Language Acquisition

Question 1

Language acquisition

Answer 1

the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate.

Question 2

Imitation theory

Answer 2

children imitate what they hear

Question 3

Nativist theory

Answer 3

language is an innate fundamental part of the human genetic make-up and that language acquisition occurs as a natural part of the human experience

Question 4

Behaviorist theory

Answer 4

infants learn oral language from other human role models through a process involving imitation, rewards, and practice. Human role models in an infant’s
environment provide the stimuli and rewards

Question 5

Innate theory

Answer 5

children are born with the ability to acquire language

Question 6

Motherese

Answer 6

mothers have a special way of talking to their young children that fosters language development (baby talk)

Question 7

Cognition

Answer 7

children use both assimilation and accommodation to learn language (Piaget)

Question 8

Language acquisition device

Answer 8

all humans are born with the knowledge of what makes a human language (Chomsky)

Question 9

Universal grammar

Answer 9

a certain set of structural rules are innate to humans, independent of sensory experience (Chomsky)

Question 10

Linguistic competence

Answer 10

the system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language

Question 11

Head-directionality parameter

Answer 11

a proposed parameter that classifies languages according to whether they are head-initial or head-final. The head is the element that determines the category of a phrase: for example, in a verb phrase, the head is a verb.

Question 12

Transformational Model of Chomsky

Answer 12

belief that grammar has recursive rules allowing one to generate grammatically correct sentences over and over (Chomsky)

Question 13

Minimalism

Answer 13

a major line of inquiry that has been developing inside generative grammar (Chomsky)

Question 14

Transformational grammar

Answer 14

a system of language analysis that recognizes the relationship among the various elements of a sentence and among the possible sentences of a language and uses processes or rules (some of which are called transformations) to express these relationships (Chomsky)

Question 15

Cognitive Theory

Answer 15

A cognitive theory of learning sees second language acquisition as a conscious and reasoned thinking process, involving the deliberate use of learning strategies. Learning strategies are special ways of processing information that enhance comprehension, learning or retention of information.

Question 16

Input Theory

Answer 16

learners progress in their knowledge of the language when they comprehend language input that is slightly more advanced than their current level

Question 17

Sign language

Answer 17

Sign languages are natural languages with the same linguistic status as spoken languages

Question 18

Reinforcement theory

Answer 18

children learn through positive and negative reinforcement

Question 19

Echolalia

Answer 19

speech in stock phrases that simply involves copying and repeating another person’s utterance word for word

Question 20

Linguistic performance

Answer 20

the way a language system is used in communication

Question 21

Critical period of language acquisition

Answer 21

language acquisition prior to the age of six years

Question 22

Prelinguistic

Answer 22

when a child is learning to control the sounds he can produce and to string these sounds together in vocal play. In this stage, the child is not yet able to manipulate these sounds into proper words (cooing)

Question 23

Babbling

Answer 23

a stage in child development and a state in language acquisition during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering articulate sounds, but does not yet produce any recognizable words (jargon)

Question 24

First word/ One word stage

Answer 24

The one word or holophrastic stage occurs between approximately 11 months of age and 1.5 years of age. By this point in time, children can produce a small number of isolated, single words and many sounds.

Question 25

Two word stage

Answer 25

After a few months of producing one-word utterances, a child will begin to use two word utterances and continue to do so until they are around the age of 2.5 years old. These two-word utterances are usually in the form of noun-noun or noun-verb.

Question 26

Telegraphic stage

Answer 26

the last stage of language before a child can speak fluently and begins roughly around 2.5 years of age and onward indefinitely until a child has fluent language skills

Question 27

Function words

Answer 27

words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning and express grammatical relationships among other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker

Question 28

Acquisition-Learning hypothesis (SLA)

Answer 28

students learn faster as they are given more comprehensible input

Question 29

Monitor hypothesis (SLA)

Answer 29

the relationship between acquisition and learning and defines the influence of the latter on the former. The monitoring function is the practical result of the learned grammar.

Question 30

Input hypothesis (SLA)

Answer 30

the learner improves and progresses along the ‘natural order’ when he/she receives second language ‘input’ that is one step beyond his/her current stage of linguistic competence

Question 31

Affective Filter hypothesis (SLA)

Answer 31

learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, a low level of anxiety and extroversion are better equipped for success in second language acquisition

Question 32

Natural Order hypothesis (SLA)

Answer 32

the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a ‘natural order’ which is predictable

Question 33

Stephen Krashen

Answer 33

professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, who moved from the linguistics department to the faculty of the School of Education in 1994. He is a linguist, educational researcher, and political activist

Question 34

Noam Chomsky

Answer 34

an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called “the father of modern linguistics”, Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science

Question 35

Jean Piaget

Answer 35

a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called “genetic epistemology”

Question 36

BF Skinner

Answer 36

an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher (behavioral theory)

Question 37

Rene Descartes

Answer 37

French philosopher

Question 38

Cartesian linguistics

Answer 38

Descartes theorized that the creativity involved in everyday language and presented the idea that there were universal principles behind every language

Question 39

John Locke

Answer 39

English philosopher, “tabula rasa,” the idea that all knowledge comes from outside ourselves through sensory experience rather than through innate knowledge that we have at birth

Question 40

John Schumann

Answer 40

Acculturation Model: the process by which immigrants pick up a new language while being completely immersed in that language