Lexical and Semantic Development - Lecture 3 Flashcards
Describe the rate of acquisition (5)
- End of first year: child begins to speak.
- 18 months: vocabulary of about 50 words.
- 2 years: vocabulary of about 200 words.
EXPLOSION!!! - 5 years: vocabulary of 2000 words.
- 7 years: vocabulary of 4000 words.
How many words are understood by 18 months?
250 words
Is a child aware of a new word’s full range of meanings?
No, more time is required to acquire this additional knowledge
What has research shown about a child’s first word?
There are predictable patterns in the words and word classes first acquired by children
What do a large proportion of a child’s first words refer to?(3)
- familiar people
- familiar objects
- Aspects of social interaction
When are abstract nouns used?
5-7 years
What are noticeably absent in the early stages of lexical acquisition?
Grammatical Function Words
Describe under extension (3)
- Common semantic error made by children.
- A word is given a narrower (under extended) meaning.
- ‘cat’ is the family pet, but not other cats
Describe over extension (2)
- Another common semantic error. Opposite of under extension.
- A word is given a broader (more general, over extended) meaning.
Give an example of over extension
‘daddy’ for all men, rather than just the child’s father.
‘dog’ for other four-legged animals.
Compare over and underextension
Over extension is more common
If you have a 50 word vocabulary, how much is likely to be overextended?
One third
At what age is there a marked decrease in the number of over extension?
Age 2 and a half
Why is there a marked decrease in the number of over extensions at age 2.5?
: child’s vocabulary is increasing rapidly, thus filling the gaps previously filled by overextended words.
What are the three stages that Aitchison 1987 describe? (3)
- Labelling
- Packaging
- Network Building
