Language Development

Question 1

What are the components of language?

Answer 1

• phonology
• morphology
• semantics
• syntax
• pragmatics

Question 2

Explain phonology

Answer 2

Rules within a language for combining sounds. The basic unit of sound in a language is called a phoneme. For example, c as in cat. The rules for sounds differ between languages.

Question 3

Explain morphology

Answer 3

Rules we have for combining sounds to create meaning. Morphemes is the smallest unit of meaning in a language, for example the s in dogs carries the meaning that there is more than one. Ed in walked is also a morpheme because it carries the meaning that something happened in the past.

Question 4

Explain semantics

Answer 4

Refers to the meaning converted by words and sentences. Free standing morphemes include dog and cat and bound morphemes include ‘ed’ or ‘s’.

Question 5

Explain syntax

Answer 5

Rules within a language that specify how words are combined to create a phrase or sentence that can be understood by other people. For example, the dog is chasing the cat.

Question 6

Explain pragmatics.

Answer 6

Rules or conventions we have communicating with other people. Example, how we talk when we talk to a child or someone who we are going for a job interview. Initiating a conversation as terminating.

Question 7

Explain the learning or empiricist theory of language

Answer 7

• children learn language through initiation and reinforcement. If a child produces an aspect of language we want to see more of, then this is rewarded by parents.
• imitation plays a role, but there’s no evidence to suggest that learning of any component of language occurs through reinforcement.

Question 8

Explain the nativist perspective of language

Answer 8

• language is just too complex to learn. We are therefore born with innate knowledge about the different rules of language. The proposal is that we are born with a language acquisition device.
• only humans have the capacity and interest in learning and using language

Question 9

Explain the interactionist perspective

Answer 9

Suggests that both environment and genetics are important. We are born with specialised parts of the brain to learn language. Input from the environment is required for language learning to take place.

Question 10

What are the three stages of language development?

Answer 10

• prelinguistic period
• holophrastic period
• telegraphic period

Question 11

Explain the prelinguistic period

Answer 11

• before infants speak (10-13 months) they are actively learning and responding to language.
• babbling is likely to be innate and reflects brain maturation
• understand gestures and non-verbal responses

Question 12

Explain the holophrastic period

Answer 12

• building a vocabulary around 12 months
• naming explosion occurs and children speak 10-20 words every week.
• overextensions: children use the same word for similar objects
• underextensions: children think that a general word only applies to one object e.g. think the word doll only applies to their doll and no one else’s.
• holophrases: convey request or action by labelling same object e.g. saying spaghetti to request it.

Question 13

Explain the telegraphic period

Answer 13

• between 18-24 months they begin to produce multi word phrases such as daddy eat or kitty go.
• pragmatic development occurs in this stage, toddlers take turns during communication and also begin stand at the appropriate distance.

Question 14

Explain language during the preschool period

Answer 14

• grammatical development; sentences become adult like
• morphemes: give precise meaning to sentences
• once infant learn a grammatical morpheme they can use it in most contexts.
• mastering transformational rules e.g. changes we make to a sentence often to make a question or modify the original sentence

Question 15

Explain semantic development

Answer 15

• children begin to understand concepts such as size and can express concepts in speech.