The brain & language acqusition Flashcards
Broca’s area
“anterior speech cortex”, involved in the generation of spoken language
Wernicke’s area
“posterior speech cortex”, involved in the understanding of speech.
the motor cortex
an area that generally controls movement of the muscles. In the prt of motor context nest to broca’s area is the cortex that controls the muscles needed to produce speech (face, jaw, tongue)
the arcuate fasciculus
a bundle of nerve fibers that connect Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.
neurolinguistics
the study of the relationship between language and the brain.
Broca’s aphasia
- reduced amount of speech, articulaton and slow speech
- consists most of lexical morphemes
Wernicke’s aphasia
- difficulty in auditory comprehension (understanding)
- can produce fluent speech, but not make sense
- anomia occurs-uses strategies to explain
anomia
difficulty in finding the right word
conduction apahasia
- damage in arcuate fasciculus
- fluent, good articulation, BUT problems in repeating something. Heard can not be transferred to speech production area.
dichotic listening test
a technique that has demonstrated a left hemisphere dominance and word processing. left ear->right hemisphere, right ear ->left hemisphere
right ear advantage
an advantage in for the sounds heard by the right ear, because it is processed faster because reaches the left brain hemisphere first.
the critical period
the sensitive period for language acquisition.
when the brain is ready for input as a child. (birth-ca puberty)
cooing
- child doing vowel-like sounds. i, u, k, g.
babbling
2 ca 6-8 months
child producing dfferent vowels and consonants.
bababa, gagaga. badagaba.
the one-word stage
- ca 12-18 months
produce single units like cat, milk.
holophrastic speech
the one-unit stage. referring to a single utterance analysed as a word, phrase or sentence.
the two-word stage
- ca 1,5-2 yr
producing two word sentences. eg. big boat.
telegraphic speech
- 2-2.5 yr.
multiple-word speech. eg this shoe all wet.
preposition in on
order of starting to use morphemes and suffixes.
-ing
-s (plural)
-‘s (genetive)
(some irregular form, be)
-ed
Overgeneralisation
learns something -> starts using the rule in other situations.
over usage.
Overextension
overextending the meaning of the word as use that to refer to several other things.
the grammar-translation method
vocabulary lists, grammar rules, memorisation.
written language emphasised
= -may good L2, BUT ignorant of how the language really works and are spoken in everyday conversations.
the audiolingual method
emphasise spoken language
drills repeated in language labs.
= - isolated practice, no resemblance to interactional nature of actual spoken language use.
communicative approaches
(recent revision of methods)
function over form.
exercises builded on conversation and usage of language.
eg “guide the way”
affective factors
negative factors that can cause a barrier to language acquisition.
eg. self-consciousness, lack of interest for the language, dull textbooks.
transfer (crosslinguistic influence)
using sounds, expressions or structures from the dirst language when using the L2.
positive transfer
when a learner benefit from the transfer, helping the second language.
negative transfer (interference)
when the transfer is negative for the L2. (akes diffu=icult to understand) Greater when L1 and L2 are really different. also called INTERFERENCE
interlanguage
a form of middle language. containing features that neither L1 or L2 has. middle stage in the process of learning.
fossilisation
when a learner is stuck on a level in learning. and does not develop.
malapropisms
an incorrect word in place of one that has similar pronunciation.
spoonerism
transposition of the sound or syllable of two words. eg took shower -> shook a tower.
standard language
an idealised version, has no specific region.
eg standard American English, standard Britain English.
accent
description of aspects of pronunciation that identify where an speaker is from, regionally and socially.
