Language development

Question 1

theories of language - the learning perspective

Answer 1

Children imitate adults that reinforce behavior (language acquisition)

Behaviorism - child imitates the language of their parents and learn from social reinforcement

Parental vocabulary imprints on child vocabulary

Problems: rules cant be worked out, incorrect words unknown

Question 2

Theories of language - The Nativist perspective

Answer 2

all children are born with a special language learning mechanism

lots of problems,

Evidence for gradual grammar as an example

Question 3

Theories of language - The cognitive developmental perspective

Answer 3

Language is only one aspect of a child’s overall intellectual development

Categorize stuff, language development is a reflection of cognitive development

Question 4

What can be said in summery to promote language development?

Answer 4

Native capacity

A strong desire to interact with others

rich linguistic and social environment

Question 5

Describe early language understanding development

Answer 5

in the very beginning they are sensitive to all phenomes but it gradually disappears.

6 months:
Organization into language specific phonemic categories instead

Detect internal structure of sentences & words

10 months:
Distinguish irregularities in the speech stream

Question 6

What is Infant directed speech and why is it used?

Answer 6

Infants prefer infant directed speech over regular speech, it helps increase sensitivity to phonetic categories

Question 7

Describe phonological development to the age of 5

Answer 7

Before the 2nd year:
sound sequences limited by the small number of sounds babies can produce in the beginning

Age 2 -> 5:
experimentation with phoneme patterns by applying systemic strategies, similar error across cultures

Age 5:
Phonological development complete

Question 8

Describe semantic development

Answer 8

6 months:
word comprehension begins

steadily develops

10 - 15 months:
first words produced

16 months:
50 words produced and 180 words understood

18 months:
two word sentences

24 months:
three word sentences

10 years:
40 000 words understood

Question 9

Describe the steps of pragmatic development for conversation skills

Answer 9

Pragmatics refers to the social rules and skills involved infusing language effectively

Pre school years: 2 -> 6 years
using other tools to enhance communication
(gestures, facial expressions)
Simple topics
Turn taking
Narrative may lack structure

Middle childhood: 6 -> 11 years
Multi-turn conversation
Considering listeners perspective
adjusting language complexity to audience
Politeness rules
Conflict resolution

Adolescence:
Social context (formal vs informal)
subtle social cues (irony, sarcasm and implicit messages)
Advanced vocabulary

Question 10

what is sociolinguistic understanding?

Answer 10

Adapting language to social expectation

Question 11

Describe the development of narrative structure

Answer 11

less than 4 years:
Leapfrog narratives, disorganized from one thing to another

4 years to 5:
Chronological narrative, placing events in temporal sequence

6 Years and beyond:
Classic narratives, adds resolution