Language Development and Hearing Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering language development, theories, auditory perception, hearing loss, and comprehension strategies based on the lecture notes.

Language (ASHA, 1982)

A complex and dynamic system of conventional symbols used in various modes for thought and communication

4 symbol modes of language

Sound symbols (speech), written symbols (letters), manual symbols (sign language), iconic symbols (AAC devices)

Conventional (property of language)

Everyone in a community must agree on the same symbols; consistency is required for communication to work

Dynamic (property of language)

Language evolves/changes over time (e.g., new vocabulary from technology)

Rule-governed (property of language)

Language has rules that make expression grammatical/socially appropriate; makes language generative

Generative

The ability to produce/understand sentences never heard before, made possible by rule-governed language

Receptive language

The ability to comprehend/understand language

Expressive language

The ability to produce/speak language

Phonology

Sound system of a language; rules for combining sounds plus stress/intonation patterns

Morphology

Rules governing the use of morphemes in a language

Syntax

Rules for sentence-level structure; marks relationships between words/ideas (comes from Chomsky's Universal Grammar)

Semantics

The meaning system of language; includes the mental dictionary (lexicon)

Pragmatics

How we use the form and content of language (intention, body language, social appropriateness)

Form (Bloom & Lahey)

Category containing Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax

Content (Bloom & Lahey)

Category containing Semantics

Use (Bloom & Lahey)

Category containing Pragmatics

Phoneme

Smallest unit of SOUND in a language, distinct from other sounds

Morpheme

Smallest unit of language that expresses MEANING

Bound morpheme

A morpheme that must attach to a root word (e.g., -s, -ed)

Free morpheme

A root word that can stand alone

Inflectional morpheme

A bound morpheme that indicates verb tense or plurality (e.g., -ed, -s)

Derivational morpheme

A bound morpheme that is a prefix/suffix and can change word class (e.g., re-, un-, -ness)

Lexeme

The word form, including its phonological composition

Lexical information

The word form that includes the phonological composition of a word (the lexeme)

Conceptual information

The meaning associated with a lexeme

Lexicon

The mental dictionary

Phonology domain simple definition

The rules for combining sounds in a language / sound system

Morphology domain simple definition

The rules for forming words

Syntax domain simple definition

The rules for forming sentences

Semantics domain simple definition

The rules governing meaning - words and sentences

Pragmatics domain simple definition

The rules for the social use of language

Pragmatics example scenario

A 4-year-old struggles to maintain topic and frequently interrupts others

Phonology example scenario

A child deletes initial consonants, saying "at" for "cat" and "up" for "cup"

Syntax example scenario

A child says "Like I book?" (word order error)

Perlocutionary Stage

Birth-10 months; prelinguistic and UNintentional (e.g., burping, vocalizing with no intended message)

Illocutionary Stage

~10 months+; prelinguistic but INTENTIONAL (gestures, jargoning) without words

Locutionary Stage

~12 months+; intentional communication expressed WITH words; first words appear

Linguistic skill (Locutionary stage)

Development of phonology, syntax, morphology (done by age 8); semantics/pragmatics continue into adulthood

Metalinguistic skill

The ability to talk about and think about language; needed for humor, riddles, metaphors

4 domains of development

Cognitive, Motor, Social-emotional, Language

Jean Piaget (1954)

Viewed the child as an active participant in learning; believed cognition precedes language

Equilibrium

The balanced cognitive state a child works toward (Piaget)

Disequilibrium

Conflict created when a child encounters a novel experience

Adaptation

Restructuring knowledge to resolve disequilibrium and integrate new information

Assimilation

Incorporating new stimuli into EXISTING cognitive schemas

Accommodation

Creating NEW schemas when new stimuli don't fit existing ones

Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage

Birth - 2 years; constructs meaning by coordinating sensory experience with motor action

Piaget's Preoperational Stage

2 - 7 years; prelogical; growing vocabulary supports complex play/social language

Piaget's Concrete Stage

7 - 11 years; advanced/logical thinking applied to concrete problems

Piaget's Formal Stage

11 - 15 years; cognition fully developed; abstract thought and logical reasoning dominate

