Language pt1 Flashcards
What is language?
A system of communication using sounds or symbols that allow us to express feelings thoughts, ideas and experiences.
What is linguistics?
It is the scientific study of all aspects of language.
What is psycholinguistics?
A field within psychology which looks at the psychological processes involved with human acquisition and processing of language.
What’s the difference between performance and competence?
Performance = reading speed / speech fluency Competence = knowledge about the language. Eg. lexical and syntactic
What is grammar?
A system of rules upon which a language is built.
What is Chomsky’s (1980) theory of grammar?
That humans have implicit knowledge of rules. For eg. you can understand stuff but cannot necessarily articulate the rules.
What structures does a language have?
Superficial = observable Underlying = mental representations
Superficial is derived from the underlying.
How do linguists and psychologists differ?
Linguists are interested in the rules that define a language while psychologists are looking at how the rules of a language affect cognitive processing.
What is a morphemes (Lyons, 1968)?
It is the minimal unit of grammatical analysis.
What are phonemes?
Basic units of discrete sounds that make up a language. They are used to form morphemes. Different languages different quantities.
What is prosodic structure?
This is how words are arranged and emphasized within a sentence, resulting in different meanings.
What is syntactic structure?
These are rules which govern the construction of a sentence. They consist of terminal and non-terminal vocabulary, and syntactic parsing.
What is semantic structure?
This is the content that gives meaning to language, it includes conceptual constituents and propositional content.
What are the features of natural language (Fodor, 1975)?
it is productive, systematic and compositional.
What is recursion?
The process and ability to general terms in sequence. It is thought to be endless but runs the risk of fading into meaninglessness.
What is the garden path theory?
There are a number of theories.
Frazier (1987) - syntax based
Clark & Clark (177) - semantic based
What are the approaches to parsing?
1) Syntax first > late closure principle
2) Interactionist approach
What is syntactic priming (Branigan, Pickering and Cleland, 2000)?
Evidence shows that language users have the tendency to mimic the syntax of those around them or are communicating to.
What are some classic psycholinguistic test methods?
1) pencil and paper tasks
2) lexical decision tasks
3) self paced reading
What methods are there for evaluating language processing?
1) eye movement tracking (Rayner, 1998 & 2009)
2) EEG / Event related potentials
What are the key effects of language processing?
1) word length effects
2) word frequency effect
3) context predictability effect
4) domain knowledge
5) initial letter constraint
Is language processing lateralized?
It appears to be dominated by the left hemisphere but this is primarily from individuals who are right handed.
Overall, both hemispheres are need to fully process language.
What are the approaches to 2nd language?
1) Generative approach - implicit learning possible
2) Emergentist approach - explicit learning essential
What affects L2 acquisition?
1) Age
2) WM
3) Motivation
What are optimal conditions for L2 learning?
1) Immersion
2) Home literacy
3) informal opportunity
4) tailored programs
5) sufficient time
Do bilinguals have an advantage over monolinguals?
Depends on the study!
What is a garden path sentence?
A sentence that starts with 1 direction of meaning but ends up with another.
It is an example of temporary ambiguity.
What are examples of brain lesions that cause language issues?
Broca’s aphasia - damage to the frontal lobe > affects syntax
Wernicke’s aphasia - damage to the temporal lobe > affects semantics
What neuroscience methods can assess syntax and semantics?
Event related potentials (ERP) is used. Semantics affect N400 waves while syntax affects P600 waves.
What is the principle of late closure (Frazier, 1987)?
It states that as a reader encounters a new word, he will automatically add it to the existing phrase. Due to this behavior, we are led down the garden path.
What is the interactionist approach to parsing?
The following 4 are possible
1) meaning of words in a sentence (eg. binoculars and birds)
2) information in a visual scene (eg. 1 or 2 apples)
3) making predictions based on world knowledge (eg. car and ferry)
4) making predictions based on knowledge of language constructions (eg. soldiers on midnight raid)
How does a story make sense?
Inferences.
What types of inference are there?
1) Anaphoric inference - linking people or objects
2) Instrument inference - about tools and methods
3) Causal inference - that events in current are caused by previous sentence.
What is a situation model?
A mental representation of what a text is about.
What is discourse associated processing?
It is the process by which a reader is able to evaluate the meaning of a word (as it is read) in the context of the larger picture and not just the immediate sentence.
What makes for a good conversation?
1) Given-new contract - where each sentence features given and new information.
2) Common ground
3) Syntactic coordination
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
That culture and language can affect cognition. Eg. goluboy and siniy
Does language affect perception?
Yes but only in processing within the left hemisphere according to Gilbert et al., (2006).
