9: Language Development

All languages have these two commanlities

Infinite generativity + organization

Benefits of language

Time saving, specifies topics, sharing experiences and knowledges

Morphology categorizations

tense, number, plurals

Syntax has one commonality across all languages

We cannot process subjects and objects arranged in too much complexity

Semantics

Meaning of words and sentences (girl and woman share many semantics but semantically differ in terms of age)

Infant Language Steps

Cry (birth), Coo (2-4 mo), babble (6 mo)

Coo age range

2-4 mo

Babble age range

6 mo

Gesture age range

8-12 mo

Recognizing sounds of language age

0-6 mo

Recognizing dominant language

6 mo+

First understanding of words

5-12

What words do babies typically understand first?

Their names!

First spoken words age

10-15 mo (avg 13)

First spoken things typically are

important people, tyos, household items, body parts, concrete things/nouns

Receptive vocabulary at 13 mo

50 words

Spoken vocab

18 mo kids can speak 50 words

Vocab spurt

18 mo

2 word utterances

18-24 mo

Multiple word utterances age

2-3 y

Two word utterances depends on understanding of…

phonemes and semantics

Two word utterances lack

grammar

Multiple word utterances shows growth in

Morphology! (plurals, posessives, conjugations)

Early childhood language grows in

Syntax

How we learn words (broad terms)

Hear most often, interests, meaningful contexts

Pragmatics development

4-5

How do young kids show pragmatics

speak simpler to younger kids and longer sentences to older kids; can speak about FUTURE

Writing beginning

2-3 y

When can we make letters and short words

5

Adolescents show growth in

abstract thinking, metaphors, satire, context, pragmatics, dialect

Vocab and age

Can always increase just less fast, determind on education and experience

Is language set in adulthood?

Yes basically

Older adults have trouble

Retrieving (tip of tongue)

Why did we develop language over other species?

Nervous system, vocal cords, cognitive differences, teaching and social skills

Big picture language development

Comprehension comes before production

Language development milestones (infancy, 8)

Crying, cooing, universal sound recognition, babbling, native language tuning, gestures, first words understood, first words spoken

Language development milestones (early childhood)

understanding words, spoken words, vocab spurt, two word utterances, muti-word utterances

Language Rule development

morphology, early pragmatics, syntax, reading and writing, more advanced syntax and pragmatics