language acquisition Flashcards
innateness hypothesis
a hypothesis that humans are genetically predisposed to learn and use language
imitation theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear
active construction of a grammar theory
a theory of language acquisition that says that children acquire a language by inventing rules of grammar based on the speech around them
connectionist theories
theory of language acquisition that claims that children learn language through neural connections in the brain. a child develops such connections through exposure to language and by using language
social interaction theoriey
Theory of language acquisition that claims that children acquire language through social interaction- in particular with older children and adults and prompt their caregivers to supply them with the appropriate language experience they need
reinforcement theory
Theory of language acquisiton that says that children learn to speak like adults because they are praised, reqrded or otherwise reinforced when they use the right forms and are corrected when they use the wrong ones
linguistic universals
humans have innate knowledge of some core characteristics common to all languages such as the concepts of ‘noun’ and ‘verb.
universal grammar
theoretically inborn set of structural characteristics shared by all languages
homesign
gestures are communicative gestures that are invented by deaf children and the people with whom they routinely interact in cases where a signed language is not made available
child-directed speech
speech to infants slow and high pitched and contains many repetitions, simplified syntax, exaggerated intonation and as imple concrete vocabulary
high amplitude sucking
infants are given a special pacifier that is connected to a sound-generating system
conditioned head-turn procedure
The infant learns to associate a change in sound with the activation of visual reinforcers
voice onset time
The length of time between the release of a consonant and the onset of voicing, that is, when the vocal folds start vibrating
articulatory gestures
A movement of a speech organ in the production of speech, for example, the movement of the velum for the production of a nasal consonant
babble
A phase in child language acquisition during which the child produces meaningless sequences of consonants and vowels. Generally begins around the age of six months
repeated or canonical babbling
Continual repetition of syllables helps the infant practice a sequence of consonant and vowel sounds. Happens around age seven to ten months
variegated babbling
Infant strings together different syllables instead of repeating the same syllables. This happens at around age ten and twelve months
holophrastic stage
When children blend two words into one word. They are limited to one word at a time in their production, but they understand and probably intend the meaning of more than a single word. This is also known as holophrase
telegraphic stage
a phase during child language acquisition in which children use utterances composed of primarily of content words
overgeneralization
the study of child language acquisition, a relationship between child and adult application of rules relative to certain contexts: a process in which children extend the application of linguistic rules to contexts beyond those in the adult language
complexive concept
a term used in the study of child language acquisition. a group of items that a child refers to with a single word for which it is not possible to single out any one unifying property
overextensions
the study of child language acquisition, a relationship between child and adult perception fo word meaning: the childs application of a given word has a wider range than the application of the same word in adult language
underextension
application of a word to a smaller set of objects than is appropriate for mature adult speech or the usual definition of the word
relational term
large or small constitutes a relatively complex concept. correct use of words like these requires that two things be kept in mind: the absolute size of the object in question and its position on a scale of similar objects
deictic expressions
Words referring to personal, temporal, or spatial aspects of an utterance and whose meaning depends on the context in which the word is used
attention getters
to tell children which utterances are addressed to them rather than to someone else, and hence which utterances they ought to be listening to
attention holders
whenever they have more than one thing to say, for example, when telling a story
conversational terms
The contribution to a conversation made by one speaker from the time that she takes the floor from another speaker to the time that she passes the floor onto the other speaker
bilingual
speakers of two languages
simultaneous bilingualism
learn more than one languages from birth
sequential bilingualism
learning their second language as young children
multilingual
speakers of more than two languages
second-language acquisition
learn a second language not as a young child but later in life.
language mixing/ code switching
using more than one language in a conversation or even within a phrase
foreign accent
an accent that is marked by the phonology of another language or other languages that are more familiar to the speaker
fossilization
When non-native forms, as morpho-syntax or pronunciation can become fixed and not changed even after years of instruction
transfer
a speaker’s native language also plays a roll in second language acquisition because having learned one language influences the subsequent learning of another languages
critical period
describes a period of time in an individual’s life during which a behavior- in this case language- must be acquired; that is, the acquisition will fail if its attempted either before or after the critical period
innate
determined by factors present from birth
