language acquisition

Question 1

name and define the components of language.

Answer 1

phonology - sounds language uses
semantics - word meanings and combinations
grammar - structure of language (morphology and syntax)
pragmatics - approapiate language in particular contexts

Question 2

identify the theories of language development.

Answer 2

• the learning view
• the nativist view
• the interactionist view

Question 3

the language acquisition device falls under which language theory.

Answer 3

the nativist theory.

Question 4

‘basic learning is moulded by culture and society, which makes it become language-specific’, falls under which language theory.

Answer 4

the interactionist theory.

Question 5

at what age does a ‘vocabulary spurt’ occur?

Answer 5

1.5 years.

Question 6

true of false: production precedes comprehension.

Answer 6

false - comprehension precedes production.

Question 7

what is tested on infants to measure how they recognise sounds.

Answer 7

high amplitude sucking (HAS)

Question 8

give evidence that infants have a prefernce for mothers voice.

Answer 8

infants suck faster when they hear mothers voice, implying they learn prenatally.

Question 9

define categorical perception.

Answer 9

continuous stimuli into distinct categories e.g. colour.

Question 10

describe the development of phonetic sensitivity.

Answer 10

• at 6-8 months infants can distinguish contrasts that are not used in their native language.
• this ability declines over first year
• at 12 months infants can only retain contrasts used in their native language (use it or lose it!).

Question 11

how do we know to segment speech?

Answer 11

• prosody = changes in pitch
• pauses = in-between words
• correlations i.e. statistical regularities

Question 12

give evidence that infants can use correlations from the environment to learn language.

Answer 12

infants noticed a difference between part-words and words, they had a preference for part-words.

Question 13

the probability of sounds that span a word-boundary is (higher/lower) than the frequency of sounds within a word.

Answer 13

lower.

Question 14

give examples of IDS that helps facilitate leaning.

Answer 14

• highly grammatical
• exaggerated
• simple structure
• slower rate
• vary pitch and loudness
• shot sentences
• repetition

Question 15

define mutual exclusivity.

Answer 15

according to children a word can have any meaning.

Question 16

what does scaffolding involve.

Answer 16

• point
• voice inflections
• routines
• JVA

Question 17

in baldwins study, was it the visible toy or the bucket toy that was remembered more?

Answer 17

the visible toy due to JVA.

Question 18

as acute learners how can children aid their own learning?

Answer 18

• follows adults gaze
• follow adults point
• pick up objects and ask
• point and look at objects

Question 19

how long do children remember words learned from mutual exclusivity.

Answer 19

less than 5 minutes.

Question 20

give evidence that children have fast mapping.

Answer 20

when asked to bring the chromium tray 13/14 pick up the green one, one week later 9/13 choose the green/olive colour.

Question 21

why do competitors hinder word learning.

Answer 21

via mutual exclusivity.

Question 22

how can illustrations aid childrens learning? but what is a problem to this?

Answer 22

fewer illustrations mean children learn words faster than having multiple illustrations as theres less choice as to why the word can refer to.
however, books in the real world have multiple illustrations.

Question 23

what can be done to help children understand books with multiple illustrations?

Answer 23

use of gestures.

Question 24

define the shape bias.

Answer 24

tendency to name things on basis of shape.

Question 25

give evidence that shape bias is a product of word learning.

Answer 25

if children are taught shape nouns they have an increase in vocab compared to wen taught material bias.

Question 26

what are simple sentences otherwise referred to as?

Answer 26

telegraphic speech.

Question 27

define morphology.

Answer 27

intersection of semantics and grammar.

Question 28

describe the U shaped trend children tend to show in past tense morphology.

Answer 28

1 - correctly conjugate irregular
2 - begin to over-regulize irregular words
3 - return to correct stage

Question 29

give an example of an irregular verb.

Answer 29

come/ came not ‘comed’