ENGLISH UNIT 4 Flashcards
Instrumental
Language used to fulfil needs
Regulatory
Language used to give commands or make requests.
Interactional
Language used for social interaction
Personal
Language used to express feelings or emotions.
Heuristic
Language used to ask questions or explore the world.
Imaginative
Language used for creative play or storytelling.
Representational
Language used to convey information or describe events.
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
The hypothetical brain mechanism that allows children to acquire language quickly.
Nativism
A theory created by Chomsky, that suggests children’s ability to create complex sentences (even novel ones) reflects their innate language capacity.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
The difference between what a child can do independently and what they can do with help.
Scaffolding
Support given by adults or peers to help the child perform tasks beyond their current abilities.
Operant Conditioning
Children’s language use is reinforced by positive feedback or correction.
Imitation
Children imitate the language they hear in their environment.
Reinforcement and Correction
Adults provide praise or correction to shape children’s language use.
Over-extension
Over-extension occurs when a child uses a word to describe a broader category than it is intended for (e.g., calling all animals “dog”).
Under-extension
Under-extension occurs when a child uses a word too narrowly (e.g., calling only their pet “dog” and not recognizing other dogs).
Behaviourism
Skinner’s behaviourism suggests that children learn language through repetition and reinforcement. The child imitates language they hear and is reinforced (positively or negatively) based on their verbal output.
Social Interaction - Vgotsky
Vygotsky argued that language development is deeply tied to social interaction. Language is acquired through communication with more knowledgeable others, whether adults or peers.
Motherese/Child-Directed Speech
Caregivers often modify their speech when talking to children, using simplified vocabulary, exaggerated intonation, and clear pronunciation to make language more accessible.
Tabula Rasa
Children are a blank slate, and their language development is shaped entirely by their interactions with the environment.
Cognitive Development - Piaget
Piaget’s theory posits that cognitive development influences language. Children’s mental structures (like understanding concepts of cause and effect) shape their ability to use language in more complex ways over time.
Sapir-Whorf Theory/ Linguistic Relativity
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the language you speak affects how you think and see the world.
Convergence
The adjustment of one speaker’s speech and behavior to become more similar to another’s, often to gain approval or facilitate communication.
Comprehension Precedes Production - Nativist
Children typically understand more language than they can produce.
Holographic Stage of Cognitive Development
A very early stage in language development where children use a single word to convey a whole idea or meaning, often reflecting a complex thought.
Two-Word Stage of Cognitive Development
A stage where children begin combining two words together to form simple phrases or sentences, like “want cookie” or “big truck.”
Telegraphic Stage of Cognitive Development
A stage in language development where children use short, concise phrases, typically containing only essential words, resembling the brevity of a telegram (e.g., “Mommy go store”).
Post-Telegraphic Stage of Cognitive Development
A stage where children’s speech becomes more grammatically complex, and they start using a wider range of grammatical structures and function words, such as articles and prepositions.
Turn-talking
The process of alternating speaking and listening during a conversation, allowing for smooth communication.
