Language

Question 1

Language is Regular

Answer 1

• it is governed by rules and grammar
• a sentence can be recognized and still retain its meaning
  because a system of rules details how each word fits with
  the ones around it

Question 2

Language is Arbitrary

Answer 2

what specific sound is assigned to

represent a concept is arbitrary

Question 3

Language is Productive

Answer 3

Here are almost limitless ways to combine words to describe objects, situations and actions
- this is evident when observing native language
-

Question 4

Give an example of how Language is Arbitrary

Answer 4

ex. there is nothing about the sound of the word “cat” to

indicate that it is a furry animal with whiskers and a tail

Question 5

Worf-Sapir Hypothesis:

Answer 5

language influences our thoughts and the way we experience the world

Question 6

Morphemes

Answer 6

the smallest unit of sound that contains information
often a word, but some words contain multiple morphemes
- in sign language, they are identified as units of signs rather
than sound
- can form their own words

Question 7

Example of an Morphemes

Answer 7

• the word table is a single word that contains a single morpheme, but the word tablecloth is a single word that contains 2 morphemes

Question 8

Syntax:

Answer 8

The rules that govern how sentences are put together - also known as grammar

Question 9

Semantics:

Answer 9

• the meaning of each individual word
• a sentence may have perfect syntactical structure but no
  semantic meaning

Question 10

Example of Semantics:

Answer 10

ex. The colourless green ideas sleep furiously beside the kwijibo violates no English syntactic rules but contains no semantic meaning

Question 11

12 weeks a baby:

Answer 11

Makings cooing sounds

Question 12

16 weeks a baby:

Answer 12

Turns head towards voices

Question 13

6 months

Answer 13

Imitates sounds

Question 14

1 year

Answer 14

babbles;

a wide range of drawn out sounds and made up of a variety of combinations of consonants and vowels

Question 15

2 years

Answer 15

uses 50-250 words; uses 2 word phrases

Question 16

2.5 years

Answer 16

vocabulary > 850 words

- “language explosion/ naming explosion/ word spurt”

Question 17

Universal Phoneme Sensitivity:

Answer 17

The ability of infants to discriminate between sounds they’re tested on
- includes sounds from non-native languages

Question 18

Social Learning Theory:

Answer 18

Children learn language through a combination of imitation and operant (modifying) conditioning

Question 19

over extensions

Answer 19

Occur when children apply a rule too broadly, and can occur at the level of meaning or syntax

Question 20

Example of Over Extensions

Answer 20

• ex. if a child learns that his family pet is called a doggie, he may start to use the word “doggie” to label any 4 legged animal
• a child may appropriately add the suffix “ed” when saying that she played with her friend yesterday, but may over extend it to other verbs such as “runned” instead of correctly

Question 21

Language Acquisition Device (LAD):

Answer 21

innate mechanism, present only in humans, that helps language develop rapidly according to universal rules

Question 22

Transparent Orthographies:

Answer 22

consistent letter to letter
correspondence, so that a given letter will always make the same
sound

Question 23

Perceptual Narrowing

Answer 23

the process of losing ability to distinguish

between contrasts in sounds not used in native language

Question 24

Infant Directed Speech

Answer 24

when people talk to infants, they tend to speak in a higher pitch and exaggerate changes in pitch and use of rhythm

Question 25

Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAD

Answer 25

patents will suffer from a stroke or head injury that has damaged areas in the left hemisphere involved in motor control of speech

Question 26

Still Face Procedure:

Answer 26

an adult looks at an infant while maintaining a non-responsive neutral facial expression

Question 27

Pragmatics:

Answer 27

the skills that allow children to communicate

appropriately effectively in a social situation

Question 28

Holophrastic Phase:

Answer 28

where a single word is used to indicate the

meaning of an entire sentence

Question 29

Fast Mapping

Answer 29

children learn the meaning following 1 or 2

encounters with a new word

Question 30

Expressive Vocabulary:

Answer 30

words that children use to speak

Question 31

Receptive Vocabulary:

Answer 31

words that children can understand but

may not yet use

Question 32

Telegraphic Speech:

Answer 32

once children have established a more

substantial vocabulary