Key terms for CLA (Paper 3) Flashcards
Communicative competence
Ability to form accurate and understandable utterances, using the grammar system, and understand social context for using them
Proto words
‘Made up’ words that a child will use to represent a word that that they may not be able to pronounce e.g. ‘ray ray’ for raisins
Pre-verbal stage
2-6 months
A period of time that involves experimenting with noises and sounds but without producing recognisable words- usually lasting for the majority of the baby’s first year
Cooing
Distinct from crying but not yet forming recognisable vowels and consonants
Babbling
Vocal play that involves forming vowel and consonant sounds, which can be reduplicated ( repeated) or variegated (different sounds put together)
Variegated sounds
Different sounds put together
Holophrastic stage
12-18 months
The point in a child’s development when a child uses individual words to communicate
Non-verbal communication
All the ways in which communication occurs that does not involve words (e.g. shaking the head from a parent)
Phonological development
Refers to how children learn to organize sounds into meaning or language (phonology) during their stages of growth.
Plosives
The sound made by closing the mouth and then releasing a burst of breath: t, k, and p (voiceless) and d, g, and b (voiced).
Fricatives
Produced by bringing the mouth into position to block the passage of the airstream, but not making complete closure, so that air moving through the mouth generates audible friction: f, s; v, z
Articulatory ease
The linguistic concern for how certain sound changes in words might be motivated by how easy or hard the word is to pronounce.
Perceptual discriminability
The brain’s ability to accurately perceive information in a complex, fluid and confusing situation and, even more importantly, to accurately differentiate amongst confusable types of information.
Reduplication
Repeated syllables within a word e.g. baa for blanket
Diminutives
The reduction in scale of an item through the way a word is created e.g. booklet (a small book), droplet (a small drop), wavelet (a small wave)
Addition
Adding an additional suffix to the end of a word in order to change the way a word is pronounced and interpreted e.g. mummy and dolly instead of mum and doll
Substitution
The process of swapping one sound for another (that is easier to pronounce) e.g. ‘Fink’ instead of think
Assimilation
One consonant or vowel is swapped for another e.g. handbag often pronounced ‘hambag’ or ‘borry’ for lorry
Deletion
A sound segment is removed from a word e.g. flyin or tephone
Consonant cluster reductions
Reducing phonologically more complex units into simpler ones- from two (or more) consonants down to one e.g. ‘dis’ not dish
Syntax
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.
Two-word stage
18 months
Period of time when a child begins to put two words together e.g. kick ball
Telegraphic stage
2 years old
Period of time when a child’s utterances will be three words and more: there might be omission of some words , with the key words included
Post telegraphic stage
Age 3
Period of time when a child’s language will include both content and grammatical words and more closely resemble adult speech
Content words
Words within a sentence that are vital to convey meaning
Grammatical words
Words within a sentence that are necessary to demonstrate structural accuracy
Operant conditioning (skinner)
The idea that either a positive or negative response given by a caregiver can influence the way in which a child talks on future occasions
Positive reinforcement
The positive feedback given to a child which is thought to encourage similar performance again
Negative reinforcement
The lack of feedback, correction or negative feedback that might prevent a child from from making the same error repeatedly
Language acquisition device (LAD- Chomsky)
The idea that all humans are born with an innate language learning capability
Tabula rasa
Latin for ‘blank slate’ and the term used to describe the idea that children are born with undeveloped, fresh brains
Universal grammar (Chomsky)
The notion that all human languages possess similar grammatical properties which the brain is ‘hard wired’ to be able to decode and use
Virtuous errors (Chomsky)
Grammatical errors that are understandable and logical through an incorrect assumption being made about grammar rules
Critical period
The age at which a child will be most receptive to learn language
Cognitive development
A child’s development of thinking and understanding
Language acquisition support system (LASS- Brurner)
A system that refers to caregivers and other important participants within a child’s life that facilitate learning
Egocentric
Thinking only of themselves, without understanding or regard of the feelings of others
Object permanence
An understanding that objects continue to exist even if they cannot be seen or touched
Scaffolding (Bruner and a Vygotsky)
The support provided by caregivers through modelling how speech ought to take place, in order to help the child’s language development
Sensorimotor stage (Piaget)
0-2 years old
A child begins to interact with their environment, using their senses and physical movement to do so. During this stage a child remains egocentric and an understanding of object permanence appears
Pre-operational stage (Piaget)
2-6/7 years old
Characterised by a child’s learning to speak and developing their imaginative focus. In play they become able to represent the world symbolically, A child remains egocentric in this stage and struggles to understand things from points of view other than their own.
Concrete operational stage (Piaget)
6/7-11/12 years
A child stops being egocentric at this stage and begins to be able to understand the points of view of others> They become more capable of logical thought
Formal operational stage (Piaget)
11-16+
There will no longer be a problem with logical thought and thinking becomes increasingly abstract
Preposition
A word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object.
More knowledgeable other (MOT- Vygotsky)
The older participant in an interaction who might offer support to a child so that they can further their own development or learning
Zone of proximal development (ZPD- Vygotsky)
Describes the area between what a child can already do and that which is beyond their reach. It is the area into which a caregiver might enable the child to progress by offering the necessary support or scaffolding to facilitate learning
Usage based linguistics (Tomasello)
A model that emphasises that language structure emerges from use in the linguistic patterns are formed and become what we know as grammatical constructions
Pattern forming ability
Describes cognitive process that matches information from a stimulus with information retrieved from memory.
Child directed speech (CDS)
The various ways in which a caregiver (unconsciously) adapts their speech in order to help aid a child in their language development
Expansion
When a caregiver might develop a child’s utterances to make it more grammatically complete
Recast
The grammatically incorrect utterances of a child if spoken back to the child but in the correct form
Mitigated imperatives
An instruction given in such a way that it does not appear to be a command but a more gentle suggestion
IRF structures- initiation, response, feedback
Three-part conversational exchange in which a speaker starts the conversation, a second speaker responses and then feedback is provided to what the second speaker said
Instrumental stage (Halliday)
Child is trying to fulfil need e.g. asking for food or drink
Regulatory stage (Halliday)
Used to control the behaviour of someone: persuading, commanding, requesting e.g. telling a caregiver where to sit
Interactional stage (Halliday)
Used to develop relationships with others e.g. telling a sibling you love them
Personal stage (Halliday)
Used to express views and preferences e.g. me no like it
Heuristic stage (Halliday)
Language used to explore, learn and discover e.g. what are you doing mummy?
Imaginative stage (Halliday)
Used to explore something creatively or during play
Representational stage (Halliday)
Language that is used to request or receive information
