language development Flashcards
what are the 2 areas of the brain associated with language acquisition?
broca’s area-production of language
wernicke’s area-comprehension
what does an MRI show
oxygen and hence blood flowing into certain points of the brain when asked to complete a task e.g. language
categorical speech perception
ba pa
whether you produce ba or pa depends on the time you close your mouth after the sound started in your vocal cords
when we listen to words, we dont hear them on a continuum but as 2 separate sounds
eimas 1980
categorical speech perception
procedure and result
dv sucking rate
babies habituated to ba and not pa
babies regained interest when the stimulus changed to pa as they have noticed the difference
mehler+dupoux 1980s
sensitivity to mother tongue
procedure
dv sucking rate
a bilingual french-russian person tells a story to infants while sucking in both languages
mehler+dupoux 1980s
sensitivity to mother tongue
result
french babies preferred listening to the story in french and visa versa
sucking rates increased for own language
mehler+dupoux 1980s
sensitivity to mother tongue
conclusion
4 day old babies have preference for native tongue
werker+tees 1984
sensitivity to speech sounds
infants tune into the speech sounds characteristic of their native language
at birth babies can discriminate about 600 speech sounds, when they get to 5 months, this drops to 50
werker+tees 1984
sensitive to motherese
dv: head turns
infant sits on mothers lap
speaker either side
one plays motherese-high pitched simple words by lady
one plays dull, monotone speech
turn head right to here motherese, babies have to learn this rule
werker+tees 1984
sensitive to motherese
conclusion
by using speech contours,the frequency composition of words are predictive of where words+sentence begin/end, babies can easily detect the ends of words/sentences,
stages of language acquisition
12 months-single words
14 months- two word utterances
2-5yrs- language develops into complex sentence
4- we produce plurals+ other forms of speech
by 5- speaking almost as an adult would
stages of language acquisition
strong language for biological timetable
all speakers of all languages go through these stages regardless of the environmental input
pinker 1994
stages in language acquisition
the first 50 or so words all infants learn tend to be of the same kind; common object names some first names words for simple actions phrases "dont know" "i hungry"
hirsh-pasek et al 1983
stages in language acquistion
infant sits with 2 screens either side and a speaker in the middle, one screen corresponds with the speaker “look look, cookie monster took big bird away”
by 18 months, babies reliably look for longer at matching video
stages in language acquisition
wug
show a picture of a made up bug
ask children what would you call 2 of them?
2 yr old- fail the task
4yr old- wugs, generate correct plural without knowledge
language learning in deaf children
intro
- many have parents that will encourage lip-reading as opposed to sign language as they don’t know it
- have no environmental input
language learning in deaf children
goldin-meadow et al 1978+1984
10 subjects
tested at 1 and 4
at 1 yr- spontaneous production of gestures
2yrs- production of sequence of gestures
language learning in deaf children
goldin-meadow et al 1978+1984
conclusion
up until 2 years, linguistic development is in line with TD timetable but afterwards no further linguistic abilities, they require environmental input.
language learning in blind children
intro
does learning language require visual experience?
how do they learn non-tangible items e.g. cloud
verbs are said to require visual experience
language learning in blind children
landalt+gleitman 1985
“look up”
blind child responded by raising hands
sighted+blindfolded responded by looking up
language learning in blind children
landalt+gleitman 1985
conclusion
blind and sighted share a representation for “look” that means “perceive”
biological basis
what is the nurture debate
environmental influence on language acquisition
language learning in extreme deprivation
davies 1947
isobelle
isolated until 6
no linguistic input until after 6th birthday
low IQ and linguistic skills=2 yr olds
after intense exposure, language abilities caught up to fellow peers
language learning in extreme deprivation
curtiss 1977
genie
isolated until 13 yrs
no linguistic input until after 13th birthday
even with intense exposure, language developed was never typical
language learning in extreme deprivation
conclusions
maturation state and environment are both important in language acquisition
those who learn 2 languages early in life do not get affected by exposure in early life
sensitive period to learning language
6-13 yrs
second language acquisition
johnson+newport 1989
native chinese+korean migrated to the US
tested after 5 yrs of exposure to English
age of acquisition varied
listening task; identify grammatically correct and incorrect sentences
exposure before 7- same as native
exposure after 7- worse outcome
evidence for nature debate
pinker 1994
pidgin+creole
different slaves put together and developed pidgin (strings of words put together for basic communication with poor grammar and word order)
kids in contact with pidgin develop creole, by 4-7, this language is complex and grammatically correct
poverty of the stimulus hypothesis
we unconsciously generate grammatically correct sentences without instruction
e.g. children learn “know” by sentences such as
“you know auntie mary right?”
“do you know where your teddy is?”
