Language Flashcards
Proposes that language acquisition is innate because babies are born with a language acquisition device
As long as humans are exposed to language during the critical period, language acquisition occurs
Associated with Noam Chomsky
Nativist perspective
The period in early development where language acquisition is easiest
Lasts until 8-9 years of age
Also known as sensitive period
Critical period
Different arrangements of words conveying the same information
Transformalist grammar
Example: “I took the MCAT” vs “The MCAT was taken by me”
Proposes that language is acquired through imitation and practice
Language is not innate and children are not born with anything, but rather language is learned through operant conditioning
Learning (behaviorist) perspective
Proposes that language is learned through the interaction of biological and social factors
Core motivation for children is the desire to communicate with others
Interactionist perspective
Also known as the social interactionist approach, associated with Vygotsky
Language areas of the brain
In 90% of individuals (regardless of being right- or left- handed), language is located in the left hemisphere
Two primary areas are Broca’s area for speech and language expression, and Wernicke’s area for sound processing and language comprehension
Problems with language, including speaking, listening, reading, and writing
Aphasia
Bundle of nerves connecting Broca’s area to Wernicke’s area
Arcuate fasciculus
Deficiencies in writing
Agraphia
Deficiencies in naming objects or retrieving words
Anomia
Timeline of language development
Age range Milestone
9-12 months
Babbling
12-18 months
One word per month
18-20 months
Explosion of language and combining words
2-3 years
Longer sentences (3 words or more)
5 years
Language rules largely mastered
Characterized by difficulty producing speech, resulting in halting, broken speech
Broca’s aphasia
Also known as non-fluent aphasia
Mnemonic: Broca = broken, Wernicke = wordy
Characterized by difficulty comprehending language, in addition to producing nonsensical statements or “word salad”
Wernicke’s aphasia
Also known as fluent or receptive aphasia
Mnemonic: Broca = broken, Wernicke = wordy
Both Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia
Impaired speech comprehension and impaired speech production
Global aphasia
Damage to the arcuate fasciculus results in conduction aphasia, where the ability to convey information between speech production and comprehension centers is impaired
Conduction aphasia
Conduction aphasia means that the ability to repeat back words is deficient
Universalism vs relativism
Universalism: the theory that language is a total reflection of human thought and that thought completely controls language
Relativism: language influences thoughts and perception, but are free to vary
Language develops in order to explain thoughts
Piagetian perspective
Example: A child understanding object permanence will learn words like “hide”
Cognition influences language
Language develops in order to promote social interaction (e.g. for children to interact with parents)
Cognition and language develop independently
Vygotsky perspective
The idea that language influences our worldview and cognitive perspective
Has a strong form (also known as linguistic determinism) and a weak form (also known as linguistic relativity)
Linguistic relativity states that language influences but does not completely determine worldview
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Example: if one’s language does not have separate words for green and turqouise, then they may have difficulty discriminating the two
The concept that language completely determines thought
This is the strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Linguistic determinism
Phonetic component, actual sound of a language
phonology
Structure of words
Individual building blocks called morphemes (smallest significant unit of meaning of a word)
morphology
Broad meanings of each word, phrase, sentence, or text
semantics
The way words are placed together to form language. Describes how words are arranged to create grammatically correct sentences
syntax
Dependence of language on context and pre-existing knowledge
Affected by prosody
pragmatics
Rhythm, cadence, and inflection of spoken language
prosody
All the wordless cues meant to convey meaning to another individual, including body language, hand gestures, facial expressions, and vocal inflections
nonverbal communication
