Language Development in Children Flashcards
language
- behaviorally defined as a form of social behavior that is shaped and maintained by a verbal community
- linguistically defined as a code/system of symbols that represent concepts formed through exposure and experience
morphology
- the study of word structure
- describes how words are formed out of more basic elements of language, called morphemes
morpheme
- the smallest meaningful unit of language
- there are three types: free morphemes, bound morphemes, and allomorphs
free morphemes
words that have meaning and cannot be broken down into smaller parts
bound morphemes
cannot contain meaning by themselves and must be found to a free morpheme to have meaning
allomorphs
variations of morphemes that do not alter the original meaning of the morpheme
syntax
- the study of sentence structure
- examines the arrangement of words to form meaningful sentences
- the word order and overall structure of a sentence
- collection of rules that specify the ways and order in which words may be combined to form sentences in a particular language
- English basic syntactic structure (subject + verb + object)
sentences
- passive sentences
- active sentences
- interrogatives
- declaratives
- imperatives
- exclamatory
- compound sentences
- complex sentences
passive sentence
- the subject receives the action of the verb
- The cat was pet by Mark
active sentence
- the subject performs the actions of the verb
- Mark pet the cat
interrogative
Did you see that gorgeous sentence?
declarative
That sunset was gorgeous.
imperative
Shut the door.
exclamatory
I never said that!
compound
contains 2+ independent clauses joined by a comma and a conjunction or by a semicolon
complex
contains one independent clause and 1+ dependent clause
semantics
- meaning of language
- a person’s vocabulary and lexicon
semantic categories
- used to sort words
- recurrence, rejection, causality, etc.
overextension
often occurs during early stages of language development in which the child categorizes items too generally
underextension
child categorizes items too specifically
world knowledge
involves a person’s autobiographical and experiential memory and understanding of particular events
word knowledge
- primarily verbal and contains word and symbol definitions
- usually dependent on child’s world knowledge
pragmatics
- study of rules that govern the use of language in social situations
- places greater emphasis on functions/uses of language than on structure
- functions of language include labeling, protesting, and commenting
- functions of utterances include providing the listeners with adequate information without redundancy, making a sequence of statements coherent and logical, taking turns with other speakers, maintaining a topic and repairing communication breakdowns
- language context involves where the utterance takes place, to whom the utterance is directed and what/who are present at the time
- can be heavily influenced by culture
cohesion
the ability to order and organize utterances in a message so that they build logically on one another
direct speech
a directly formed command/question
indirect speech
requests formed indirectly to convey politeness
discourse
- how utterances are related to one another
- related to the connected flow of language
narratives
a form of discourse in which the speaker tells a story
motherese
- speech that helps babies attend to what they are hearing
- initially produced with a higher pitch, greater pitch fluctuations, slower rate of speech, and increased clarity/fluency
important language interactions/skills
- eye contact
- turn-taking
- motivation to communicate
- high quality interactions
LD birth - 3 months
- displays startle response to loud sound
- visually tracks/moves eyes to source of sound
- attends to and turns head toward voice/sound source
- smiles reflexively
- cries for assistance
- quiets when picked up
- ceases activity/coos back when person talks (by 2 months)
- vocalizes predominantly vowels
LD 4-6 months
- responds by raising arms when mother says “come here” and reaches toward child (by 6 months)
- moves/looks toward family members when they are named
- explores the vocal mechanism through vocal play with growling, squealing, yelling, make raspberries, etc.
- begins to produce adult-like vowels
- begins marginal babbling
- produces double syllables
- puts lips together for /m/
- varies pitch of vocalizations
- responds to own name by 5 months
- vocalizes pleasure and displeasure
- varies volume, pitch, and rate of vocalizations
LD 7-9 months
- looks at common objects when the objects’ names are spoken
- comprehends “no”
- begins to use some gestural language
- pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo
- shakes head for “no”
- uses a wide variety of sound combinations
- uses inflected vocal play and intonation patterns
- imitates intonation and speech sounds of others by 9 months
- uses variegated babbling by 9 months
- uncovers hidden toy (beginning of object permanence)
LD 10-12 months
- understands up to 10 words
- understands simple one-step directions, especially when accompanied by a gesture
- begins to relate symbol and object
- uses first true word
- gives object upon request
- obeys some commands
- understands and follows simple directions regarding body action’-looks in correct place for hidden toys
- turns head instantly to own name
- gestures/vocalizes to indicate wants/needs
- jabbers loudly
- uses variety of sounds and intonations
- varies pitch when vocalizing
- uses all consonant and vowel sounds in vocal play
Pragmatics stages
- perlocutionary behavior
- illocutionary behavior
- locutionary stage
- joint reference
perlocutionary behavior
signals have an effect on the listener, but lack of communication intent
illocutionary behavior
- 9-10 months
- signaling is used to carry out some socially organized action (pointing and laughing)
- intentional communication
locutionary stage
- 12 months
- begin to use words
joint reference
- ability to focus attention on an event or objects as directed by another person
- begins with eye contact, and then develops to pointing or naming objects that both the child and caregiver can focus on
syntax 12-18 months
- 1 word sentences
- single-word phrase
- avg. MLU is 1.0-2.0
- children use sentence-like words and communicate relationships by using one word plus vocal and body cues and can serve several basic functions
- 50 words by 18 months
syntax 18-24 months
- begin to put two words together
- 3-4 word responses by age 2
- use “and” to form a conjoined sentence
- 51% of utterances consist of nouns
semantics 1-2 years
- shows understanding of some words and simple commands
- understands around 200 words by 18 months
- uses nominals and verbs frequently in reference to things of greatest importance in the child’s environment
- uses semantic relations
- uses overextensions
- answers “what’s this?” questions
- responds to yes/no Qs by nodding or shaking head
- follows one step commands or simple directions accompanied by gestures
- follows directions using 1-2 spatial concepts
- points to 1-5 body parts on command
- points to recognized objects
- listens to simple stories by 19-24 months
- asks for more
- refers to self with pronoun and name by 19-24 months
- verbalizes immediate experiences
- begins to use some verbs and adjectives
relations expressed by single word utterances
- attribution
- actions
- locative action
- existence
- nonexistance
- denial
- rejection
- recurrence
- possession
semantic relations expressed by two-word utterances
- notice
- nomination
- instrumental
- conjunction
- recurrence
- action-object
- action-indirect object
- agent-action
- agent-object
- possessor-possession
- attribute-entity
- entity + locative
- action + locative
pragmatics 1-2 years
- child uses verbal and nonverbal communication to control the behavior of others, satisfy needs and wants, interact with others, express emotions or interest, imagine, inform and explore and categorize
- presuppositions emerge (expressions that have shared meaning)
- understand some rules of dialogue and act as speaker and listener
