Language Development Flashcards
1
Q
Facts & Stats of SLCN in the UK
A
- over 1 million children have some form of long-term persistent speech, language and communication difficulty
- in areas of poverty over 50% of children start school with delayed communication skills: unclear speech, small vocab, shorter sentences etc
- 50-90% of children with persistent SLCN go on to have reading difficulty
- at least 60% of people in young offenders institutions have communication difficulties
2
Q
Children with SLCN are more likely to…
A
- become withdrawn in a school environment
- have behavioural difficulties
- have difficulties with reading, writing and spelling
3
Q
Children with SLCN have an increased chance of…
A
- academic failure (Durkin et al, 2012)
- psychiatric problems (Conti-Ramsden et al, 2013)
- unemployment and economic disadvantage (Parsons et al, 2011)
4
Q
Impact of SLCN on literacy
A
- well documented link between SCLN and reading difficulties
- at risk of problems with aspects of reading and writing
- difficulties may be intensified if children are exposed to teaching of reading and writing language before spoken language is developed enough
5
Q
Impact of SLCN on social development
A
- struggle to socialise with peers and negotiate disagreements
- challenges with forming friendships
- show withdrawn interaction styles so less likely to initiate conversation
- play alone and less liked by others in the class (Coster et al, 1999)
- perceive they are at risk of being bullied (Conti-Ramsden et al, 2004)
6
Q
Behavioural Theories of Language Development: Imitation and Reinforcement (Nurture)
A
- Social learning theory (SLT) - Bandura (1977)
- Operant conditioning (Skinner, 1957) - baby says ‘mum’ and mum smiles and hugs the baby. Through operant conditioning the child will continue to say the word
7
Q
Limitations of Behavioural Theories of Language Development
A
- unable to explain how children can produce words they have not heard or put unique sentences together
IMPLIES? speech acquisition must involve more processes then just shaping
8
Q
Environment and Language Development (Nurture)
A
- the sheer quantity of what a child hears is a significant factor
- quality and amount a child hears varies with mothers income; poor mothers talk/read to children less and use less complex sentences. By age 4 the difference is substantial
- children who are read to by a parent/adult remember more than those who read off a computer (de Jong & Bus, 2002)
9
Q
Nativist Theories of Language Development (Nature)
A
- suggest language is innate and in our gene, the info is hardwired into our brain
- Chomsky (1959) argued we are born with a language acquisition device (LAD) which enables learning of grammatical rules and how to organise language
- inline with the idea of the ‘sensitive period’: 8/9 years old, the time where a child is able to learn most language
- refer to Genie (1970) who was found age 13, was able to produce limited words but never able to speak sentences
10
Q
Social Interactionism/ Sociolinguistic Theory
A
- main theorist Vygotsky
- stresses the importance of the caregiver in supporting the child in its need to learn in order to interact
- assumes social and biological factors interact in order to learn language
- the child has a strong desire to interact with others which is the drive for learning and uses biological prerequisite functions that underpin learning language
11
Q
Language and Cognitive Development: Thoughts Determine Language
A
- Piaget: once a child is able to think in a certain way then can develop the language to describe thoughts e.g. when a child develops the concept that an object still exists when they can’t see it they develop words such as ‘gone’, ‘missing’ etc
- concludes that cognitive development influences language development
12
Q
Language and Cognitive Development: Language Determines Thought
A
- AKA: the Whorfian Hypothesis
- the idea that language determines thought but this idea is discarded and criticised often
13
Q
The Role of Language in Education (Vygotsky)
A
- primarily concerned with understanding the origin of a child’s knowledge
- language is guided by an adult who models and structures the child’s learning experience - process called ‘scaffolding’
- Vygotsky saw language as a tool for learning and an aid to understanding - language acts as a vehicle for learning
14
Q
The Social Interaction Theory
A
- knowledge is built through interaction and cooperation with others
15
Q
Shales (1988) 4 Stages of the Teacher in an ‘Ideal Educational Process’
A
- teacher and student determine what the student knows
- on basis of stage 1 the teacher may provide additional knowledge
- teacher and student negotiate the meaning of what is taught
- through repetition of steps the students knowledge is validated by the teacher
