Language Development in Children Flashcards
What are the subfields of language?
morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, phonology
What is morphology?
study of word structure, describes how words are formed out of morphemes
What is a morpheme?
smallest meaningful unit of language
what are base, root, or free morphemes?
have meaning, cannot be broken down further, can have other morphemes added to them
What are bound or grammatical morphemes?
cannot stand alone, must be formed with free morphemes to have meaning
What are examples of bound morphemes?
ing, s, ed, ‘s
what is an allomorph?
variations of morphemes that do not alter the original meaning (ex. z or s ending)
What is syntax?
word order dictation, study of sentence structure
What does the study of syntax involve?
arrangement of words, word order, collection of rules
what is a passive sentence?
the subject recieves the action of the verb
What is an active sentence?
subject performs the actions of the verbs (Mark petted the cat)
What constitutes a compound sentence?
two or more independent clauses joined by a comma, conjunction, or semicolon.
What is a complex sentence?
one that contains an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
What is semantics?
study of meaning in language including a person’s vocabulary
What does vocabulary development depend on ?
environmental exposure as well as the individual capacity each child brings to the learning situation
What are important aspects of vocabulary development? Knowledge of:
antonyms or opposities, synonyms, multiple meanings of words, humor, figurative lanaguage, deictic words (referents change depending on who is speaking)
What is overextension?
using the word “ball” for round objects
What is a child’s ability to learn a new word on the basis of just a few exposures to it?
quick incidental learning
What is a good component in language development?
categorizing
Why is the use of categories good?
brings order to the child’s experiences, these experiences can be filed under preexisting categories or under mental constructs the child has that allow him to group similar items together.
What is pragmatics?
study of rules that govern the use of language in social situations. One focuses on the use of language in social context, places greater emphasis on functions or uses of language than on structure.
What part of language considers the context of the utterance and the function of the utterance?
pragmatics
What are some functions of language?
labeling, protesting, commenting
What are important functions of utterances?
providing listeners with adequate information, making a sequence of statements logical, taking turns with other speakers, maintaining a topic, repairing communication break downs
What does language context involve?
where the utterance takes place, to whom the utterance is directed, what and who are present at the time
What is cohesion?
the ability to order and organize utterances in a message so that they build logically on one another
What is discourse?
how utterances relate to one another, the connected flow of language
What is a narrative?
A form of discourse in which someone tells a story
What are major variables that interact in the development of language?
child’s innate characteristics, child’s environment, cultural expectatons
What are characteristics of motherese or child-directed speech?
utterances produced with a higher pitch and greater pitch fluctuation, slower rate, clearer, more fluent, simpler utterances, longer pauses, words refer to here and now
What interaction skills do infants typically learn from their caregiver?
turn-taking
What does the development of langugae in motivated babies typically look like?
more rapid pace of language development, attempt more frequent, caried interactionss
What would language look like in an infant who was ignored or punished when they communicated?
delays or slowness in developing language skills
What milestones occur from birth to three months?
startle response to a loud sound, visually tracks or moves eyes to source of sound, attends to and turns head toward voice, smiles reflexively, cries for assistance, quiets when picked up, ceases activity or coos back when person talks, produces predominantly vowels
What milestones occur at 4-6 months?
responds by raising arms when mother says “come here”, looks toward family members when they are named, explores vocal mechanism through vocal play, produces adult like vowels, begins marginal babbling, varies pitch of vocalizations, responds to name, vocalizes please and displeasure, varies volume, pitch, and rate
What milestones occur from 7-9 months?
looks at objects when name is spoken, comprehends no, begins to use some gestural langugae, uses wide variety of sound combinations, uses inflected vocal play, imitates intonation and sounds of others, uses variegated babbling, uncovers hidden toy
What milestones occur from 10-12 months?
understands up to 10 words, understands one word simple direction, uses first true word, gives block or toy upon request, obeys some commands, understands and follows simple directions regarding body action, looks in correct places for hidden toys, turns head instantly to own name, gestures or vocalizes to indicate wants and needs, jabbers loudly, uses all consonant and vowel sounds in vocal play
What are the stages of pragmatic skills?
perlocutionary, illocutionary, locutionary, joint reference
What is perlocutionary behavior?
“signals” have an effect on the listener but lack communicative intent
What is illocutionary behavior?
At 9-10 months, uses a signal to carry out some socially organized action such as pointing and laughing, uses intentional communication
What is the locutionary stage?
At 12 months, begins to use words
What is joint reference?
the ability to focus attention on an event or object as directed by another person.
What is the holophrastic single word phase?
one word represents a complex idea (up-for please pick me up because I don’t want to sit here and play) milestone met between1-2 years. Sentence like words are conveted through vocal and bidily cues
When do children begin to put 2 words together?
18-24 months
When might children begin to put together 3-4 word responses?
2 years
At 24 months what is the normal percentage of 3-4 word plhrases and 2-word utterances?
50-50
When does a child first use “and” to form a conjoined sentence?
24 months
How many words are typically produced around 18 months? How many do they understand?
10-50, 200
What are semantic relations? A child uses these around 18 months of age
utterances that reflect meaning based on relationships between different words
What is an overextension?
Calling all brown-eyed, slender women “Mommy”
What is “all gone” production demonstrate?
emerging negation
What is attribution?
an adjective, a property of characteristic of an event, person, object (BIG doggy, CLEAN dolly)
What is action?
Child requests or labels an action; indicates movement relationships between objects and poeple (open box, kitty, run)