Language development Flashcards
What is U shaped learning?
a behaviour in which the learner first learns the correct behaviour, then abandons the correct behaviour and finally returns to the correct behaviour once again.
What us Child directed speech (CDS)
a distinct way of speaking that adults use when communicating with infants and young children
Define nativist
children are born with the innate ability to acquire language and thus are able to acquire the grammar of their native language by the age of three. (chomsky)
What is fast mapping?
the process whereby a child learns a new word very quickly, often after only one exposure to the word.
What is the Language Acquisition device (LAD)
instinctive mental capacity which enables an infant to acquire and produce language. (component of natvist theory)
State the 4 stages of language development
Stage 1 = Babbling
Stage 2 = One word holophrastic
Stage 3 = Two word
Stage 4 = Telegraphic
Describe the components of stage 1 of language development
Babbling
- 4-9 months
- Simple structure, CV syllables
- first sounds are universal, then more language specific
How is the babbling stage linked to later speech
Phonetic content found in babbling overlaps with later speech
Describe the components of stage 2 of language development
One- word holophrastic
- 9-18 months
- Names and objects in baby’s life
- CV syllables easier than CVC
- High frequency
Describe the components of stage 3 of language development
Two- word
- 18-24 months
- Most often nouns
- Beginning of syntax
Describe the components of stage 4 of language development
Telegraphic
- 3 word expressions
- Better development of syntax
- Very quick progression
Describe Phonology in reference to early speech perception
- Already before birth, foetuses hear sounds in womb
- Can’t hear individual words but can hear prosody (rhythm, stress etc)
- predisposed to listen to speech sounds and can distinguish them
What are the 3 main components of early speech production
Universal = crying, cooing, laughing (both hearing and deaf children)
Babbling stage = Deaf children babble with their hands
One word stage = slow at first then rapid, fast mapping
What are the components of CDS
- Also known as Motherese
- Phonological differences: slower, higher in pitch, exaggerated intonation, clearly segmented
- Shorter and simpler sentences
- Lots of repetition and diminutives
- The here & now
State the 4 theories of language acquisition?
- Behavourist accounts (skinner)
- Nativist/ innatist accounts
- Constructivist/ cognitive accounts
- Social accounts
Sate the 5 main predispositions that children bring to word learning?
- Whole object
- Shape bias
- Mutual exclusivity assumption
- Basic level category assumption
- Noun- category bias
Describe whole object in reference to word learning
Assumes the word is a label that refers to the whole object rather than its parts
Describe shape bias in reference to word learning
Extend names to objects that are similar in shape rather than similar in colour, texture, function
Define mutual exclusivity assumption
An object can only have one label
- Assigns a novel word to object they don’t have a label for already
What is basic level category assumption?
Assume that a novel word refers to the basic level rather than the superordinate or subordinate
What is Noun category bias?
Nouns are easier and quicker to learn than other synaptic categories
What is the basline of the wug test?
This is a wug
Now there is another one
There are two of them
There are two ….
Proof that = young children have extracted generalizable rules from the language around them
What are the 3 stages of morphological development
- Holophrastic
Right answer for the wrong reason - Rule-based
Wrong answer for the right reason - Rules & expectations
Right answer for the right answer
Explain the critical age hypothesis
Certain types of behaviour need to develop within a critical, sensitive period for it to develop normally
What is Chomsky’s perspective of synaptic development
Language acquisition is guided by an innate device called the LAD or universal grammar (UG)
- The LAD provides the rules and principles that allow a child to learn any language in the world
How do you measure synaptic development
MLU = mean length of utterance (Brown)
What is the MLU calculation
The mean number of morphemes rather than words
What are the 5 stages if synaptic development
Stage 1 = Begin word combinations
Stage 2 = Add grammatical morphemes
Stage 3 = questions, negatives
Stage 4 = Some complex sentences
Stage 5 = More complex sentences
Define the whole of Trueswells experiment on context use during synaptic processing?
- Do 5 year olds use context to help them with processing ambiguous information?
Experiment:
Ambiguous and unambiguous sentences
Put the frog that’s on the napkin in the box (easy)
Put the frog on the napkin in the box (difficult)
Dependent variables
Percentage of incorrect placements of objects (putting the frog on the napkin instead of the box)
What were the conclusions of Trusewells experiment ?
In adults, semantic context biases the interpretation of the ambiguous sentence
Children do not use this semantic context “on the napkin” is always interpreted as destination
