., “No I don’t want to go.” or “I am not.”
• Each stage has distinct grammar.

Question 2

Ursula Bellugi

Stages of question formation

Answer 2

• Links with the formation of negatives as it follows a similar pattern.
• Stage 1: Child uses intonation to express a question being asked.
• Stage 2: The use of question lexis such as “Why?” “Where?” “How?” and “what?” as a child begins to explore it’s environment.
• Stage 3: Adjusting the syntax in order to ask more detailed questions.

Question 3

Ursula Bellugi

Stages of pronoun formation

Answer 3

• Children struggle to use determiners such as “a” and “the” in sentences.
• Bellugi propsosed that children learn pronouns in stages.
• Stage 1: Child uses their own name.
• Stage 2: Child can recognise and use “I” and “me.”
• Stage 3: Uses pronouns according to whether they are the object or subject.

Question 4

Question development stages

Roger Brown (1973)

prosodic, interrogative, Syntatic

Telegraphic Stage

Answer 4

• Only prosodic features (rising intonation) indicate the interrogative mood: ‘Daddy come…?’
• Interrogative pronouns (wh-words, such as when, where, what, how) are used at the start of sentences: ‘Where baby…?’
• Syntactic inversion of the auxillary verb (can, is, did, -tense will not always be correct) and the subject of the sentence (e.g. You, Daddy) produce the correct form: is Daddy gone?

Intonation, stress and rhythm are prosodic features.

Question 5

Morpheme acquisition stages

Roger Brown (1973)

I->P->Po->D&ID->PT->TPSI->COTV

Telegraphic Stage

Answer 5

• Inflection -ing (Playing)
• Plural - s (Trains)
• Posessive - ‘s (Billy’s book)
• Definite and indefinite articles (The/a)
• Past tense -ed (Walked)
• Third person singular inflection (She walks)
• Contraction of the verb (He’s happy)