Normal Language Development Flashcards
What is language?
Language is the comprehension and/or use of a spoken, written, other communication symbol system.
Language is a code whereby ideas about the world are expressed through a conventional system of arbitrary signals for communication.
Language is used to communicate
- Prime means of intentional communication
- Speech is the most common
- Language takes into account environmental factors
- Allows flexibility with communication
According to Lahey, language expresses ideas. How?
- Language expresses the individual’s beliefs and desires
- Perception plays a big role
Language is a code. What is a code?
- A code is means of representing one thing by another
- Language is a means of representation
- Many things can represent an object, event or relationship
There are two things happening in relation to language as a code. It is encoding and decoding. What is encoding?
This is the act of recalling and combining the unit of the code to represent information in a message.
Ex. Arranging words in a sentence to communicate
What is decoding?
The act of recognising and segmenting the unit of a code to extract information from a message
The code is a _________ (following specific rules at word and sentence level)
The code is a system, because language is systematic. It follows specific rules at word and sentence level.
The code is a _________ (shared knowledge)
Convention. The speakers in a language community agree on such matters.
Social reasons > logical/empirical. So language is shared knowledge.
What are the components of language?
Content, form, use
What is language content? Compared to topics it is?
- Linguistic expression of what we have in mind.
- Comes from our memories and experiences
- Consists of topics but broader than topics
- Categorizes them into general meanings
- General, depersonalized, independent of particular context. General (e.g., food items). Changes with development.
Example: Mommy’s coat. What is the content?
Possession
Example: Eating ramen
Action
Topic: Red ball
Attribution
What are the primary categories of content?
Object knowledge, relationship between objects, relationship between events
What is object knowledge? What are its 2 subdivisions?
- Information about an object.
- Particular objects (proper nouns) (e.g., Alea)
- Classes of objects (common nouns) (e.g., SLP, mice,)
What subdivisions and their content categories are under object relations?
- Reflexive- relationship with itself
- Existence, non-existence, recurrence (e.g., more cookie) - Intraclass- how are they different from one another
- Quantity, attribution (e.g., red dog, blue dog) - Interclass- objects from diff classes which are related to each other. Two different things are linked by something
- Action, possession (e.g., mommy coat–they have a possessive relationship with each other)
What content categories are under event relations? What is event relations?
- Describe how two events interact with each other.
- This could be because two events of the cause and effect relationship, or pertain the mood of the speaker towards the event, etc.,
- Time/Temporal, causality, state, epistemic
What is the language form?
The shape or sound of the units, and combination in a message
What are the three broad categories under language form?
Phonology, morphology, syntax
What is phonology?
The shape or sound of the units and combination in a message
What are the two main areas under phonology?
Segmental features
Suprasegmental features
What is a segmental feature?
Phonemes, syllable (e.g., /p/ - phoneme, /ba/ - syllable)
What are suprasegmental features?
Intonation, stress, pause
What is morphology? What are morphemes?
- It is the study of the internal structure of words and parts
- Morpheme is the smallest segment of speech that carries meaning
What are morphological units?
Words.
They are content words (e.g., building blocks in a sentence such as nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.,) and function words (e.g., articles, auxiliary verbs)
What are grammatical inflections
Modulates meaning of a word according to time (played), number (boxes) relation (Mama’s)
What is syntax?
Syntax is an arrangement of words according to the meaning relations between them.
There are syntactic relations. What are they?
- Linear structure (e.g., more ball) - two or more words are combined but the lexical meaning of the words are the same, whether together or not.
- Hierarchical structure (e.g., mommy hugged the baby) - If you were to switch them around, they would have a different meaning (e.g., baby hugged the mommy–the baby becomes the agent while the ‘mommy’ is the affected person.)
What is language use? Also known as?
Also known as pragmatics.
Use of language for different goals/functions
Use of information from the context to determine what we say in order to achieve goals
Use of interaction between persons to initiate maintain and terminate conversations
What are the 2 main functions of language use?
- Personal (Intrapersonal) - Very self directed (e.g., commenting on objects–that’s kind of nice)
- Interpersonal (Social) - Involving someone else to use language (e.g., requesting object)
This helps us decide which form of message to serve as function of message
Context–speech occurs in a context
Within this context, that’s when we practice our social conversation skills, so our social conversation skills is our ability to?
Initiate, maintain, and terminate conversation
Changes depending on status relations between speaker and hearer
What is the non-contingent in use of language?
A new topic that is not related to what has been said. A form of message not influence by what is said–open a conversation, change topics
What is contingent?
Repeat and add more information
What is speech act theory?
