File 8 language acquisition Flashcards
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.
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
babbling
a phrase in child language acquisition during which the child produces meaningless sequences of consonants and vowels. Generally begins around the age of six months
bilingual
state of commanding two languages; having linguistic competence in two languages. In machine translation, a system that can translate between only one language pair
canonical babbling
the continuous repetition of sequences of vowels and consonants like mamama by infants; also called repeated babbling
child-directed speech
speech used by parents and 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
code-switching
using words or structural elements from more than one language within the same conversation or even within a single sentence or phrase
complexive concept
a 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
conditioned head-turn procedure
experimental technique usually used with infants between 5 and 18 months with two phases: conditioning and testing. During the conditioning phase, the infant learns to associate a change in sound with the activation of visual reinforces, first presented at the same time and then in succession, such that the infant begins to anticipate the appearance of the visual reinforcers and look at them before they are activated. During the testing phase, when the infant looks to the visual reinforcers immediately, after a change in sound it suggests that the infant has perceived the change in sound, thereby demonstrating the ability to discriminate, between the two sounds involved.
connectionist theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children learn language through neural connections in the brain. A child develops connections by exposure to language and by using language.
conversational turn
the contribution to a conversation made by one speaker from the time that she takes the floor from another speaker to the time that she passes the floor to another speaker
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.
feral child
child who grew up in the wild without any care for adults, often with animals.
first language acquisition
the process by which children acquire the lexicon and grammatical rules of their language. In the case of native bilinguals, both languages are acquired as first languages.
foreign accent
an accent that is marked by the phonology of another language or other languages that are more familiar to the speaker
fossilization
process through which form from a speaker’s non-native language usage become fixed (generally in a way that would be considered ungrammatical by a native speaker) and do not change, even after years of instruction
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 generated system. Each suck on the pacifier generates a noise, and infants sucking behavior is used to draw conclusions about discrimination abilities
holophrase
a one-word sentence
homesign system
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
imitation theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear
innate
determined by factors present from birth
innateness hypothesis
a hypothesis that humans are genetically predisposed to learn and use language
linguistic universal
property believed to be held in common by all natural languages
multilingual
the state of commanding three or more languages; having linguistic competence in three or more languages. In machine translation, a system that can translate between two or more languages
neglected child
a child who is neglected by caretakers; often resulting in significantly lowered exposure to language as a child
one-word stage
stage in first language acquisition during which children can produce only one word at a time
overextension
in the study of child language acquisition, a relationship between child and adult perception of word meaning; the child’s application of a given word has a wider range than the application of the same word in adult language
overgeneralization
in the study of child language acquisition, a relationship between child and adult application of rules relative to certain contexts; a process in which children extend the application of linguistic rules to contexts beyond those in the adult language
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
relational term
type of relationship between adjective and noun reference where the reference of the adjective is determined relative to the noun reference
sequential bilingualism
bilingualism in which second language is acquired as a young child
simultaneous bilingualism
bilingualism in which both languages are acquired from infancy
social interaction theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language from social interaction–in particular with older children and adults and prompt their caregivers to supply them with the appropriate language experience they need
telegraphic stage
a phrase during child language acquisition in which children use utterances composed primarily of content words
telegraphic utterances
utterances containing primarily content words in the style of a telegram with many function words and function morphemes left out
two-word stage
stage in first language acquisition at which children produce two word utterances in addition to one word utterances
underextension
application of a word to a smaller set of objects than is appropriate for mature adult speech or the usual definition of the word
universal grammar
the theory that posits a series of grammatical characteristics shared by all natural languages. Also the name if this set of shared characteristics
variegated babbling
production of meaningless consonant-vowel sequences by infants