Object Permanence

Knowing objects exist even when not visible; related to symbolic thinking

Imitation (Sensorimotor achievement)

A successful language-learning strategy; starts motor, expands to speech

Reversibility

Ability to follow a line of thinking back to where it began (Concrete stage)

Seriation

Ability to mentally arrange elements in a series by size/value (Concrete stage)

Classification

Grouping objects by similarities (Concrete stage)

Gross motor development

Movements involving large muscles (trunk, legs)

Fine motor development

Movements involving smaller muscles (fingers, tongue)

Imitation of adult speech - 2 functions

Word Learning Strategy and Social Bonding Strategy

Nature View

Child is biologically 'wired' to acquire language

Nurture View

Observable, environmental factors explain language acquisition

Interactionist View

A hybrid of nature and nurture views

Noam Chomsky

Transformational Grammar; described the innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

The innate language component (Chomsky), armed with linguistic universals

Universal Grammar

Chomsky's theory explaining the rule system of syntax

Eric Lenneberg (1967)

Biological Bases theory; laid groundwork for language being biologically based

Critical period (Lenneberg)

Birth-3 years = the primary learning window for speech/language

Pinker & Jackendoff (2005)

Contemporary nature view; specialized language faculties trigger linguistic knowledge

Theory of Mind

Ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, knowledge) to others, different from your own

Limitation of Nature View

Caregivers DO respond to language errors; no clear critical period has been identified; LAD never found in the brain

MLU

Mean Length of Utterance

Brown's 14 grammatical morphemes

Used in Nature-view intervention to track syntax development

Shaping

Successive approximations to mature speech performance (behaviorist term)

Classical Conditioning (language)

Associations formed between arbitrary verbal stimuli and internal responses (e.g., baby cries, gets bottle)

Operant Conditioning (language)

A child's speech is shaped by differential reinforcement/punishment from caregivers

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

An outgrowth of operant conditioning; commonly used with children with autism

Limitation of Nurture View

Can't explain the complexity/speed of language acquisition or language disorders

Cognitive-Constructivist Model

Piagetian; direct relationship between cognitive achievements and later language attainments

Lev Vygotsky (1986)

Social-Cognitive theory; cognitive development results from interaction of innate skills + social experience

Private Speech

Dialogue between child/adult during a task; info stored and used to guide problem-solving (Vygotsky)

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Gap between what a child can do independently vs. with help from someone more skilled

Halliday (1975)

Described his son Nigel's nonlinguistic communication functions (satisfying needs, controlling others, etc.)

John Dore (1975)

Identified primitive speech acts at the one-word stage (labeling, answering, requesting, protesting, etc.)

Child-Directed Speech

Formerly 'motherese'; contextually redundant, perceptually salient speech that helps segment speech

Conductive system (ear)

Outer + middle ear; gathers sound and converts it to mechanical energy

Sensorineural system (ear)

Inner ear + auditory nerve; converts mechanical energy into an electrical impulse

Cochlea

Inner-ear structure that houses the organ of Corti

Organ of Corti

The organ of hearing, inside the cochlea

Prenatal auditory development

Week 5 - ear starts developing; weeks 26-28 - ear begins to function

Postnatal Auditory Stage 1

Birth - 6 months; learns sound encoding; must learn to listen selectively

Postnatal Auditory Stage 2

6 months - early elementary; selective listening develops further

Postnatal Auditory Stage 3

School age - adolescence; understands speech in background noise

Detection Level (listening)

Most basic level; ability to detect presence/absence of sound

Discrimination Level (listening)

Distinguishing between speech sounds; masters suprasegmentals then segmentals

Identification Level (listening)

Child identifies/labels items; requires auditory memory, attention, and closure

Comprehension Level (listening)

Comprehending speech/environmental sounds in all settings; ultimate goal of hearing maturation

Auditory memory

Recall of what was heard

Auditory attention

Ability to focus on the speaker to understand content/meaning

Auditory closure

Ability to fill in a missing/misspoken part of a word or message

Conductive Hearing Loss (CHL)

Damage in outer/middle ear; decreases loudness but clarity often stays intact

Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)

Damage to inner ear/auditory nerve; loss of sensitivity AND usually distortion