Language Acquisition Flashcards
innate
humans are genetically predisposed to acquire and use language
linguistic universals
humans have innate knowledge of some core characteristics common to all languages
universal grammar
the theoretically inborn set of structural characteristics shared by all languages
critical period
A period of time in an individual’s life during which a behavior (in this case language) must be acquired.
*the acquisition will fail if attempted either before or after the “critical period”.
homesign
communication gestures (a form associated with a meaning) that are invented by deaf children and people whom they routinely interact in cases where a signed language is not made available.
Imitation Theory
theory of language acquisition that claims that children learn language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear.
reinforcement theory
theory of acquisition that asserts that children learn to speak like adults because they are praised, rewarded of otherwise reinforced when they use the right forms and are corrected when they use the wrong forms.
active construction of a grammar theory
the most influential theory of language acquisition, holds that children actually invent the rules themselves.
connectionist theories
language acquisition that assumes that children learn language by creating neutral connections in the brain
social interaction theory
assumes that children acquire language through social interaction with older children and adults in particular
voice onset time (VOT)
very slight differences between sounds
articulatory gestures
when a young child practices the execution of motor programs that underlie speech production (bring both lips together to produce a bilabial sound).
babble
producing sequences of vowels and consonants (if they are acquiring spoken language - or producing hand movements if they are acquiring signed language.
high amplitude sucking (HAS)
one of the most successful techniques used for studying the abilities of infants up to the age of 6 months to identify sounds (perceived different sounds or not)
conditioned head -turn (HT) procedure
an important technique needed to determine what distinctions, infants between 5-18 months can or cannot perceive.
variegated babbling
when an infant strings together different syllables as in [bugabimo]
holophrastic stage
stage in first language acquisition during which children can produce only one word at a time.
aka “one-word-stage”
telegraphic
a phase during child language acquisition in which children use utterances composed primarily of content words
complexive concept
When a child associates different characteristics with the meaning of a word on successive uses, thereby creating a set of objects that do not have any particular unifying characteristic
relation term
constitutes a relatively complex concept. ie large and small
deictic expressions
words referring to personal, temporal or spacial aspects of an utterance and whose meaning depends on the context in which the word id used
ex. this, that - there, here
overgeneralization
once children discover the generalization about how the plurals of those nouns are formed they may go through a period during which “s” is added to all nouns
overextension
when a child extends the range of s word’s meaning beyond that typically used by adults
ex. specks of dirt, dust, small insects and bread crumbs- all are called “fly”
underextension
the application of a word to a smaller set of objects than is appropriate for mature adult speech
attention getters
when an adult uses “names” and “exclamations” to tell children which utterances are addressed to them rather than someone else
attention holders
- when an adult uses names and/ or exclamations whenever they have more than one thing to say (ie telling a story)
- modulations- high pitched voice or whisper
the “Here and Now”
running commentaries on what children do, either anticipating their action or describing what just happened
taking turns
adults encourage children to take their turns as speaker and listener in conversation
infant-directed speech or child-directed speech
speech directed at children
making corrections
adults mostly correct what children say to make sure that the child’s contribution is true rather than grammatically correct.
bilingual
speakers of two languages
multilingual
speakers of more than two languages
simultaneous bilingualism
people who have learned more than one language from birth
sequential bilingualism
people who begin learning their second language as young children
second-language acquisition
to learn a second language not as a young child but rather later in life
language mixing or code switching
a typical feature of bilingual children’s speech- using more than one language in a conversation or even within a phrase
foreign accent
speaking another language without full knowledge of the phonological system
fossilization
non-native forms, as part of either the morpho-syntax or pronunciation, can become fixed and not change, even after years of instruction
transfer
a speaker’s native language also plays a role in second language acquisition because having learned one influences the subsequent learning of another language.
neglected or feral chiildren
children who were exposed to little or no language in their early lives
