Week 6 - Language Flashcards
language components
phoneme
morpheme
word
sentence
phoneme
smallest unit of language
individual sound elements
dog consists of 4 phonemes (d,o,g,s)
morpheme
smallest meaningful unit of language
word
consist of 2 words
dogs consist of 2 morphemes
- dog
- suffix “s”
sentence
combination of several words that creates meaning
morphology
set of rules governing the internal structure of words
how morphemes should be rearranged within a word
syntax
knowledge of how words can be combined into phrases and sentences
morphology and syntax together are known as
grammar
how many total phonemes
& how many on average are used in a language
200 total
40 used
prosody
melody and stress patterns of language
helps us to keep track of separate words (ie, voice high and low)
pragmatics
language hues
rules of how to use language according to the social and cultural context you’re in
meaning beyond words ie, sarcasm
basic understanding of structur eof
age 5
two requirements for language development
- human brain
- exposure to human language
internal factors that influence language acquisition
drive to communicate
“language acquisition device”
-> unique in humans
-> innate mechanism
-> ability to detect patterns
what side of the rain is set up for processing of language
left side
brocas area
production of language
wernickes area
comprehension of language
children who grow up in animal envi
learn sounds not words
genie example
locked down in a basement and not spoken to did not reach proficient language
infant directed speech
parents or care givers use to talk to their kids
core characteristics of infant directed speech
greater pitch variability
slower speech
shorter sentences
more word repetitions
more questions
exaggerated facial expressions
infant directed speech used to
- draw infants attention
- facilitate word learning
- not universal
what is the best moment in life to learn a language
5-7 years
is age or hours of learning more important
age
reasons for sensitive period (learning 5-7 years old)
- language related regions of the brain become less flexible overtime
- children learn differently (working memory)
- learning more about your first language makes it harder to also learn a second language
implications of this sensitive period in early childhood for language learning
- hard to learn multiple languages, but could be easier than being exposed at a later age because brain is more flexible
- parents can expose children to foreign languages
- young children learn more intuitively
- ie, deaf needs to be exposed young to learn asl
prenatal learning
learning starts even before birth: new -borns prefer their mothers voice
new borns prefer their mothers spoken language
what does speech perception start with
phonological development
distinguishing phonemes timeline
born with the ability to distinguish in all languages
during their first year of life babies specialize in distinguishing phonemes of their native language
= at the same time, lose ability to distinguish phonemes in other languages (perceptual narrowing)
language phonotactics
rules that govern the sequence of phonemes in a word
“ant vs atn”
distributional properties
which sounds often go together!
helps to identify where words end and start
head turn preference procedure
using green light
green fixation light draws their attention by a flickering light on right or left, and once kid turns head a sound is played
head turn preference procedure test
how long children keep their head turned to an auditory stimulus
babbling
start mouth movements to gain control over mouth movement
babbling 0-2 months
comfort sounds
babbling 2-3 months
phonetic sequences (cooing)
babbling 4-6 months
marginal babling
babbling timeline
6-1 months
sound sequences, blah,blah
babbling
cross cultural phonemes
some sounds are easier to produce and occur in more languages (ie, mama)
first words timeline
10-15 months
important, ie, mom
first 50 words timeline
18 months of age
infant directed speech
important for word learning
prosody
melody and stress patterns of language to stress new words
ie, i did NOT eat the cookie
children assumption when learnring new words
- mutual exclusivity
- whole object assumptions
- cross situational word learning
- objects that look the same must go by the same name
- mutual exclusivity
an object will only have one name
- whole object assumptions
a new word must refer to the entire object
- cross situational word learning
words that are linked to objects across situations are more likely to go together
synaptic bootstrapping
grammatical structure of sentences can be used to infer meaning of new words
children learn word meanings by recognizing syntactic categories (such as nouns, adjectives, etc.) and the structure of their language.
two errors in language production
overextension
under-extension
overextension
using word in broader context than appropriate “cat” is used to indicate all animals
under-extension
using word in more limited context than appropriate “cat” is only used to indicate own pet cat
words to language timeline
end of second year
wug test
researchers examine whether infants know-how to apply morphemes to words havent heard before
wug test finding
children 4-yo have internalized rules of english grammar and can apply them to made-up words
two thigns that make up grammar
morphology and syntax
morphology
set of rules govering internal structure of words
syntax
knowledge of how words can be combined into phrases and sentences
over regularization
tendency to apply regular grammar to irregular forms of words
*quite rare
ie, was (past tense vs plural)
pragmatic development
how language is used to communicate effectively and socially appropriately
pragmatic development develops
from concrete (naming, greeting) to more abstract (talking about past/future events)
pragmatic development strong links to
theory of mind and social cognition
nativist perspective
N. chomskry (LAD THEORY)
humans process universal structures underly all languages
humans are born with a language acquisition device
language all over world are similar
not all words are taught (generative language)
crisitism of native perspective
enviromental factors are also universal - all parents talk to child
language learning is also reinforced -> infant babbling increase parental interCTION (