A subfield of pragmatic that studies how words are used not only to present information but also to carry out actions
What are the kinds of speech acts?
Locutionary act
Illocutionary act
Perlocutionary act
What is a locutionary act?
- Production of a meaningful linguistic expression
- Act of saying something that makes sense
- Follows rules of language and grammar
Example: Answering a question, asking a question, making a statement
What is an illocutionary act?
- Intended to be performed by speaker whether or subtle way or in a less subtle way
Key word: Intention
What is a perlocutionary act?
- Has an effect on the speaker
Key word is the effect. Bring consequences or effects on the object (e.g., Oh no, I fell, a baby crying–the effect is us rushing to the baby to help him/her)
What is the overlap between the three areas refers to our knowledge of language?
- Integration of CFU aka Language Competence
- Can be conceived as a plan
- To know language is to have a plan, to use the plan when we act (e.g., speak and interpret messages)
Language competence is a plan
What is the smallest unit of language with meaning?
Morpheme
Obtain information falls under what function of use of language?
Interpersonal - interact with another person
The phrase “yellow dog” depicts what primary content of language?
Intraclass
What are the domains of language? Describe them one by one.
Phonology - this domain focuses on the sound system of a language, including phonemes, how they are combined into syllables and words
Morphology - this domain deals with the structure of words, including morphemes and how they are combined to form words
Syntax - this domain governs the rules for forming sentences, including word order, phrase structure, and sentence types
Semantics - This domain focuses on the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, including their literal and figurative meanings and how they relate to the world
Pragmatics - This domain deals with how language is used in context, including social cues, non-verbal communication, and the speaker’s intentions
Language is an innate ability of humans or a function of an individual’s environment
Nativist–Nature
Environment as a critical factor in language development, tabula rasa
Empiricist
According to him, language is an innate fundamental part of the human genetic make-up and that language acquisition occurs as a natural part of the human experience.
Noah Chomsky
Under the nativist theory. This the mental capacity of an infant to acquire and produce language
Language acquisition device
What are the clinical implications of the nativist theory? What are its limitations?
The child being able to acquire language outside of therapy
Limitation: does not explain why some children have difficulty learning language without external assistance
According to this person, language is produced when it is reinforced. Learning occurs when an environmental stimulus triggers a response or behavior.
B.F. Skinner–Behaviorist Theory
What is reinforcement?
Reinforcing the child’s behavior makes it more likely to appear again
What is negative reinforcement?
Taking away something that is unpleasant
What is punishment?
Used to decrease behavior
Put something unpleasant
Positive punishment (e.g., putting sad sticker, adding a negative stimulus)
It’s taking away something that you like. What punishment is this?
Negative punishment
What is chaining?
- Complex behavioral sequences get broken down into smaller units. One chain is turning on the water, another chain is to use soap
When a child’s response is not reinforced it will decrease or disappear
Extinction
What are the clinical implications of the Behaviorist Theory ?
- Drills and practice activities
- Focuses on observable and measurable behaviors
- Demands that child’s responses are documented and ongoing progress monitoring
Limitation for Behaviorist Theory?
- Not comprehensive
- Children producing utterance they haven’t heard or without reinforcement
According to him, children actively participate in the language learning process.
Jean Piaget
What is the constructivist theory? What does it link?
Children actively participate in the language learning process.
- Cognitive processes are innate but not language–you have to work for language.
- Symbolic properties of language to represent conceptual knowledge about the world.
- Specific cognitive achievements are required for linguistic development (precursors).
- Linkages between: motor ability, play behavior, and language development
This is a research-based scale that describes symbolic play development as it correlates to typical language development through the the first 5 years
Westby’s Play Scale
According to Piaget, Play is cognitive development. What theory is this?
Constructivist theory
This is a concept, mental category, or cognitive structure; it is our understanding of something in our brain.
Schema
The attempt to find a balance between assimilating new information into old schemata and developing new schemata through accommodation. This balance is called
Equilibrium
As a child recognizes that two schemata are contradictory, disequilibrium occurs. Promoted higher thinking.
Disequilibrium
What is symbolic play?
Symbolic play is evidenced when a child uses one object to represent another
What is object permanence?
When they realized that an object exists even when they cannot see it
This is when a child demonstrates intentionality; it occurs when the child identifies a problem and makes a plan to solve the problem
Means-end
What is unoccupied play?
Children’s behavior seems more random and without a specific goal. This is the least common form of play.
What is solitary play?
Children play by themselves, do not interact with others nor are they engaging in similar activities as the children around them.
What is onlooker play?
Children are observing other children playing. They may comment on the activities and even make suggestions, but they will not directly join the play.
