Lecture 4-Development of Language Flashcards

1
Q

Language

A
  • a structured system of sound patterns (words and sentences) that have socially standardised meanings.
  • provides human beings with a set of symbols that enable objects, events and processes in the environment to be catalogued.
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2
Q

Language as tool

A
  • promoting communication

- developing social networks-implications for attachment and social bonding

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3
Q

3 components of language

A

phonology: joining together of units of sound to form words
semantics: a system of meanings associated with words
syntax: rules for the connection of words to form phrases and sentences.

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4
Q

other components

A

phonemes: units of sound that can differentiate minimally different words
morphemes: smallest grammatical unit in a language

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5
Q

2 types of morphemes

A

free-function as words

bound-found as parts of words, always with a root.

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6
Q

examples of pre requisites of language

A
graphic symbols (music)
motoric symbols (recall how to tie the knot)
gestural symbols (flipping the bird)
sensory or iconic symbols (smells and sounds associated with past experiences)
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7
Q

2 purposes to gestural symbols

A
  • representational
  • communicative

gestural symbols used for communicative purposes at around 8-10 months

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8
Q

first gestures

A

waving hand: goodbye
shaking head: no
pointing: drawing others attention to object, person or action.

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9
Q

pretend play

A
  • is a form of symbolic representation
  • emerges before spoken language

by 2 years, children can differentiate pretence from reality: Deferred imitation-emerges at end of sensorimotor stage/children can imitate object without object being present.

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10
Q

acquisition of language

A
  • currently accepted that child language is a system unique to children, not miniature version of adult language.
  • acquired during childhood through a universal series of stages, each with its own unique features.
  • children in all cultural groups progress through the stages of language acquisition in the same sequence:physiological/biological basis for language acquisition.
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11
Q

stages in language acquisition

A

prelinguistic speech: crying, cooing, babbling

linguistic speech: holophrastic speech, two word utterances, telegraphic speech

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12
Q

prelinguistic speech

A

approx 12 months of age/established sequence of sounds through which infants progress before uttering first words

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13
Q

crying

A

earliest means of communication

different sounds, pitches and intensities, signal different meanings :hunger, fatigue, discomfort, anger pain

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14
Q

cooing

A
  • infants make squealing, gurgling sounds that are repetition of vowel sounds
  • sounds are sustained for approximately 15-20 seconds
  • appears at 6 weeks to 3 months
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15
Q

babbling

A
  • alternating sequence of vowel and consonant sounds which resemble one syllable utterances
  • appears at 4 months-6 months of age
  • all infants babble, even if profoundly deaf
  • infants babble all possible sounds of all possible languages
    suggestion: physiological/biological basis for language acquisition
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16
Q

Linguistic speech

A

Lenneberg (1969)-genuine comprehension of word meaning requires: consistent recognition and use of word in same context.

  • ability to conduct phonetic analysis dissecting words into their component phonemes (sounds)
  • semantic ability-children recognise that all objects could have names
  • ability to analyse sentences or phrases to extract words
17
Q

3 stages in the acquisition of linguistic speech

A

holophrastic speech
two word utterances
telegraphic speech

18
Q

holophrastic speech

A
  • single words that convey different meanings dependent upon the context in which the words are used. e.g.. ball- this is my ball… i want my ball
    -Nelson (1973): most common of first 50 words spoken by children 12-24 months of age
    names: general (woof woof -dog)/specific (black-one specific dog)
    action words: bye bye=go, good bye
    modifiers:hot, cold
    words that express feelings:no
    some grammatical words: for
19
Q

2 features of holophrastic speech

A

overextension

underextension

20
Q

overextension

A

clark (1973) comon nouns are extended to categories to which they do not apply in adult speech. ex. orange-orange + all fruits we can eat.

