Module 5 Lesson 3 - Language

Question 1

What is language?

Answer 1

Language is the way in which we combine spoken, written, and signed words in order to think and communicate. It plays an important role in the human experience and connects us to others to influence the way we think.

Question 2

Language structure can be broken into …

Answer 2

Phonemes and Morphemes

Question 3

What are phonemes?

Answer 3

They are the most basic units of a language’s sound.
Ex. The word “BAT” has three phonemes. “B” “A” “T”. Each letter makes a distinct sound.

Question 4

What are morphemes?

Answer 4

The most basic units of a language that carries meaning.

Ex. The word “MILK” has 1 morpheme. The word cannot be broken down any further.

Question 5

What is grammar and what does it involve?

Answer 5

It is to help us understand each other as we speak. The system of rules involve syntax and semantics.

Question 6

What is syntax?

Answer 6

A set of rules used for combining words in a sentence. The rules may be different based on the language.

Ex. In English, we say the President lives in the “White House”, but if we were speaking Spanish, we would say that he lives in the “Casa Blanca” (literally “house white”).

Question 7

What are semantics?

Answer 7

They are a set of rules for gathering meaning from language.

Ex. adding -ed to a word makes the meaning of the word change from present tense to past tense.

Ex. “I painted her on the front porch.”

Question 8

What are the stages of language development?

Answer 8

Babbling stage
One-word stage
Two-word stage

Question 9

Describe the babbling stage of language development.

Answer 9

Begins at around 4 months; the infant starts to make random noises. At approximately 10 months, the infant will begin to babble in noises of the home language.

Question 10

Describe the one-word stage of language development.

Answer 10

Begins at around 12 months; the toddler will start using single words like “ball,” “dog,” “mine,” etc… By 18 months, a toddler’s vocabulary has grown tremendously.

Question 11

Describe the two-word stage of language development.

Answer 11

Begins at around 24 months; the child is now using syntax rules when combining two words; nicknames “telegraphic speech” because it is short and choppy like a telegraph.

Ex. “Hold you” or “Go out”

Question 12

What are the two language acquisition theories?

Answer 12

B.F. Skinner - Language is learned
Noam Chomsky - Language is innate

Question 13

What did B.F. Skinner believe about language acquisition?

Answer 13

Language is learned
The principles of association, imitation, and reinforcement are incorporated
Language acquisition takes nurture

Question 14

What did Noam Chomsky believe about language acquisition?

Answer 14

Language is innate
Our brain is a language acquisition device
Language acquisition is in our nature
Universal Language and Overgeneralization help prove that we are born with the wiring for language.

Question 15

What is universal grammar?

Answer 15

This means that all languages, no matter where they are spoken, have the same building blocks: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, etc…

Question 16

What is overgeneralization?

Answer 16

This means that young children will use logical grammatical rules when speaking; even when some words don’t follow the grammatical rules. We did not teach them to say words incorrectly - they misapplied the rule.

Ex. “I goed to the bathroom” or “I holded the dog.”

Question 17

What was significant about Benjamin Worf’s studies

Answer 17

He spent time learning the Hopi (indigenous group) way of life and found that their language did not have words to describe the past tense. This meant that they never spoke of the past. If they couldn’t talk about the past, how did it exist in their minds? From this, Worf created the “Worf’s Hypothesis,” otherwise known as linguistic determinism. This means that language does influence the way we think.

Question 18

What is linguistic determinism?

Answer 18

It relates to the Worf’s hypothesis, which means that language does influence the way people think.