LEcture 4- Social contex of language experience Flashcards
environmental support that may be need for language acquisition
child directed speech
quasi-“conversational” interactions: early on parents will talk to kids as if they’re having a conversation, some thought that they may shape the kid to having future convos
joint attention to environment, they’re both paying attention to the same thing, where the parent can then teach the child: “look a cup!”
structured language situations: name games: “show me your nose!”
the biological capacity for language needs
environmental support!!
Kuhl, 2003
trying to teach infants new speech sounds in an unfamiliar language
only worked with a live speaker and a storybook: live social interaction is crucial for learning as an infant
Akhtar on learning from overhearing
kids are able to learn from overhearing a conversation that is not directed at them (sans social interaction)
helps if they are interested in what it is that they’re overhearing
Child directed speech
acoustic characteristics
higher pitch
bigger pitch variability
expanded vowel space: more vowels in a space, exaggerated vowels more than in adult directed speech, maybe making this really exaggerated version of speech makes it easier for them to learn
Babies dig it: even after 2 days, prefer CDS to ADS
many languages BUT NOT ALL
why Child Directed Speech?
better word learning, maybe because it captures their attention, which facilitates learning
6 months olds prefer happy adult directed speech than neutral CDS
Child directed Speech vs. Pet directed Speech
pet doesn’t show as much vowel expansion
“Conversational” Interactions
parents react to a child as though taking turns —> does this shape behavior?
- 3 months: kid does action, parent responds with speech sound - later, mom only responds to speechlike turns - around 1 year , mother reacts as though word being said
the amount of speech to a kids, predicts their later language ability
- socioeconomic status? can afford to spend more time with child? cause or effect? maybe it’s not the amount of speech, but the fact the child is growing up in an enriched environment.
Emergence of joint attention
lead-up
- around 6 months, interest in object
- parents may interact with kids not just by conversing, but by exploring objects at the same time
10 months: can look where the caregiver looks
- if moms comment on what both are attending to (“contingent comments”), better vocab
- better to follow kid’s focus (sensitive/responsive interactional style) vs. redirecting (intrusive/controlling style)
- styles vary across cultures
Structured Language Situations
highly structured games/situations can provide stable “formats” for language interaction
- these don’t happen in all cultures
“riding horsie,” “peek-a-boo”
reading books
- provides a format!
- good bonding time
- encourages literacy
Vocab development
around 8 months, many kids know mom/dad/name
Recent evidence of vocab development: Bergelson and Swingley, 2011
infants “know” certain words for food and body parts at 6 months: what does it mean?
- do they kinda sorta know what yogurt means? or what hand means? do they just know one word better than another? - what we can say: kids are beginning to recognize spoken words at an early age
infants exposed to a target word and then target image and then they averaged results of how often kids looked at the correct target image
- maybe you can PARTIALLY know a word: enough contextual cues to get it
word spurt
kids seem to produce new words each day all of a sudden
around 18 months - doesn’t happen for all children
around the time kids start really comprehending words
why it happens? kids are learning slowly all along, and then around this point the words reach “critical mass” and can be vocalized because we know they know those words well before they can say them
