Language Development (9) Flashcards
How is language species specific and species universal?
species specific - language communication is specific and unique to humans
species universal - all humans are capable of language acquisition
symbols
arbitrary pairings, system for representing and communicating
generativity
despite finite set of words/morphemes, can create infinite sentences, infinite expressions of ideas
recursion
nesting many of ideas into one sentence
phonemes
smallest units of sound in a language that make up words (consonants and vowels)
phonological development
(before birth - adolescents)
learning to differentiate and produce sounds of native language
-perceptual development by 10 months
morphemes
smallest meaningful units of language
semantics
understanding the meaning of words and sentences
syntax
the rules of how words are combined to form meaningful phrases and sentences
semantic development
(birth +)
mostly nouns
requires segmenting of speech to identify words/phrases/sentences and meaning
syntactic development
begins with “telegraphic speech” 2 words
pronouns at 3yrs
slows by age 5-6, but wide range of normal
telegraphic speech
baby talk, using 2 word utterances
pragmatics
how the language is used (socially) and expressed (non linguistic communication)
fast mapping
a skill by which a child learns a new word based on all the other words they know surrounding that word (the chromium tray, not the red one)
What is the Quinean reference problem?
all labels are inherently ambiguous
whole object bias
mutual exclusivity bias (one label per object, object has one label only)
basic level bias (versus superordinate (category) or subordinate (subcategory)
Quinean reference problem: linguistic context
grammar and syntax help infer what the novel word refers to (-ing, -ed)
Quinean reference problem: pragmatic cues
expression, intonation or gestures help infer what the novel word refers to
shape bias
extend familiar words to novel objects of the same shape
cross-situational word learning
when the same object is always present across situations to determine the novel word refers to it
syntactic bootstrapping
strategy of using grammatical structure of a whole sentence to figure out novel word
overregularization
treating irregular forms as if they were regular (eg. grewed up)
collective monologue
children’s conversations are more like monologues before 3 yrs, the do not respond to what the other just said
Language development: behaviourist account & criticism
learn language through reinforcement
parents correct childrens mistakes and reward them when they are correct
-not all parents do this yet the child learns
-children say things they have never heard (generativity)
Language development: nativist account & support
Noam Chompsky pioneered this view
dedicated language module has evolved in humans (modularity hypothesis)
specific brain areas are used for language
born with universal grammar (unconscious rules that apply to all language)
support: all children acquire language