  • illustrates child’s active involvement in use of language as communication tool
  • interim measure-as vocabulary develops, overextended word usage declines.
21
Q

underextension

A

anglin (1977) common nouns are applied to more narrowly defined categories than in adult speech. ex. dog-the family pet dog only , not other dogs

22
Q

2 word sentences

A
  • combination of two words to convey meaning
  • unique linguistic system
  • not imitation of adult speech
  • grammatically correct (subject-verb-object
  • 18 months to 22 months ex: more page, more wet
23
Q

theorists of two word sentence

A

brown (1973): pivot grammar, all words fall into one of two classes
braine (1963): all children used distinctive two word grammar governed by small set of rules. Meaning of two word sentences is CONTEXT SPECIFIC

24
Q

braine (1963) 10 broad ideas

A

identification/description/possession/plurality/recurrence/disappearance/negation/actor-action relations/location/requests

25
Q

telegraphic speech

A
  • sentences resembling adult telegrams
  • sentences comprised primarily of: nouns/verbs
  • 24 months
26
Q

over-regularisation

A
  • feature of telegraphic speech
  • children apply general rule for forming a plural (add-s) or a past tense (add-ed) to irregular nouns or verbs. ex: mouses or mices / i goed i went
27
Q

theorist of overregularization

A

berko (1958):developed set of nonsense words for which children had to supply plural, past tense and possessive inflections. ex: wug, heaf, quirk

  • children extended standard grammatical rules to non sense words
  • children were learning rules of grammar not imitating what is heard around them
  • unique not imitative
  • supports argument that children biologically predisposed to acquire language.
28
Q

transformational grammar

A
  • 2 to 4 years old
  • rules that allow simple declarative statements to be modified to convey a range of more complex meanings: questions/negations/passives/conjunctive assertions (but)/embedded sentences
29
Q

negation

A

Bloom (1970): children use negative words to indicate three types of negative meaning: non-existence/rejection/denial-implied or previously spoken statement not true.

30
Q

questioning sequence

A

holophrastic: tone of voice (rising intonation)
two word and telegraphic speech: tone of voice (rising intonation)
question words: who, what, where + declarative sentence
question proper: inversion of sentence subject and auxiliary verb

31
Q

complex sentences

A
  • 2 to 4 years
    feature: EMBEDDING (3 to 5 Years)-this syntax allows children to talk about cognitive states, false beliefs and false statements, necessary prerequisite for mastery of theory of mind
32
Q

language acquisition : biological perspectives- 5 pieces of evidence

A
  • universal sequence
  • early responses to language
  • physiological evidence
  • critical period for language acquisition
  • overregularization of grammatical rules
33
Q

theories of language acquisition

A

foetuses and newborn infants respond to language in highly sophisticated ways.
decasper & fife (1980): new born babies prefer the voice of their mothers over those of other women (and even their fathers)

34
Q

physiological evidence in human brain

A

brain larger left hemisphere
BROCA’S AREA:language production/ability to process grammar
WERNICKE’S AREA: speech comprehension/difficulty to recall names of objects/receptive aphasia-inability to comprehend speech

35
Q

environmental perspectives: 3 pieces of evidence

A

imitation-children learn to speak the language heard around them
parentese-simplified language that adults use with young language learners
necessity of social interaction for language acquisition

36
Q

features of parentese

A
  • simple, short sentences
  • repetition
  • exaggerated intonation contours
  • long pauses between sentences
  • emphasis of most important words
  • echoing (repeating)
  • prompting (rephrasing if child not understood)
  • expansion (restating)
  • recasting (rephrasing in different way while maintaining the original meaning)
37
Q

Parentese theories

A

Cross (1976): children primary caregivers used parentese, progressed significantly faster in acquisition of language than children whose mothers did not use parentese.
features: expansions/repetitions/recasts/shorter sentences

38
Q

conclusions

A
  • first 12 years, children develop linguistically in complex ways
  • these developments are the result of the interplay of biological (maturational) factors and influences fromm the environment
  • developments in cognition and language enable the infant and child to develop SOCIALLY in sophisticated ways.
  • developments in cognition enable the child to understand that he has an IDENTITY SEPARATE from that of others in his social world.
  • this recognition establishes the basis for the development of SELF-CONCEPT
  • the development of a sophisticated set of symbols (language) enables the child to communicate his THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS to others in his social world.
  • this ability establishes the basis for the DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS and the social cognitions and perceptions.