File 8 - Language Acquisition Flashcards
innate
determined by factors present from birth
innateness hypothesis
a hypotheses that humans are generally predisposed to learn and use language
imitation theory
child language acquisition theory that claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear
reinforcement theory
theory of child language acquisition which 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 child language which says that children acquire a language by inventing rules of grammar based on the speech around them
connectionist theory
theory of language acquisition which 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 propt their caregivers to supply them with the appropriate language experience they need
linguistic universal
property believed to be held in common by all natural languages
universal grammar
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 the 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
neglected child
a child who is neglected by caretakers, often resulting in significantly lower exposure to language
feral child
child who grew up in the wild without care by human adults, often with animals
homesign
communicative gestures that are invented by deaf children and the people they interact with regularly where sign language is not available
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
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. each suck on the pacifier generates a noise, and infants sucking behavior is used to draw conclusions about discrimination abilities.
conditional 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
articulatory gestures
a movement of a speech organ in the production of speech, for example, the movement of the velum for the production of a nasal consonant
velum
soft part of the roof of the month behind the hard palate, also known as the soft palate. when the velum is raised the passage between the pharynx
babble
a phase in child language acquisition during which the child produces meaningless sequences of consonants and vowels. generally begins around the age of six months.
canonical babbling
the continuous repetition of sequences of vowels and consonants like [mamama] by infants; also called repeated babbling.
variegated babbling
production of meaningless consonant-vowel sequences by infants
one word stage
stage in first-language acquisition during which children can produce only one word at a time
telegraphic stage
a phase during child language acquisition in which children use utterances composed primarily of content words
content words
word whose primary purpose is to contribute semantic content to the phrase in which it occurs. all free content morphemes are content words
complexive concepts
term used in the study of child language acquisition. a group of items (abstract or concrete) that a child refers to with a single word for which it is not possible to single out any one unifying property
overextension
relationship between child and adult perception of word meaning: the child’s application of a given word ha a wider range than the application of the same word in adult language
relative intersection
type of relationship between adjective and noun reference where the reference of the adjective is determined relatable to the noun reference
underextension
application of a word to a smaller set of objects than is appropriate for mature adult speech of the usual definition of the word
diectic (expression)
word or expression that takes its meaning relative to the time, place, and speaker of the utterance
child-directed speech
speech used by parents or caregivers when communicating with young children or infants. in many western societies, child-directed speech is low and high pitched and has many repetitions, simplified syntax, exaggerated intonation, and a simple and concrete vocabulary.
attention getter
word or phrase used to initiate an address to children
attention holder
a tactic used to maintain children’s attention for extended amounts of time.
conversational turn
the contribution to a conversation made by one speaker from the time that she takes the floor from another speaker to the the time that she passes the floor on to another speaker
multilingual
state of commanding three or more languages; having linguistic competence in three or more languages.
bilingual
state of commanding two languages; having linguistic competence in two languages
linguistic competence
what we know when we know a language; the unconscious knowledge that a speaker has about her or his native language
simultaneous bilingualism
in which both languages are acquired from infancy
sequential bilingualism
bilingualism in which the second language is acquired as a young child
second language acquisition
acquisition of a second language as a teenager or adult
