Language development

Question 1

Naming explosion

Answer 1

• 18 - 24 months
• Words learnt at rapid rate
• Correct word order but grammar often dropped

Question 2

Grammar improvement

Answer 2

• 24 - 36 months
• Grammar increasingly correct

Question 3

Complex sentences

Answer 3

• 36 - 48 months
• Construction of complex sentences
• Sensitivity to more complex conversational rules

Question 4

Phonological development

Answer 4

Learning about the sound system of a language

Question 5

Semantic development

Answer 5

Learning about expressing meaning

Question 6

Syntactic development

Answer 6

Learning rules for combining words

Question 7

Pragmatic development

Answer 7

Learning how language is used

Question 8

Overextention

Answer 8

Using same word for many things

Question 9

Underextention

Answer 9

Using a word in a restricted and individualistic way

Question 10

Parental influences

Answer 10

Use of infant directed speech to emphasise support word learning
* Parental scaffolding to improve vocabulary

Question 11

First sentences and grammar

Answer 11

Start as two word sentences but get more complex as time goes on

Question 12

Learning grammatical rules

Answer 12

If rule is acquired, overregularisation occurs

Question 13

Development of pragmatics

Answer 13

Language is a social behaviour, conversational skills take longer to develop than word production

Question 14

Development of conversation skills

Answer 14

As children get older, they speak more
* Increase in same topic utterances
* Reduction of irrelevant utterances

Question 15

Developing conversations

Answer 15

By age 3-4 years turn taking, eye contact and responding appropriately to others speech

Question 16

Fast mapping

Answer 16

Known and new object, new object must relate to new word

Question 17

Pragmatic clues

Answer 17

Social contexts to identify word use
* Adult attention or emotional response

Question 18

Linguistic context

Answer 18

By using known grammatical cues, influences what a child understands by a certain word

Question 19

Differences in children’s exposure to language

Answer 19

Evidence to link social class and exposure to child vocabulary based on how many words they hear

Question 20

Sensitive period

Answer 20

Period in development during which an organism is most sensitive or susceptible to the effects of external factors

Question 21

Critcal period

Answer 21

Limited period of development during which an organism requires certain conditions in order for it to grow to maturity

Question 22

Second language development

Answer 22

• Learning a second language before age 7 is as good as native speaker tests of grammar
• Later language learning is associated with poorer grammar recognition

Question 23

Nativism

Answer 23

• Chomsky and Pinker
• All languages have similar roots
• Universal grammar

Question 24

Support of nativist view

Answer 24

Children in most cultures develop language at the same time

Question 25

Limitations of the nativist view

Answer 25

Concentrates on syntax development, not the social relevance of language

Question 26

Interactionist view

Answer 26

Children have some natural predispositions to learn language, so the environment is important