Language Development

Question 1

The Prelinguistic Phase: Phonology

Answer 1

-The sound patterns of a particular language and the rules for combining them

Question 2

The Prelinguistic Phase: Semantics

Answer 2

-a particular language’s system of meaning and the rules for conveying meaning

Question 3

The Prelinguistic Phase: Syntax

Answer 3

-the rules for forming sentences in a particular language

Question 4

The Prelinguistic Phase: Prelinguistic Phase

Answer 4

-the period before a child speaks his or her first words

Question 5

The Prelinguistic Phase: Cooing

Answer 5

• making repetitive vowel sounds, esp. the uuuuu sound

- babies are between 1-4 months of age

Question 6

The Prelinguistic Phase: Babbling

Answer 6

• the repetitive vocalizing of consonant-vowel combinations by an infant
• 6-12 months

Question 7

The Prelinguistic Phase: Expressive Language

Answer 7

-sounds, signs, or symbols used to communicate meaning

Question 8

The Prelinguistic Phase: Receptive Language

Answer 8

-comprehension of spoken language

Question 9

Learning Words and Word Meanings: Word Count

Answer 9

• 12-18 months = 30 words
• 16-24 months = 50-320 words
• babies as young as 9-12 months can understand simple instructions

Question 10

Learning Words and Word Meanings: Underextension vs. overextension

Answer 10

• underextension: use of words to apply only to specific objects, ex. a child refers to the use of the word “cup” only to one particular cup
• overextension: inappropriate use of a word to designate an entire category of objects, ex. a child uses the word “kitty” to refer to ALL animate objects

Question 11

Learning Words and Word Meanings: Constraints

Answer 11

• an assumption that is built-in or learned early (“a default option”) by which a child figures out what words refer to
• ex. “doggie” is the dog not the dog running, not the bone its holding, not the brown color of the dog, etc.

Question 12

Learning Words and Word Meanings: Principle of contrast

Answer 12

• the assumption that every word has a different meaning which leads to a child to assume that 2 or more different words refer to diff objects
• meaning by contrast “bring the chromium tray, not the red one”, they don’t know chromium but they know red so they bring the other one

Question 13

The Development of Grammar and Pragmatics: Holophrase

Answer 13

• a combination of a gesture and a single word that conveys more meaning than just the word alone; often seen and heard in children between 12 and 18 months old
• ex. point to daddy’s show and say “daddy”

Question 14

The Development of Grammar and Pragmatics: Telegraphic Speech

Answer 14

• term created by Roger Brown
• describes earliest sentences created by most children, which sound like telegrams bc they include key nouns and verbs but generally omit all other words and grammatical inflections

Question 15

The Development of Grammar and Pragmatics: overregularization

Answer 15

• young childrens applications of basic rules to irregular words
• ex. “wented, blowed, blockses, teethes”

Question 16

The Development of Grammar and Pragmatics: Pragmatics

Answer 16

• the rules for the use of language in communicative interaction, such as the rules for taking turns and the style of speech that is appropriate for diff listeners
• children use diff language with adults than friends or those younger than them
• also use language to monitor their own behavior (private speech) and they guide their own behavior (ex. “I put that there”)
• as early of age 2, children adapt language to needs of listener and begin to follow culturally specific customs of language like learning or understanding to use passive sentences

Question 17

Explaining Language Development: Infant Directed Speech (IDS)

Answer 17

• aka motherese
• the simplified and higher-pitched speech that adults use with infants and young children
• babies prefer IDS, regardless of gender
• can determine if the parent is talking to them or another adult
• special tone may help child pick out repeating grammatical forms
• listening to adult conversations without IDS can help kids learn non-object words between 18months and 24 months such as those that refer to colors or quantities

Question 18

Explaining Language Development: Nativist theories

Answer 18

• argue that much of what the child needs for learning language is built into the organism
• Noam Chomsky
• Slobin = assumes every child is born with a basic language-making capacity, babies are preprogrammed with “rules to look by” and focus on pay attention to the beginnings and endings of strings of sounds and to stressed sounds

Question 19

Explaining Language Development: constructivist theories

Answer 19

• focus on child’s construction of language as a part of cognitive development
• language is constructed at the same time and in the same way as all cognitive understandings

Question 20

Individual and Group Differences in Language Development: Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

Answer 20

• average number of meaningful units per sentence
• used by physicians, teachers, and others to identify children who need additional screening to determine whether they have some kind of language disability
• majority of children catch up to peers during early months
• if they struggle to catch up, speech language therapy is often used

Question 21

Individual and Group Differences in Language Development: Cultural Differences

Answer 21

• prelinguistic phase seems to be present and identical in all language communities, like all babies coo, all babble, all understand language before they can speak it, all cultures baby starts to use first word at 12 months
• english children tend to use more nouns than verbs
• japanese children use these markers much sooner than other kids, pragmatic marker = tells something about the feeling or context of what is being said
• some toddlers exhibit a referential style (focus on labeling objects) while others are more expressive style (concentrate on social and emotional words), style disappears w/ age and has no effect on later language development
• children learning turkish produce sentences during the 2 word stage that differ w/ regard to the use of inflections from those of children learning other languages

Question 22

Learning to read and write: Phonological awareness

Answer 22

• understanding od the rules governing the sounds of a language as well as knowledge of the connection b/w sounds and the way they are represented in written language
• important in learning to reading and writing

Question 23

Learning to read and write: english-language learners (ELLs)

Answer 23

-school children who do not speak english well enough to function in english-only classes

Question 24

Learning to read and write: bilingual education

Answer 24

• school program for students not proficient in english in which instruction in basic subject matter is given in the children’s native language during the first 2 or 3 years of schooling, w/ gradual transition to english instruction over the years
• children who are bilingual develop better metalinguistic skills, also show better executive processing skills
• however, bilingual children may reach development milestones later than monolingual children, reading skills develop more slowly in bilingual children

Question 25

Learning to read and write: structured immersion

Answer 25

-alternative to bilingual ed, used in classrooms in which all children speak the same non-english native language, all basic instruction is in english but is paced so that the children can comprehend, the teacher translates only when necessary

Question 26

Learning to read and write: english as a second language - (ESL)

Answer 26

• most ELL school children are enrolled in these programs
• alternative to bilingual ed, children not proficient in english attend academic classes taught entirely in english but then spend several hours in a separate class to receive english-language instruction

Question 27

Learning to read and write: submersion

Answer 27

-approach to the ed. of non-english speaking students i which they are assigned to a classroom where instruction is given in english and are given no supplemental language assistance, also known as the “sink or swim” approach

Question 28

The Prelinguistic Phase: How does gestural language develop in children who are deaf?

Answer 28

• they develop nonverbal language similar to to hearing infants
• as they acquire sign language, display a sign of babbling similar to vocal babbling of children
• they vocalize
• nonverbal gestures differ from symbolic signs in young children who are deaf and develop similarly to those of hearing children

Question 29

Learning Words and Word Meanings: How does learning proceed in early and middle childhood?

Answer 29

• children continue to learn new words throughout the preschool years and add approx 10 words a day by the time they are ready to begin elementary school
• fast mapping = the use of categories to learn new words and enables them to acquire words more rapidly

Question 30

The Development of Grammar and Pragmatics: what is the significance of grammar explosion?

Answer 30

-during grammar explosion, child quickly adds many grammatical inflections and learns to create questions and negative sentences