Language

Question 1

Properties of Language

Answer 1

• Symbolic
• creative
• structured
• meaningful/sematic
• comminicative

Question 2

Properties of Language: Symbolic

Answer 2

• Symbol system (written and sound)
• Not to a particular object - no direct reference
• -> We make the symbols mean something to us, but someone that speak, but someone that speaks another language won’t understand
• -> English has different sounds than other languages

Question 3

Properties of Language: Creative

Answer 3

• Effortlessly create new sentences
• Have finite vocab that can be combined in infinite ways
• -> Food?
• -> Wanna eat?

Question 4

Properties of Language: Structured

Answer 4

• There are restrictions to creativity
• Regularities of language (not necessarily grammar rules)
• Can end a sentence with a preposition and be understood

Question 5

Properties of Language: Meaningful/semantic

Answer 5

• Each word represents an idea
• -> Object - (cat/dog) , Action- (bites)
• Grammar/structure also contributes to ideas
• -> Dog bites cat or cat bites dog

Question 6

Properties of Language: Communicative

Answer 6

• Some language is private - for ourselves
• Most is directed at or around others, social activity
• Need to know the sounds, words, sentences of language AND principles of convo

Question 7

Conversation - Pragmatics

Answer 7

• Knowing how to communicate the message effectively

Volume, inflection, gestures

Question 8

Socio pragmatics

Answer 8

• Knowing how to speak to who

- -> Child, loved one, stranger, employer

Question 9

Building blocks of Language: Phonemes

Answer 9

• Requires sound
• Sounds require physiological structures
• Smallest units of sound recognized as separate in a given language
• Do not correspond to letters of the alphabet
• Meaningful perceptual units

Question 10

Building blocks of Language: Phonemic chart

Answer 10

• International
• Humans can produce 100s of phonemes
• No language uses all, (some 10-100s)
• English uses 40-44

Question 11

Building blocks of Language: Morpheme

Answer 11

• Fundamental of meaning
• -> Combination of phonemes
• -> English, 40ish phonemes, more than 80 000 for avg person
• Form words
• -> Some are single syllables (hat, bat)
• -> Others are single letters (s, ed)
• -> Ex. Strange (root word) r (person) s (people)

Question 12

Building blocks of Language: Syntax

Answer 12

• grammar rules

Question 13

Ambiguity

Answer 13

• when underlying proposition is not clear
• -> Smoking volcanoes can be dangerous
• -> Visiting relatives can be boring

Question 14

Language development

Answer 14

• Infant/child has to select out the sounds relevant to language from other vocal sounds in the speech stream

Question 15

Paralinguistic Language Development

Answer 15

• Crying, cooing (voweled sounds)
• Babbling
• -> All international
• -> Special case - singers

Question 16

Holophrastic

Answer 16

• one word utterances

- -> now, milk, yum

Question 17

Holophrastic Errors: overextensions

Answer 17

• word used too liberally
• -> Specific word applied to things it should not
• -> Daddy = man
• –> Go to mall, every man is “daddy”

Question 18

Holophrastic Errors: underextensions

Answer 18

• general word but child restricts to specific cases

- -> Drink = juice only

Question 19

Telegraphic

Answer 19

• basic sentences
• -> Demands (come daddy)
• -> Questions
• -> Possessions
• -> Statements

Question 20

Preschool Complex Speech

Answer 20

• full sentences, some grammatical flaws

Question 21

Overregularization

Answer 21

• English past tense and plurals
• -> Plurals: crow (crows vs crowses)
• -> Went –> goed –> went

Question 22

• Metalinguistic awareness

Answer 22

-Growing appreciation of ambiguities, playing w words

Question 23

Behaviourist theories of language acquisition

Answer 23

• Learn through direct reinforcement/punishment
• Imitation - observational learning
• Shaping
• Problems - don’t explain creativity in utterances or error in speech

Question 24

Nativist theories of language acquisition

Answer 24

• Biologically and physiologically equipped for speech and language

Question 25

Interactionist theories of language acquisition

Answer 25

• Language is learned/used in a social context

- Biological contribution supports language and learning

Question 26

Language Acquisition Device

Answer 26

• how we learn language

- -> needs stimulation to work

Question 27

Critical Period

Answer 27

-most proficient at learning and language b/w 2 and puberty

Question 28

Limitations of Nativists

Answer 28

• Acquisition not completed as early as nativists thought (adults can learn, and do so effectively)
• Diversity of world languages and grammars is hard to explain
• Account of grammar and its development is limited

Question 29

Animals and Language

Answer 29

• Kanzi
• -> Bonobo chimpanzee
• -> 1980, 500 words-lexigrams
• Koko
• -> Gorilla
• -> 46 years old, 100 signs, internet chat, keeps pets

Question 30

Early acquisition of language (bilingualism)

Answer 30

• You can learn 2 languages at the same time as you grow up

Question 31

Sequential

Answer 31

-start with English, once you get it to work you learn another one

Question 32

Code switching

Answer 32

• mom is speaking French, dad speaks English, i want food, what language would get the food faster?
• -> Communicates what they want more successfully
• -> Originally thought it was bad, but turns out it’s a good problem solving skill
• -> There may be protective factor when bilingual if you develop Alzheimer’s

Question 33

Resolution of thought

Answer 33

• thought = imagery and language