FILE 8: Language Acquisition

Question 1

When acquiring one or more native language(s), all children go through the same stages of language development:

Answer 1

They start by babbling, then learn their first words, go through a so-called one-word stage, enter the two-word stage, and finally learn the more complex structures of their language(s).

Question 2

Active Construction of a Grammar Theory (8.1.1)

Answer 2

Theory of language acquisition that says that children acquire a language by inventing rules of grammar based on the speech around them.

Question 3

Articular Gesture (8.2.1)

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Attention Getter (8.4.2)

Answer 4

Word or phrase used to initiate an address to children.

Question 5

Attention Holder (8.4.2)

Answer 5

A tactic used to maintain children’s attention for extended amounts of time.

Question 6

Bilingual (8.5.1)

Answer 6

State of commanding two languages; having linguistic competence in two languages. In machine translation, a system that can translate between only one language pair.

Question 7

Babbling (8.2.2)

Answer 7

A phase in child language acquisition during which the child produces meaningless sequences of consonants and vowel. Generally begins around the age of six months.

Question 8

Canonical Babbling (8.2.2)

Answer 8

The continuous repetition of sequences of vowels and consonants like mamma by infants; also called repeated babbling.

Question 9

Child-Directed Speech (8.1.7)

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Code-Switching (8.5.2)

Answer 10

Using words or structural elements from more than one language within the same conversation (or even within a single sentence of phrase).

Question 11

Complexitive Concept (8.3.5)

Answer 11

A term used in the study of child language acquisition. A group of items (abstract or concrete) that a child refers to single out any one unifying property.

Question 12

Conditioned Head-Turn Procedure HT (8.2.1)

Answer 12

Experimental technique usually used with infants between five and eighteen 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 reinforcers, first presents 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, thereby demonstrating the ability to discriminate between the two sounds involved.

Question 13

Connectionist Theory (8.1.1)

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

Critical Period (8.1.2)

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Conversational Turn (8.4.3)

Answer 15

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 on to another speaker.

Question 16

Deictic (Expression) (8.3.5)

Answer 16

Word or expression that takes its meaning relative to the time, place, and speaker of the utterance.

Question 17

Feral Child (8.1.2)

Answer 17

Child who grew up in the wild without care by human adults, often with animals.

Question 18

First-Language (L1) Acquisition (8.0)

Answer 18

The process by which children acquire the lexicon and grammatical rules of their native language.

Question 19

Foreign Accent (8.5.4)

Answer 19

An accent that is marked by the phonology of another language or other languages that are more familiar to the speaker.

Question 20

Fossilization (8.5.4)

Answer 20

Process through which forms from a speakers 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.

Question 21

High Amplitude Sucking (HAS) (8.2.1)

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Holophase (8.3.2)

Answer 22

A one-word sentence.

Question 23

Homesign (System) (8.1.2)

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Imitation Theory (8.1.1)

Answer 24

Theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear.

Question 25

Innateness Hypothesis (8.1.1)

Answer 25

A hypothesis that humans are genetically predisposed to learn and use language.

Question 26

Linguistic Universal (8.1.2)

Answer 26

Property believed to be held in common by all natural languages.

Question 27

Multilingual (8.5.1)

Answer 27

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 more than two languages.

Question 28

Neglected Child (8.1.2)

Answer 28

A child who is neglected by caretakers, often resulting in significantly lower exposure to language as a child.

Question 29

One-Word Stage (8.3.2)

Answer 29

Stages in first-language acquisition during which children can produce only one word at a time.

Question 30

Overgeneralization (8.3.4)

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

Overextension (8.3.5)

Answer 31

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.

Question 32

Reinforcement Theory (8.1.1)

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

Second-Language (L2) Acquisition

Answer 33

Acquisition of second language as a teenager or adult.

Question 34

Sequential Bilingualism (8.5.1)

Answer 34

Bilingualism in which the second language is acquired as a young child.

Question 35

Simultaneous Bilingualism (8.5.1)

Answer 35

Bilingualism in which both languages are acquired from infancy.

Question 36

Social Interaction Theory (8.1.1)

Answer 36

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.

Question 37

Two-Word Stage (8.3.3)

Answer 37

Stage in first-language acquisition at which children produce two-word utterances in addition to one-word utterances.

Question 38

Variegated Babbling (8.2.2)

Answer 38

Production of meaningless consonant-vowel sequences by infants.

Question 39

Universal Grammar (8.1.2)

Answer 39

The theory that posits a set of grammatical characteristics shared by all natural languages. Also, the name of this set of shared characteristics.

Question 40

Infants Language Abilities (331)

Answer 40

1 month: Cry to express displeasure and make other throaty sounds.

2-3 months: Turn their eyes and later their heads to look for sounds and voices.

4-5 months: Begin to make consonant sounds in addition to their vowel-like cooing, especially sounds like [m], [b].

6 months: Respond to sounds by making sounds.

7-9 months: Respond to familiar words and try to copy sounds and gestures.

10-11 months: Begin variegated babbling, with sequences like [bugabimo].

12 months: May say a few words and exclamations in addition to mama and dada such as no, go, bye, uh-oh!