Spoken Language Development

Question 1

What is the purpose of child directed speech

Answer 1

• To attract and hold a child’s attention
• Help the process of breaking down language into understandable chunks
• Make the conversation more predictable by referring to the here-and-now.

Question 2

Phonological features of child directed speech

Answer 2

• Separate phrases more distinctly, leaving longer pauses between them
• Speaking more slowly
• Use exaggerated ‘singsong’ intonation, which helps to emphasise key words. Also to exaggerate the difference between questions, statements and commands
• Use a higher and wider pitch range
• Rising intonation

Question 3

Lexis and semantic features of child directed speech

Answer 3

• Use of concrete nouns (cat, train) and dynamic verbs (give, put)
• Adopt child’s own words for things (doggie, wickle babbit)
• Frequent use of child’s name and an absence of pronouns

Question 4

Grammatical features of child directed speech

Answer 4

• Simple constructions
• Frequent use of imperatives (bring, don’t, give, take)
• High degree of repetition
• Use of personal names instead of pronouns (e.g. ‘Mummy’ not ‘I’)
• Fewer verbs, modifiers and adjectives
• Present tense bias

Question 5

Pragmatic features of child directed speech

Answer 5

• Lots of gesture and warm body language
• Fewer utterances per turn – stopping frequently for child to respond
• Supportive language (expansions and re-castings)

Question 6

Other examples in child directed speech

Answer 6

• Deixis used to point child’s attention to objects or people
• Repeated sentence frames e.g. “that’s a ……”
• Use more simple sentences and fewer complex and passives
• Omission of past tenses, inflections (plurals and possessives)
• Use more commands, questions and tag questions
• Use of EXPANSIONS – where the adult fills out the child’s utterance
• Use of RE-CASTINGS – where the child’s vocabulary is put into a new utterance

Question 7

What are the four different grammatical stages

Answer 7

• Holophrastic stage
• Two word stage
• Telegraphic stage
• Post telegraphic stage

Question 8

Holophrastic stage

Answer 8

12 - 18 months, single words utterances, holophrases (These single words are called HOLOPHRASES. For example, the child may say “go” to mean “I want to leave now,” or “mine” to say “This is my toy and I don’t want you to play with it.”).

Question 9

Two words stage

Answer 9

Starts at around 2 years old, two word utterances, no inflections (the addition of endings to words to mark distinctions such as tense, person, number, gender, mood, voice and case). Pronouns are rare.

Question 10

Telegraphic stage

Answer 10

3 - 4 words utterances, grammatical items may be omitted, syntax is usually accurate.

Question 11

Post - telegraphic stage

Answer 11

More than 3 - 4 words utterances, more sophisticated constructions and noun phrase expansions present. (Adding more detail to the noun by adding adjectives). There may still be errors with pronouns, question formations, forming negatives, inflections all being used more.

Question 12

Bruner - Language acquisition support system

Answer 12

Bruner says that the LASS works in conjunction with the LAD. The scaffolding provided by adults allows the LAD to be triggered. Adults support linguistic development in social situations.
They point things out and ask questions - “what’s that? Is that a doggy?”

Question 13

LASS - Scaffolding

Answer 13

Linguistic support; adults provide child with conversational material and patterning.

Question 14

LASS - Proto conversation

Answer 14

A basic form of scaffolding before the child can perform as an effective producer of language; it can include non - verbal responses.

Question 15

LASS - framing

Answer 15

Conversation or making utterances that allow the child to fill in the blanks

Question 16

LASS - Recasting

Answer 16

The rephrasing and extending of a child’s utterance. E.g. Child: I want to eat. Parent: What do you want to eat?

Question 17

Grammatical features

Answer 17

• Types of sentences (interrogatives, also simple, compound, complex sentences).
• Omission of words - be specific
• Accuracy with pronoun usage
• Stages of negation and questioning
• Use of tense
• Noun phrase expansion
• Virtuous errors or overextension in inflections.

