Late L1 Acquisition Flashcards
Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)
Proposes that there is a set window early in the life of an organism during which the organism is most sensitive to environmental stimulation enabling the acquisition of certain skills, due to loss of brain plasticity
Predictions of CPH for language acquisition
- Language can only be acquired in a native-like way during a biologically sensitive period;
- Acquisition will be difficult or different in nature if it is delayed until after the end of this period
When is the critical period ?
often assumed to end with the onset of puberty
* Some research on syntax suggests that it may end earlier, at about age 7
* And even earlier for speech perception
Victor is a feral child who was found in Aveyron, France in 1797 when he was 12 or 13 years old. Did he develop a grammar ?
It seemed like he developed no grammar. For example, he showed semantic underextension.
- This supports the critical period hypothesis
Genie
- She was kept in a room from about 20 months to 13 years with virtually no language input;
- She was mute when discovered (in 1970);
- She was provided with extensive therapy and was tested on a regular basis, starting 11 months after her discovery;
Genie’s development showed a strong contrast between _______ development and _______ development
Vocabulary development and grammatical development
Genie’s vocabulary development
Rapid growth;
* No difficulty memorizing words;
* Vocabulary not initially confined to nouns; unlike young children (nouns are acquired earlier because referential)
* Larger vocabulary than young children at an equivalent stage of language development.
Genie’s development of segments
Severe difficulties with articulation;
* Showed segmental substitution, some slightly unusual from the perspective of typically-developing learners
Genie’s development of syllables
Mostly produced CV syllables (least marked), but showed some progression toward production of more complex syllable shapes; however usually reduced these
* Clusters : consonant deletion or vowel epenthesis; codas were deleted
Epenthesis is commonly observed in __L1/L2 acquisition
L2
- L1 learners typically delete one segment in the cluster
- L2 learners typically add a segment in a cluster
Genie’s development of syntax and morphology
Initially produced single words only;
* Reached two word stage after 8 mos of therapy;
* Produced multi-word utterances after 10 mos;
* Produced negatives after 11 mos (external negation: no outside of the clause);
* Had some inflectional morphology, e.g. plural, possessive;
* Produced some complex structures: want go shopping;
* Had no question words;
Genie’s comprehension
showed increasing ability to understand singular/plural, negative/affirmative, possessives, prepositions, comparatives and superlatives, conjunctions, question words.
Does Genie’s development confirm the critical period hypothesis ?
No, because other factors could explain why Genie never fully acquired language (e.g. lack of cognitive development)
___% of deaf babies are born into families in which a parent is deaf
~5%
What difficulties acquiring language do deaf children with no early signed input encounter ?
Late learners (after the age of 12): problems with inflectional
morphology in American Sign Language (ASL); looks like small clauses
o late learners (age 9-13): problems with complex sentence structure in ASL like embedded clauses
Late L1 vs L2 performance on task involving recall of complex sentences
L2 ASL group was much more accurate (82%) than the late L1
learners (43%);
o Suggests that exposure to language during the critical period is crucial;
Linguistic deprivation has greater effects than …
Age of acquisition.
Nicaraguan Sign Language
Earlier-enrolled deaf children without signed input (starting 40 years ago) at a school in Nicaragua developed a pidgin sign language to communicate (words, combined via a basic syntax);
* Later-enrolled children built on this, developing a complex sign language : Nicaraguan Sign Language
