Final

Question 1

Name, define and describe the function of the six components of a spoken language system.

Answer 1

Phonemes,

Question 2

Phonemes:

Answer 2

basic units of sound that can change the meaning of a word.

Question 3

Morphemes:

Answer 3

basic units of meaning that exist in a word. (view; re-view; pre-view)

Question 4

Syntax:

Answer 4

systemic rules for forming sentences.

Question 5

Semantics:

Answer 5

going beyond the literal meanings of words - idioms; metaphors; etc. (she was green with envy)

Question 6

Pragmatics:

Answer 6

rules for how language is used appropriately in different social contexts. (“give me the cookie” versus “may I please have a cookie?”)

Question 7

Pragmatics:

Answer 7

rules for how language is used appropriately in different social contexts. (“give me the cookie” versus “may I please have a cookie?”)

Question 8

Prosody:

Answer 8

“melody of speech” - how sounds are produced to create meaningful speech. (“Dog.” sounds unlike “Dog?”)

Question 9

According to fMRI studies, describe a gender difference in left and right hemisphere language processing.

Answer 9

Areas on both left and right hemisphere active in women’s brains when processing language whereas activity in mens is more localized in the left hemisphere

Question 10

Describe how Wernicke’s and Broca’s area of the brain work together in language processing. What disorder is the result of damage to the fibers connecting them?

Answer 10

incoming language processed by in wernicke’s and sent to broca’s via band of fibers. damage to these bands cause aphasia

Question 11

What is a universal grammar? Give an example of a universal grammar rule.

Answer 11

universal grammar is a system of common rules and properties for learning any of the worlds language. provide framework for acquiring language but is not language specific. Ex. Language acquisition device

Question 12

What are the main features of the nativist and learning theories of language acquisition?

Answer 12

sifts through language, applies the universal rules, and begins tailoring the system to the specifics of the language spoken in the young child’s environment

Question 13

Describe the evidence supporting the nativist perspective on language learning.

Answer 13

poverty of the stimulus (POTS), children all progress through the same sequences and make the same kind of errors – showing its species wide

Question 14

State the evidence that the capacity for acquiring language has a genetic basis.

Answer 14

some of our language components are chares with other primates. individuals whose FOXP2 gene is damage are unable to speak.

Question 15

Describe the stages through which early language acquisition progresses.

Answer 15

Young infants begin making sounds and demonstrate sensitivity to intonation. They produce”coos,”or repetitive vowel-like sounds before moving on to”babbling,”which adds consonant sounds. Babbling gives way to single words or holophrases, which are then followed by simple sentences in the telegraphic stage of language development.

Question 16

Define each of the following and give ages when infants demonstrate them: word segmentation; cooing, babbling; holophrases; vocabulary spurt, and telegraphic speech.

Answer 16

cooing: 6 to 8 weeks - repeating vowel-like sounds (such as “ooh”).
babbling: 4 to 6 months - repeating consonant-vowel combinations (such as “baba”).
word segmentation: 7 1/2 months - Ability to detect a target word in a stream of speech.

holophrases: 1 year - a single word that often conveys an entire sentence’s worth of meaning.
vocabulary spurt: 18 months - when the pace of word learning increases dramatically.
telegraphic speech: 18 to 24 months - sentences that contain critical content words and omit frills such as articles.

Question 17

Describe how joint attention and syntactic boot strapping help language comprehension development.

Answer 17

joint attention: social eye gaze/ when people look at the same thing. Parents help teach their children language in this way.
syntactic boot strapping: using the syntax, or position of a word in a sentence, to determine the meaning of the word. Children learn new words in this way.

Question 18

What is mastery motivation? What can parents (and others) do to foster the development of mastery motivation in infants and children? What parenting practices stifle its development?

Answer 18

Mastery Motivation: striving for mastery or competence. To foster it, provide sensory stimulation designed to arouse and amuse the baby. Place baby in a responsive environment with plenty of opportunities. To stifle it, be less responsive. Children of parents who are depressed show less interest and persistence on challenging tasks. Also, children whose parents constantly stifle their initiatives (don’t move the chair!) may be less likely to take on new tasks.

Question 19

Name three general components of early education programs that have been shown to have positive effects.

Answer 19

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Question 20

Define metalinguistic awareness and describe its function in language development in middle childhood.

Answer 20

Preschoolers show the beginnings of metalinguistic awareness. Their understanding are good predictors of vocabulary and grammatical development and in the case of phonological awareness, literacy development. Major advances in metalinguistic skills place in middle childhood.

Question 21

Describe the differences in motivational style found in children who persist and triumph in the face of failure and those who give up.

Answer 21

Fixed mindset: believe that what they have, intelligence or talent is set and will not mature over time.
Growth mindset: believe that abilities and talent are malleable , through hard work and effort they can do well.

Question 22

Describe the age related developmental characteristics that contribute to achievement levels and motivation or mindset to succeed.

Answer 22

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Question 23

Discuss how a focus on performance goals in educational settings and in homes may be harmful to children’s achievement. What can be done to switch the focus to mastery goals?

Answer 23

A child with a focus on performance goals think ability is a fixed trait (unlike mastery goal-oriented children) and they will be more disheartened by the outcome (like a bad grade) than a child that is happy to have learned and improved her own ability nonetheless. Parents can stress the importance of the process of learning, and emphasize the opportunities provided by mistakes.

Question 24

Discuss the reasons reading may be the most important school achievement.

Answer 24

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Question 25

Describe the steps to understanding the alphabetic principle.

Answer 25

It is a four step process =

• Prealphabetic phase: children memorize selected visual cues to remember words.
• Partial alphabetic phase: children learn the shapes and sounds of letters.
• Full alphabetic phase: children make complete connections between written letters and their corresponding sounds (they use phonological awareness, or the sensitivity to the sound system of language that enables them to segment spoken words into sounds or phonemes.
• Consolidated alphabetic phase: children are able to group letters that regularly occur together in a unit.

Question 26

***Contrast the description of dyslexia in the textbook with the view of dyslexia presented in the two videos “What is dyslexia?” and “Reading is not natural”.

Answer 26

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Question 27

***Explain why levels of academic achievement decline in adolescence and describe two methods to stop this decline.

Answer 27

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Question 28

***Analyze the pros and cons of employment during high school.

Answer 28

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Question 29

**Describe what happens to achievement motivation across adulthood.

Answer 29

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Question 30

***Explain the challenges for adults who struggle with literacy.

Answer 30

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Question 31

***Explain the challenges for adults who struggle with literacy.

Answer 31

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Question 32

***Outline pros and cons of continuing education for adults.

Answer 32

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