Question 18

Phonological development

Answer 18

Age 2 and a half - all vowels and 2/3 or consonants are mastered
Age 4 - difficulty with only a few consonants
Age 6 -7 - confident use.

Plosives and stops are easiest to use - p, b, t, k, d, g.
Fricatives are most difficult - s, sh, z, th, f.

Question 19

What are the different difficulties with production of particular sounds

Answer 19

• Deletion
• Substitution
• Addition
• Assimilation
• Reduplication
• Consonant cluster reduction
• Deletion of unstressed syllable

Question 20

Deletion

Answer 20

When children drop the tough sounds which they can’t yet pronounce.

Question 21

Substitution

Answer 21

Replacing tough sounds that they can’t pronounce with sounds they can produce.

Question 22

Addition

Answer 22

A child places an additional vowel sound on the end of words in order to create a consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel construction- as with ‘doggie’ and ‘mummy’.

Question 23

Assimilation

Answer 23

Assimilation occurs when a consonant sound starts to sound like another sound in the word (e.g. “bub” for “bus”).

Question 24

Reduplication

Answer 24

The repetition of consonants and vowels from one part of a word.
E.g. banana = ‘nana’, daddy = ‘dada’, mummy = ‘mama’.

Question 25

Consonant cluster reduction

Answer 25

Cluster Reduction occurs when a child simplifies a cluster of consonant sounds into a single sound or a more manageable combination of sounds. (e.g. “poon” for “spoon”, “tuck” for “truck”).

Question 26

Deletion of unstressed syllable

Answer 26

A phonological pattern where children will omit the weak or unstressed syllable in a multisyllabic word.

Question 27

Lexis and Semantics

Answer 27

• Hypernyms and hyponyms. A hypernym is a broad term for a group of products. A hyponym is a term for an item in the group that the hypernym describes.
• Content words, grammatical function words. Words like “of,” “the,” “to,”
• Use of concrete and abstract nouns
• Sophisticated and technical vocabulary
• Diminutive forms, proto - words
• Categorical over extension: the child applies the same word to all items within the same category.
• Analogical over extension: when a child makes connections between items that have similar characteristics e.g. calling socks, tea towels and oven gloves ‘blankie’ because they’re all made of fabric.
• Under extension: when a child limits the way a words is used and doesn’t recognise its full meaning.
• Mismatch statement: labelling an object completely different to what it is. e.g. calling a pond a duck.

Question 28

Pragmatics

Answer 28

• Does the child understand when to speak, how to respond to others and how to use appropriate register
• Halliday’s 7 functions: instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, heuristic, imaginative, representational.
• Who initiates the conversation, is there turn-taking or adjacency pairs?

Question 29

Halliday’s functions - instrumental

Answer 29

Child expresses their need e.g. “more food!”

Question 30

Halliday’s functions - regulatory

Answer 30

Child instructs someone to do something e.g. “give ball”

Question 31

Halliday’s functions - interactional

Answer 31

Child forms relationships with others e.g. “hello daddy”

Question 32

Halliday’s functions - personal

Answer 32

Child expresses emotions and opinions e.g. “carrots not nice”

Question 33

Halliday’s functions - heuristic

Answer 33

Child enquires about the environment e.g. “where is cat?”

Question 34

Halliday’s functions - imaginative

Answer 34

Child uses language during play e.g. “the monster is coming!”

Question 35

Halliday’s functions - representational

Answer 35

Child uses language to convey information e.g. “it is raining!”

Question 36

Declarative

Answer 36

Making a statement e.g. “I like cheese.”

Question 37

Imperative

Answer 37

A command e.g. “Remember…”

Question 38

Which theory would direct copying and correction of the child by an adult support

Answer 38

Behaviourism - Skinner

Question 39

Which theory would trial and error and virtuous errors support

Answer 39

Nativism - Chomsky

Question 40

A virtuous error

Answer 40

A logical error