What is parallel play?
Children play alongside each other, using similar toys, but do not directly act with each other.
What is associative play?
Children will interact with each other and share toys, but are not working toward a common goal.
What is cooperative play?
Children are interacting to achieve a common goal. Children may take on different tasks to reach that goal. (e.g., Hide and seek, basketball)
What are the clinical implications of constructivist theory?
- Practitioners observe children’s play behaviors to gauge children’s general cognitive ability and level of representational thought
According to him, language is a means of making social connections and communicating ideas. A child’s interactions with adults and more able peers as the key to their overall development.
Lev Vygotsy
What are the terms related to social interactionist theory?
Infant-directed talk
Scaffolding
ZPD
What is infant-directed talk? Also know as?
- Refers to the characteristics of child-directed communication that enhance an infant’s ability to learn language.
- AKA motherese
What is coordinating attention? What theory is this under?
- Adults follow an infant’s focus of attention and match their communication to the child’s eye gaze.
- Social interactionist theory.
What is scaffolding?
Scaffolding refers to adult support that allows a child to engage in a challenging activity (e.g., modeling the correct response.)
What is ZPD (Zone of proximal development)?
The ZPD is the competence that a child demonstrates with minimal assistance.
What are the clinical implications of social interactionist theory?
The theory encourages the incorporation of children’s caregivers into intervention programs and to work with children in their homes and classrooms to build social interactions.
What is the emergentist theory?
- Language learning is an interconnected system that involves more than a person’s genetic makeup, environment or the neural connections that develop as a child is exposed to the environment
- It is a complex open system where the child’s biology must adapt to the environment
- The child must be an active user and processor of language input.
What age is the baby expected to coo?
3 months
What age is the baby expected to babble?
6 months
What age is the baby expected to imitate?
9
What age is the baby expected to have 1-2 words
12 months
What is discourse? It must have?
- Discourse is a structural unit larger than the sentence.
- So, it involves more than one sentence. These sentences must be contingent and coherent.
Functions children are able to use by the time they begin discourse
- Instrumental (Requesting for items)
- Regulatory (Giving commands e.g., open the door)
- Interactional (Social interaction e.g., hi, hello)
- Personal (Expressive yourself e.g., i really like this)
- Heuristic (Asking information)
- Informative (Providing information)
- Imaginative (Saying stories e.g., I had a dream last night…) (I R.I.P HEAVEN IS INEVITABLE)
What are narratives?
- According to Engel, it is an account of experiences or events that are temporally sequenced
- What we use to understand, remember, and recount experience (Franke, 2006)
What are Applebee’s Six levels?
- Heaps (2 years)
- Sequences (2-3 years)
- Primitives (3-4 years)
- Unfocused Chains (4-4 ½ years)
- Focused chains (5 years)
- True narratives (6-7 years)
What is chaining?
- When the story develops a sense of time.
- There is an order that occurs: temporal or logical order
- Sequencing of events that share attributes and lead directly from one to another
What is centering?
- Parts of the story cluster around a central idea
- Links may be based on: similarity (perceptual observed attributes) and complementary (abstract, logical attributes)
What is heaps?
Occurs at 2 years old
- Collection of UNRELATED ideas
- NO relationship or organization
- Child switches between topics freely
- Present progressive or present tense
- No centering or chaining
What are sequences?
2-3 years
- Includes: character, topic, OR setting (only one of these)
- Elements are linked by arbitrary commonalities
- Usually no ending
- There is centering but no chaining
What are primitive narratives?
3-4 years
- Character, topic, setting, more than one
- Child interprets or predicts
- Recognition and labeling facial expressions, body posture
- Sentences linked to main theme but not each other
- There is centering but no chaining or plot
What’s unfocused chains?
4-4 ½ years old
- No central character or topic
- No plot or story theme
- There is sequence of events
- Events linked in logical or cause-effect relationships
- Seldom produce by children
- There is no centering but there is chaining
What are focused chains?
5 years
- Central character and logical sequence of events
- No strong plot
- Weak or no ending
- Characters and actions seldom lead to attainment of goal
- There is centering and chaining
What are true narratives?
6-7 years
- True plot, character development, sequence of events
- Focused on incident
- Problems resolved at the end
- Intentions or goals of characters dependent of attributes and feelings
- There is centering and chaining
What are the story grammar elements?
- Setting
- Initiating event or problem
- Internal response
- Attempt
- Consequence
- Resolution
- Ending
What are the four major aspects of communicative competence?
- Developing speech acts
- Emerging conversational skills
- Adjusting language to social context
- Extended discourse
