Language Development I Flashcards by Mollie Dosdale

Three main questions for language development I

1/ What is language
2/ Do infants have language skills
3/ When do children use words and sentences.

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What are the three levels of language?

Grammar
Semantics
Phonology

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What is the phonology of a language?

The phonology of a language is the set of sounds used to create spoken words.

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What are sounds known as in language?

phoneme

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How many phonemes are there in English?

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What does a change in phoneme create?

A change in phoneme creates a change in meaning.

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What are the semantic of language?

The meaning of words in a language.

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What is the smallest unit of meaning?

A morpheme

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What is a morpheme?

A morphemes is the smallest unit of meaning.

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Give an example of one morpheme and two morphemes.

WALK = 1 morpheme

WALK-ED = 2 morphemes

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What is our ‘mental dictionary’ known as?

Our ‘mental dictionary’ is known as the lexicon.

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What is the lexicon?

The lexicon is the name given to our ‘mental dictionary’

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Give a word that can characterize words in general?

Words are arbitrary. For example there is no pattern of common theme between ‘WHALE’ and ‘MICRO-ORGANISM’.

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What are grammatical rules?

Grammatical rules govern how words combine to create sentences.

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What does the meaning of a sequence of words depend on?

The meaning of a sequence of words depends on its order… Eg, JOHN LOVES MARY, MARY LOVES JOHN. but LOVES MARY JOHN doesn’t make grammatical sense.

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What is syntax?

Syntax means the rules for word order in sentences.

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What word describes the rules for word order in sentences?

Syntax

What is morphology?

Rule for morphemes.

What word describes the rules for morphemes?

Morphology.

What is the state of phonology within the first year of language development in relation to distinguishing?

Infants become tuned in to their native language as they can distinguish their language from foreign ones.
Older infants lose the ability to distinguish sounds which are not separate phonemes in their native language.

What is the state of phonology within the first year of language development in relation to sounds?

Babbling is the vocal repetition of syllables which begins around 4 months of ages. Towards the end of the first year. babbling sounds reflect the native language and become ‘word like’.

What does babbling require?

Babbling requires motor skills to co-ordinate tongue and mouth.

In terms of the semantics of language, how and when do first words develop in the first year?

Around 10-12 months of age, infants have learnt a small vocabulary. Their first words tend to be of semantic importance.. ‘mama’, ‘dada’ etc.
More specific nouns come later… eg dog…. animal…. poodle….

In the first year, infants’ ? of words exceeds their ? of words…

Infants’ comprehension of words exceeds their production of words.

In the first year early productions of words are not adults like... How and why?`

Words may get shortened eg 'duh' for duck as easier to produce. Some phonemes are easier to produce, eg infrequent sounds in english like V are pronounced later. Words are also over-extended to compensate for limited vocabulary... Eg 'ball' for 'moon' and 'wheel'.

What happens in the second year in relation to words?

Toddlers gain a wider vocabulary and are increasingly skilled at learning new words.

When and what is the vocabulary spurt?

There is a vocabulary spurt at around 18 months of ages and we see comprehension and production increase rapidly.

What do toddlers use (second year) to learn word meanings?

To learn word meanings toddlers use different cues such as social cues like pointing and learning biases such as assumptions about word mappings... eg every object can only have one name.

What is fast-mapping?

Fast-mapping is a process towards the end of the second year where infants can now connect a new word with an object even after very little exposure.

What is it called when, towards the end of the second year, toddlers can connect a new word with an object even after very limited exposure?

Fast-mapping.

What do we mean by learning words with 'mutual exclusivity'?

When each object can only have one name... For example is a child calls a ball 'wug' and something else is called a wug, they will show some acknowledgment that no both things can be called wug.

What happens from two years of age?

From 2 years of age, toddlers shift from using single words to building miniature sentences.

What is telegraphic speech?

Seen from 2 years of ages, it is when two-word utterances are put together to efficiently convey meaning... eg give book.

What is the word used to describe when two word utterances are put together to convey meaning?

Telegraphic speech.

How does speech develop after telegraphic speech?

The child learns three word sentences 'mummy make food'

How does speech develop after the child learns three word sentences?

Then, grammatical markers such as '-s' (plural) and '-ed' (past tense) appear in sentences.

How does speech develop in the second to third year?

The child shows adult like grammar as the three word sentences conform to the basic structure of english sentences.... eg Mummy make food.... NOUN-VERB-NOUN.

However, what grammatical errors do children make in the second to third year?

Errors can occur when children discover grammatical regularities. Eg, they over apply the regular past tense such as 'It breaked' instead of 'it broke'.

Three conclusions of language development I?

1/ Language consists of different levels of units and rules. Language is very flexible and uniquely human. 2/ Young infants process the sounds of language- phonemes- and attend to the phonemes of their native language 3/ Toddlers learn hundreds of words during the second year and eventually start to form sentences.

What is language?

A structured system of words and rules.

What is language important (3)?

It conveys meaning It allows us to communicate and share information It is a medium for thinking.