week 4 Flashcards
What is the difference between input and interaction?
Input is the language forms the child hears, interaction is the way language is used in a conversation.
register
A distinct mode of speech.
ADS
adult directed speech
assimilation
Sounds take on each other’s acoustic propertes in certain respects.
For what reasons could CDS be categorized as a distinct register?
The /t, d and /n phonemes are more clearly pronounced, there are phonological adaptations.
MLU
Mean length of utterance
IDS
infant directed speech
SES
socioeconomic status
socioeconomic status
A variable that generally takes into account level of education, income and job prestige.
What is the effect of high levels of parent prohibition?
Relatively poor language growth, MLU and complexity of vocabulary.
What are some consequences of having talkative parents?
Children are more efficient at processing speech, develop larger and more diverse vocabularies
What role does imitation play in the acquisition of syntax?
None really, the object of imitiation is the product of syntax, the sentence, and not the grammatical rules themselves.
Operant conditioning
A form of learning studied by behaviourist. The child receives a reward every time it utters a correct sentence.
imitation
the reproduction of another person’s behaviour
mirror neurons
Neurons in the premotor cortex that discharge both when an action is observed and when it is performed.
What three factors require attention in the study of imitation?
1) the actors
2) the time lag
3) precision
What is the time lag in the study of imitation
The time between the model and the imitation.
What did the Twins Early Development Study find about imitation?
Good non-verbal imitators had higher vocabulary scores.
Nonword repetition task
Children are presented with a series of nonsense words and asked to repeat them.
What were the results of the nonword repetition task among 4, 5 and 6 year olds?
The ability to imitate words is highly correlated with their vocabulary level.
Recast
Adult imitations with minor adjustmnets
What is the prime function of recasts?
To maintain the flow of conversation with a partner who is cognitively or linguistically immature.
negative evidence
Information about what is not grammatical
direct contrast hypothesis
The prediction that the correct adult form is especially visible when it directly follows a child error.
Negative feedback
A form of corrective input where adults seek to clarify after a grammatical error.
CQ
error-contingent clarification question
error-contingent clarification question
Function as a form of negative feedback
prompt hypothesis
Predicts that negative feedback provides a cue that pushes their memory about language forms they have already learned.
How does Rosalind Thornton define elicited production?
As an experimental technique designed to reveal children’s grammars by having them produce particular sentence structures.
What is the important difference between elicited production and elicited imitation?
Elicited production does not model the structure, but only gives context and ingredients. Elicited imitation also models the production of the structure.
