Language development

Question 1

What is meant by phonology?

Answer 1

Structure and sequence of speech sounds

Question 2

What is meant by semantics?

Answer 2

Vocabulary (lexical knowledge)

Question 3

What’s meant by grammar?

Answer 3

syntax - rules for sentences

morphology - grammatical markers

Question 4

What’s meant by pragmatics?

Answer 4

appropriate and effective communication

Question 5

What auditory things are newborns sensitive to?

Answer 5

pitch range of mothers voice
All Phonemes (speech sounds) - by 6-8 months it narrows to just the needed phonemes in native language (lead by experience)

Question 6

What are the stages of children language?

Answer 6

pre-language phase (0-12 months)
egocentric babble phase (4-6 m)
social babble phase (7-12m)
Early language phase (12-30 m)

Question 7

Describe what babbling is

Answer 7

Aids social interaction

not just sound based (deaf children babble in sign)

Question 8

Describe vocabulary growth

Answer 8

18 month typically 50 words, 18-22 months go from 50-300 (!!)

Question 9

What happens with a child’s speech around 12 m?

Answer 9

still mostly nouns but also verbs/actions.

Most words refer to immediate actionable environment (ie toy rather than ceiling)

Function words (the, and etc) mostly missing (child has no need for grammatical constructions)

Propositional meanings: gestures and interactions are used to show different meanings for same words.

Question 10

Explain syntactic bootstrapping

Answer 10

proposes that grammar is used to infer word meanings (eg big bird is gorping cookie monster vs big bird is gurping WITH cookie monster)

Question 11

Describe different ideas of early syntax

Answer 11

2-3 years grammar is OK, but at 4-5 the child will start making mistakes (underlying regularisation drive - system is adjusting and trying to find a common rule for all words) - no cause parents don’t often correct grammar mistakes.

Skinner: operant conditioning: children learn through trial and error and imitating. No cause child learn to fast for that and says things that they haven’t heard

Chomsky: Nativism: Aspects of language learning is innate - LAD (language aquisition device): general knowledge specific to humans about language specified to own language.

Question 12

Brain regions for language

Answer 12

lateralisation of language in left hemisphere regions develops AFTER birth (contra nativist). Areas in right hemisphere can take over if left is damaged.

Question 13

What’s the critical period for language and what is the evidence

Answer 13

0-13years: evidence: Genie (deprived child found at 13 - never learned to use grammar properly - but could be braindamaged at birth, ASL (deaf society) reduced brain lateralisation in learners exposed after puberty
immigrations second language poorer the later they get to new country.