Language Development Flashcards
Instead of “I went there,” 30-month-old Mandy says, “I goed there.” This is an example of which of the following?
A. overregularization
B. underregularization
C. overextention
D. underextension
Answer A is correct. Overregularization occurs when a child misapplies rules for forming plurals and past tense – for example, adds “ed” to all verbs to express past tense even when it’s inappropriate to do so. (Underregularization is a “made-up” term and is not an actual language error.)
As the result of a traumatic brain injury, a 35-year-old woman has trouble comprehending humor and sarcasm. This suggests that the woman lacks which kind of linguistic competence?
A. semantic
B. pragmatic
C. phonemic
D. syntactic
Answer B is correct. Pragmatic competence refers to the appropriate use and understanding of verbal and nonverbal language in different social contexts. It includes the ability to understand humor and sarcasm.
A baby’s use of a single word to express an entire thought or idea is referred to as:
A. telegraphic speech.
B. holophrastic speech.
C. babbling.
D. echolalia.
Answer B is correct. The use of a single word to express an entire thought or idea is referred to as holophrastic speech, with the meaning of the word depending on the context. For example, when a child points to his mother’s glass and says, “juice,” he probably means “I want some juice.” But, when he accidentally knocks over his glass of juice and says “juice,” he means “I spilled my juice.”
Which of the following is an example of a morpheme?
A. sh
B. ba-ba
C. oo
D. mis
Answer D is correct. Morphemes are the smallest units of language that convey meaning and lose that meaning if divided further. Morphemes include words, prefixes and suffixes. For example, the word misspelled consists of a prefix (mis), a word (spell), and a suffix (ed).
Paralanguage is best described as:
A. contradictory nonverbal messages.
B. spoken language that is misunderstood.
C. how a person says something.
D. what a person intended to say.
Answer C is correct. Paralanguage refers to how a person says something rather than to what the person says. Answer A is not the correct answer because paralanguage can contradict or be consistent with a message that is conveyed through words. Answers B and D are incorrect because neither of these answers accurately describes paralanguage.
Support for Chomsky’s theory of language development is provided by studies showing that:
A. children acquire language faster when reinforcement is used to encourage them to use new words and more complex phrases and sentences.
B. parents and other caregivers automatically use child-directed speech when talking to young children.
C. all languages have the same underlying grammatical structure and rules.
D. language development is linked to cultural communicative practices.
Answer C is correct. Evidence for Chomsky’s nativist theory is provided by studies showing that all languages have the same basic underlying grammatical structure and rules, which he referred to as universal grammar.
A parent can expect that his or her baby will begin to use two-word sentences (telegraphic speech) when the baby is between ________ months of age.
A. 24 and 30
B. 18 and 24
C. 12 and 15
D. 10 and 14
Answer B is correct. Most babies begin to use holophrastic speech between 12 and 15 months of age (answer C) and telegraphic speech between 18 to 24 months of age (answer B).
By about ____ months of age, children’s babbling narrows to include only sounds and sound combinations that belong to the language they hear every day.
A. 5
B. 7
C. 9
D. 14
Answer C is correct. Babbling starts at about 3 to 6 months of age and initially includes sounds from all languages. However, at about 9 months of age, babbling narrows to include only sounds from the infant’s native language.
