language development Flashcards
what is language
differs from other communication systems
symbolic system (each word means something)
combinational system
importance of language: academic
language has beneficial impacts on children’s development across diverse areas (literacy, maths)
importance of language: social
friendships and bullying
poor language skills are associated with peer victimisation
importance of language: wellbeing
poor language ability has been related to adverse outcomes on adults’ wellbeing’s
higher rates of anxiety disorders
higher prevalence of drug abuse and antisocial behaviours
what are the main components of language
language comprehension (receptive language)
language production (expressive language)
what are the subcomponents of language
language structure:
- phonology
- syntax
- morphology
language meaning:
- semantics
- pragmatics
what does phoneme mean
sound unit
phonological development
infants are born with ability to discriminate between sounds of any language (universal listeners) - this ability declines during first year of life
0-2 months: non speech noises
2-4 months: cooing, more diverse vowels, beginning of syllables
4-8 months: more obvious syllables
6-12 months: canonical babbling
12-15 months: first words
15-24 months: complex babbling
what is a vocabulary spurt
point in language development where the rate of acquisition of new words is thought to accelerate rapidly
common errors when language is developing
overextension (e.g. horse looks a bit like a dog, so horse is also dog)
under extension (e.g. dog = just his dog, nobody else’)
processing speed
knowing something (language input)
vs
processing something (language processing)
what is a morpheme
smallest meaningful unit of language
initial omission of morphemes
toddlers initially omit many morphemes (e.g. I…..big, I…..eating)
rate of omission gradually decreases up to 3 years. by 4 years morpheme omission is a sign of language difficulties
what is generalisation
learning to use a morpheme with a word in a way that is not rote-learned (learned through repetition)
morphological overgeneralisation
child treats irregular forms of words as if they were irregular
e.g.
CHILD: We holded the baby rabbits and we patted them.
ADULT: Did you say you held them tightly?
CHILD: No, we helded them loosely.
what is syntax
rules which allow the organisation of words into large structures
syntax comprehension 12-18 months and 18-24 months
12-18:
- understands simple sentences with familiar objects and actions
18-24:
- understands simple sentences with familiar objects and actions in more complex contexts with less adult scaffolding
syntactic production: what are holophrases
rote learned chunks, such as ‘whaddat’ or ‘allgone’ often learned alongside first words
syntactic production - 24 months and 30 months
by 24 months, majority of children producing at least two word combinations, that have been described as telegraphic speech because nonessential elements are missing
by 30 months, most children are starting to use a range of basic sentence types
by 4-5 years, all children are proficient in…
comprehension of a range of abstract semantic concepts
fluency with a range of sentence frames
using range of connectives appropriately
language comprehension from two years is a very good predictor of later language development, and developmental issues more generally
if a child is not understanding simple phrases by 24 months he or she should be referred for assessment by a speech and language therapist
what are pragmatics
how language is used and interpreted in a contextually appropriate manner for the purpose of social interaction
contextually appropriate: adapting to what your listener knows, using the appropriate language register
for the purpose of social interaction: conversation, gossip, jokes, relaying past events, etc
pragmatic development - what are the skills that develop?
using the right expression to refer to something
understanding inferences
being able to talk in different registers (e.g. talking to a friend vs in a job interview
what are the two factors that influence language development
quantity of language input to a child
quality of language input to a child
