week 10 Language

Question 1

Define 5 components of language:

Answer 1

1.syntax-the rules of sentence structure
2.phonetics-the sounds of a language
3 morphology-words and components and their meaning
4.pragmatics-the social component
5.semantics-the meaning or interpretation

Question 2

List some contextual factors of language

Answer 2

1. tone-may indicate question/sarcasm etc
2. facial expression-may indicate understanding or not or mood etc
3. homophones-interpret which is by surrounding words

Question 3

define morpheme

Answer 3

the smallest component of a language which gives some meaning. eg. smallest words eg an, man etc, and also suffixes/prefixes eg dog(s) or walk(ed)

Question 4

Chomsky’s theory of language acquisitionis explained how?

Answer 4

Proposes we have a “language acquisition device”which is genetic. This gives us the ability to acquire language.

Question 5

Why do some theorists claim there must be a biological disposition for language?

Answer 5

Becuase infants just seem to pick it up without being taught.

Question 6

what are theorists who sit in between nativist (all nature) and empiricist(all nurture) called?

Answer 6

Interactionists

Question 7

stages of language development?

Answer 7

1. Pre-linguistic. 0-12months. Take-in-turn-babbling
2. Holophrase.10-13months. 1-word sentences. first words.some gestures
3. 2-word sentence stage.18-24months. content words . noun plus another word
4. Multiple-word-sentence-stage.24-36months. Start using function words and grammatical morphemes.
5. Create-more-complicated -sentences.3-5years.Sentences become virtually same as adult.

Question 8

a child repeatedly says “want cat”. What stage are they likely in?

Answer 8

2-word-sentence stage. 18-24months

Question 9

What evidence is there that children are learning language even prior to their first words?

Answer 9

1. produce babble which follows their language’s phonetic pattern
2. Make eye contact
3. produce take-it-in-turn-babble

Question 10

what are “in”,”at”,”whom”etc..When do they emerge in language development?

Answer 10

Function words.Have little semantic content (meaning) by themselves but indicate a grammatical relationship.
Used from 2 years of age.

Question 11

What area of the brain is confidently associated with language?

Answer 11

Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (and especially Broca’s area)(left frontal lobe)

Question 12

What component of language is associated with Broca’s area?

Answer 12

Syntax

Question 13

What component of language is associated with the temporal lobe (and especiallyWernicke’s area)?

Answer 13

semantics

Question 14

A patient presents with incoherent rambling (“word salad”).What region is likely to be affected?

Answer 14

Left temporal lobe (esp wernicke’s area)

Question 15

A patient presents with disjointed speech, dominated by unmodified verbs and nouns. what is likely wrong with them?

Answer 15

damage to Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (Broca’s area)