Language Development - lecture 6, week 7 Flashcards
What do we mean by language?
the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way
- the system of communication used by a
particular community or country
What is language composed by?
Phonology- rules regarding building blocks of speech sounds /f/ /b/ /o/ /m/ /a/
Semantics- how concepts are expressed in words
Grammar
What are pragmatics?
rules for effective communication, e.g., turn-taking, cultural nuances, formal vs. informal settings.
What are 2 traditional views of language development?
Behaviourist approach
Nativist approach
What does the Behaviourist approach say about lang development?
- Acquired through operant conditioning (e.g. Skinner)
- Reinforcement & Modelling
- Does not account for infants’ creation of novel utterances, & huge vocabulary in early childhood
What does the nativist approach say about lang development?
dont understand this
Noam Chomsky (1957) - Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
* Innate system, uniquely human
* Universal grammar - rules can apply to all
language forms
* Biological time frame for language development
* Main argument: Poverty of stimulus (Chomsky, 1980)
* Revived in Fodor’s Modularity of Mind (1983)
Evolutionary basis included to the theory (separate, specialized
modules in the mind are the result of an evolutionary process:
high specificity of function and sensitivity to only certain inputs)
Support for Nativist View
Support for Nativist View
▪ Deaf children developed novel language
▪ Animals unable to develop as complex
language
▪ Specific areas of the brain linked to
language
▪ But is less localised than initially thought
▪ Sensitive period for language
development
▪ E.g., Genie
Limitations of nativist view
- Difficulty in specifying universal grammar
- Grammatical development is gradual and
extends into middle childhood - Where is LAD when considering brain
structure?
What are theories of language development?
Interaction between innate abilities & environment
Information processing
* Connectionist or neural network simulations
* Make sense of language using general cognitive abilities
* Brain skilled at detecting pattern
( Damage to left hemisphere causes language problems, but also difficulty
with other ‘patterns’, e.g., music)
Social Interaction
* Innate desire to understand and be understood
* Stimulating language environment important
What are the Stages of language development?
- Prenatal: speech can be heard in utero
- Newborns: perception of phonemes
- 2-3 months: start cooing
- 4-6 months: start babbling
- 9-18 months: first words
- 18-24 months: telegraphic speech (two-words)
- Early childhood
- huge increase in vocab (~10,000 by 6 years)
- Middle childhood
- Vocab expands to ~40,000 words by age 11 years
SLIDE 13
Phonological development: define how first words develop.
- Partly influenced by which phonemes are easier to say – repeated consonant vowel combinations, e.g., mama, dada
- Linked to semantic development
Phonological development: define how pronunciation develops
- ‘Minimal words’ (stressed syllable), e.g., ‘ju’
- Then add
- End-consonants, e.g., ‘jus’
- Unstressed syllables, e.g., ‘raw-be’ (strawberry)
- Adjust vowel length, e.g., ‘peees’ (please)
Phonological development: define how language develops later on
- Mostly complete by 5 years
- Some subtle stress patterns continue to develop into adolescence
Define how we semantically develop
- Understanding precedes production
- Recogntion vs. recall
- Common first words
- Object, e.g., ‘ball’, dog’, ‘car’
- Action, e.g., ‘bye-bye’, ‘more’, ‘up’
- State/Modifier, e.g., ‘big’, ‘my’, ‘all gone’
- First 50 words dominated by object words
