Topic 11: Language Development Flashcards
What is it called to think about language? and when does this emerge in children?
Metalinguistic skill.
Does not emerge in any sophisticated way until the child is about five years old
What is the Nativist view of language acquisition?
Based on Chomsky’s (1965) ideas. Knowledge of language structure must be innate as it is learnt so rapidly after birth. Biological adaptation for language that is hardwired into the
human brain.
What is the behaviourist view of language acquisition?
Language is learned from a rich language input and through basic principles of learning and reinforcement.
What is Lennenberg’s (1967) critical period hypothesis?
You can only acquire language in period from infancy to puberty.
Does Johnson & Newport’s (1989) data on Korean/Chinese immigrants to USA support the critical period hypothesis?
Data shows that adult language proficiency is linked to age of first exposure, not length of exposure. Children age 3-7 achieved a level of proficiency equal to native speakers. It does not fully support the hypothesis because if you are exposed to language at an older age it is still possible to acquire language, but not to the same degree of proficiency.
Case study that supports biological basis for language development (KE family)
Large UK family with unusual language condition: atypical verbal apraxia, which dominant gene that affected a significant portion of the family. Condition affected articulation, mouth movements and some verbal IQ. Shows evidence that there is not a gene for language but rather genetic modification that influences brain circuitry for learning
aspects of speech & language.
What are the characteristics of an infant’s first vocalisations? 2mths +
This is prior to babbling, infant will display reflexive vocalisations (cries, coughs) and protophones (vocal
noises)
What are the characteristics of an infant’s babblings age 6-9 mths?
Reduplicated babbling:
repeated use of a single syllable e.g /da/da
What are the characteristics of an infant’s babblings age 9-12 mths?
use different syllable combinations, modulation of pitch starts to mirror native language.
What are the characteristics of an infant’s babblings age 12+ mths?
Use of multiple syllables and mapping sounds to objects. Starting to use language in context.
What is the Continuity hypothesis in relation to babbling?
Babbling is a precursor of speech & language
(Vihman, 1985)
At 6mths, complexity of babbling and more consistent use of consonants predicts later language development.
What side of the brain is babbling associated with?
Left-hand side of brain
associated with babbling which is linked to the speech-motor circuitry.
What are proto-words?
Intermediate stage between babbling & well-formed speech. They are phonetically simple (e.g. /nana/ for banana) and are used to refer to something in the world.
Does babbling differ between languages?
Babbling is a universal feature of language development, the differences would be in the intonation and choice of syllables.
Study (Mandel et al. 1995) on infants recognition of own name.
Infants own name will be said frequently in social settings. Experimenters used a modified headturn preference to measure infant listening time to their own name vs name with same stress pattern vs different stress.
Results show early preference for own name around 4-5 mths.
