Language pt1

Question 1

What is language?

Answer 1

A system of communication using sounds or symbols that allow us to express feelings thoughts, ideas and experiences.

Question 2

What is linguistics?

Answer 2

It is the scientific study of all aspects of language.

Question 3

What is psycholinguistics?

Answer 3

A field within psychology which looks at the psychological processes involved with human acquisition and processing of language.

Question 4

What’s the difference between performance and competence?

Answer 4

Performance = reading speed / speech fluency
Competence = knowledge about the language. Eg. lexical and syntactic

Question 5

What is grammar?

Answer 5

A system of rules upon which a language is built.

Question 6

What is Chomsky’s (1980) theory of grammar?

Answer 6

That humans have implicit knowledge of rules. For eg. you can understand stuff but cannot necessarily articulate the rules.

Question 7

What structures does a language have?

Answer 7

Superficial = observable 
Underlying = mental representations

Superficial is derived from the underlying.

Question 8

How do linguists and psychologists differ?

Answer 8

Linguists are interested in the rules that define a language while psychologists are looking at how the rules of a language affect cognitive processing.

Question 9

What is a morphemes (Lyons, 1968)?

Answer 9

It is the minimal unit of grammatical analysis.

Question 10

What are phonemes?

Answer 10

Basic units of discrete sounds that make up a language. They are used to form morphemes. Different languages different quantities.

Question 11

What is prosodic structure?

Answer 11

This is how words are arranged and emphasized within a sentence, resulting in different meanings.

Question 12

What is syntactic structure?

Answer 12

These are rules which govern the construction of a sentence. They consist of terminal and non-terminal vocabulary, and syntactic parsing.

Question 13

What is semantic structure?

Answer 13

This is the content that gives meaning to language, it includes conceptual constituents and propositional content.

Question 14

What are the features of natural language (Fodor, 1975)?

Answer 14

it is productive, systematic and compositional.

Question 15

What is recursion?

Answer 15

The process and ability to general terms in sequence. It is thought to be endless but runs the risk of fading into meaninglessness.

Question 16

What is the garden path theory?

Answer 16

There are a number of theories.
Frazier (1987) - syntax based
Clark & Clark (177) - semantic based

Question 17

What are the approaches to parsing?

Answer 17

1) Syntax first > late closure principle

2) Interactionist approach

Question 18

What is syntactic priming (Branigan, Pickering and Cleland, 2000)?

Answer 18

Evidence shows that language users have the tendency to mimic the syntax of those around them or are communicating to.

Question 19

What are some classic psycholinguistic test methods?

Answer 19

1) pencil and paper tasks
2) lexical decision tasks
3) self paced reading

Question 20

What methods are there for evaluating language processing?

Answer 20

1) eye movement tracking (Rayner, 1998 & 2009)

2) EEG / Event related potentials

Question 21

What are the key effects of language processing?

Answer 21

1) word length effects
2) word frequency effect
3) context predictability effect
4) domain knowledge
5) initial letter constraint

Question 22

Is language processing lateralized?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

What are the approaches to 2nd language?

Answer 23

1) Generative approach - implicit learning possible

2) Emergentist approach - explicit learning essential

Question 24

What affects L2 acquisition?

Answer 24

1) Age
2) WM
3) Motivation

Question 25

What are optimal conditions for L2 learning?

Answer 25

1) Immersion
2) Home literacy
3) informal opportunity
4) tailored programs
5) sufficient time

Question 26

Do bilinguals have an advantage over monolinguals?

Answer 26

Depends on the study!

Question 27

What is a garden path sentence?

Answer 27

A sentence that starts with 1 direction of meaning but ends up with another.
It is an example of temporary ambiguity.

Question 28

What are examples of brain lesions that cause language issues?

Answer 28

Broca’s aphasia - damage to the frontal lobe > affects syntax
Wernicke’s aphasia - damage to the temporal lobe > affects semantics

Question 29

What neuroscience methods can assess syntax and semantics?

Answer 29

Event related potentials (ERP) is used. Semantics affect N400 waves while syntax affects P600 waves.

Question 30

What is the principle of late closure (Frazier, 1987)?

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

What is the interactionist approach to parsing?

Answer 31

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)

Question 32

How does a story make sense?

Answer 32

Inferences.

Question 33

What types of inference are there?

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

What is a situation model?

Answer 34

A mental representation of what a text is about.

Question 35

What is discourse associated processing?

Answer 35

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.

Question 36

What makes for a good conversation?

Answer 36

1) Given-new contract - where each sentence features given and new information.
2) Common ground
3) Syntactic coordination

Question 37

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

Answer 37

That culture and language can affect cognition. Eg. goluboy and siniy

Question 38

Does language affect perception?

Answer 38

Yes but only in processing within the left hemisphere according to Gilbert et al., (2006).