W5 Flashcards
Holophrastic-
expressing a complex idea with a single word or phrase
telegraphic-
omitting inessential words from speech
overextension-
when a child uses a single word to refer to multiple objects or concepts
underextension-
a failure to use a word across its full adult range
Taxonomic assumption-
a word learning bias that children use to extend a new word to similar objects
U-shaped learning-
a learning pattern where a learner first learns something, unlearns it, then relearns it
child-directed speech-
the way a person’s linguistic characteristics alter when speaking to an infant
nativism-
the concept that mental capacities and structures are innate as opposed to being acquired by learning
fast mapping-
a theory of language wherein children learn new words quickly by connecting them to concepts or meanings
language acquisition device (LAD)-
a hypothetical tool in the human brain that lets children learn and understand language quickly
mean length of utterance (MLU)-
the average number of morphemes per utterance
what did Nadig and Sedivy (2002) find
children, at a young age, are able to use others’ perspectives to interpret language in ways that go beyond simple word meaning
outline babbling stage
- 4-9 months
- Meaningless, speech-like vocalisations
- Simple structure
- Change in sound discrimination skill
- first sounds are universal, then more language-specific
- not independent of later speech development
- phonetic content found in babbling overlaps with phonetic preferences in later meaningful speech
outline two word stage
- different from idiomatic (unanalysed chunks) expressions such as thank you
- most often nouns
- lack of grammatical markers
- beginning of syntax
- combining words together
out line one word (holophrastic) stage
- names and objects in baby’s life
- nouns- physical objects they can see, touch, eat
- easy to produce
- high in frequency
outline telegraphic stage
- 24-30 months
- 3-word expressions
- Very quick progressions
how is phonology established before birth
- Foetuses hear impoverished sounds in womb
- High frequencies are blocked by amniotic fluid, so can’t hear individual words
- Can hear prosody, including rhythm, stress, intonation, duration
what did DeCasper & Spence (1986) find
- 16 mothers read the cat in the hat 2x daily during final 6.5 weeks of pregnancy
- Tested when born
- New-borns preferred familiar story
- Can distinguish prosody
how do newborns react to sounds
- New-born- head turns to noise, is calmed by voice (prefers mother’s voice), can discriminate between many different sounds
what are types of child directed speech
- Phonological differences- slower, higher in pitch, exaggerated, intonation, clearly segmented
- Shorter and simpler sentences
- Lots of repetition of words
- More diminutives (kitty/horsey)- especially talking to girls, possibly helps with acquiring noun morphology
does child directed speech help
- Can facilitate language learning, but might not be essential for it
outline the behaviourist approach to speech acquisition
- Skinner
- Language is learned in response to stimuli
- Children learn language through imitation and reinforcement
- New-borns are blank state
issues with behaviourist approach to speech acquisition
- Issue of poverty of the stimulus- the input is degenerate (full of dysfluencies, mispronunciations) and insufficient (not enough examples exposed to in order to work out the underlying rules)
- Issue of imitation/reinforcement- this is not always done or followed. Children often use ungrammatical language they have never heard before. Parents rarely correct grammar
outline nativist account of speech development
- Language capacity is innate- language acquisition device
- Children do not need instruction, don’t rely on imitation or reinforcement
- Children worldwide learn grammar approximately at the same age- universal grammar
outline social approach to speech acquisition
- Language has a very social origin- focus on social interaction
- Adults are very important by modelling and explaining concepts
outline cognitive approach to speech acquisition
- Not only due to genetic predisposition or imitation
- Language is driven by cognitive development
- Children first need to develop mentally before language can develop
conceptual prerequisites for word learning
child needs to know basic ontological categories
linguistic prerequisites for word learning
child assumes word has meaning, mapping is symbolic, and mapping is consistent across time and speakers
whole object predisposition-
- assumes the word is a label that refers to the whole object, rather than its parts
shape bias-
extend names to objects that are similar in shape rather than similar in colour/texture/function, starts at 2 years
mutual exclusivity assumption-
an object can only have one label- assign a novel word to objects they don’t have a name for already
taxonomic assumption-
a novel word which refers to one thing can also refer to other similar things; leads to overextensions
basic level category assumption-
assume that a novel word refers to the basic level rather than the superordinate or the subordinate (eg dog- animal- poodle)
noun category bias-
nouns are easier and quicker to learn because they are conceptually easier
critical age hypothesis-
certain types of behaviour need to develop within a critical, sensitive period for it to develop normally
Lenneberg (1967), biological foundations of language says
- language is innate
- biological events related to language- can only happen during a limited period of maturation
how is syntax developed
by analysing both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences
how does Chomsky say language is acquired
- language acquisition is guided by an innate device called the LAD; this provides the rules and principles that allow a child to learn any language in the world
- no human culture on earth exists without language
- LAD tightly constrains what structures are acceptable
what is universal grammar
- Universal grammar (UG) has a limited number of principles common to all languages
- This defines the range of possible human languages
- The UG provides a limited range of parameters which can be set and explains why there is variation amongst languages
what is mean length of utterance used for
- Standardised assessment of a child’s syntactic and phonological development at a specific point in time
what can we conclude from Trusewell (frog on the box experiment)
- In adults, semantic context (one or two frogs) biases the interpretation of the ambiguous sentence
- if there are 2 frogs, then “on the napkin” is interpreted as modifier
- Children do not use this semantic context: “on the napkin” is always interpreted as destination
what is phonemic awareness
- This is children’s knowledge of the internal sound structure of spoken words
- A very good predictor of how quicky one learns to read
what are phonics used for
to teach children the relationship between the letters of written language and the sounds of the spoken language
what is fluency
- Ability to read a text accurately and quickly
