LCD 216 midterm

Communication

The sending and receiving of information, ideas, feelings, needs, and desires. An active process that involves encoding and decoding.

Language

A socially shared conventional system of arbitrary symbols organized according to basic rules that are common across all languages. 

Speech

The verbal expression of language.

Dynamic

Language is _______. It changes overtime.

Echolalia

The imitation of words, phrases, or whole sentences in the absence of an understanding their meaning.

Charles F. Hockett

(1960) Wrote “The Origin of Speech” detailing the 13 design-features of language, which separates human speech from other forms of animal communication.

Vocal-auditory channel

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Humans communicate by forcing air through their vocal folds.

• Benefit: leaves our hands free to do other things while we communicate.

Broadcast transmission & directional reception

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Speech radiates in all directions when produced and can be received by any listener in range.

• A listener can compare the loudness and timing of signals reaching each ear and determine the direction from which the sound is coming.

Rapid fading

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Speech signals are transitory (they do not linger).

Interchangeability

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Any human being can say anything said by any other human being (imitation).

Total feedback

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Human speakers can monitor what we say and how we say it.

• Understanding how speech feels.

Specialization

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Speech is specifically designed for communication and serves no other purpose.

Semanticity

One of Hockett’s design features. **

• Humans convey very specific messages with words having relatively stable relationships with the people, things, events, and concepts they represent.

Arbitrariness

One of Hockett’s design features.

• There is nothing inherent in a spoken word to account for its meaning.

• Advantage: no limit to how we use language to describe.

• Ex: there is no reason why a chair is called a chair.

Discreteness

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Each language is limited to a finite/discrete number of sounds.

• Each sound used in one or more human languages has very specific characteristics.

Displacement

One of Hockett’s design features. **

• Humans can talk about things distant in time and/or space.

Productivity

One of Hockett’s design features. **

• Humans have the ability to be creative in their communication efforts.

• We can say things we have never said before.

Duality of patterning

One of Hockett’s design features.

• Sounds can be combined in infinite ways to produce an infinite variety of words.

• Words can be combined into an infinite variety of sentences.

Traditional transmission

One of Hockett’s design features. **

• Speech is instinctive in humans.

• We have a genetic/biological capacity for language so powerful that few environmental factors can stop the acquisition of speech.

• The rate at which it’s required may affect its quality.

4 most important design-features

Semanticity, displacement, productivity, & traditional transmission.

Prevarication

Additional design feature not included by Hockett.

• The ability to lie.

Reflexiveness

Additional design feature not included by Hockett.

• Using language to analyze language itself.

Learnability

Additional design feature not included by Hockett.

• Any human language is capable of being learned equally (when it’s the 1st language).

6 steps/links in the speech chain

1. Speaker sorts through thoughts, decides which to express, and makes decisions about how to express them.
   

2. Speaker puts message into language form by going through lexicon to select appropriate words/grammatical structure.
   

3. Brain sends neural impulse instructions to the muscles of speech: the muscles of respiration, larynx, pharynx, and face.
   

4. Movements of the speech structures interrupt/constrict the flow of vibrating air from the larynx. Small pressure changes = sound waves, create compression.
   

5. Listener’s hearing mechanism activated as particles pump into eardrums.
   

6. Listener’s brain analyzes/interprets the neural impulses to recognize the speaker’s message.

1/2

Amount of world’s languages no longer learned by children.

Communicative competence

The degree to which a speaker is successful in communicating. Measured by appropriateness and effectiveness of the message. John Dore talks about it a lot.

Paralinguistic cues

• Nonverbal elements of communication that accompany spoken language:

• Suprasegmental features: Intonation, stress, speed, pause/hesitation.

Intonation

Pitch

Stress

Emphasis on certain words/syllables.

Nonlinguistic cues

Gestures, body language, facial expressions, posture, proxemics (use of space).

Metalinguistic codes

Abilities to talk about, analyze, think about, and judge language.

(Similar to reflexiveness - #15)

3 properties of language

1. Social/interactive tool.

2. Language is rule-governed: grammar, linguistic competence, linguistic performance.

3. Generative - productive; infinite # of sentences (similar to productivity - #11).

Grammar

System of underlying rules that describe relationships between symbols of a language.

Linguistic competence

Underlying knowledge of a language’s rules.

Linguistic performance

Linguistic knowledge in actual usage.

3 components of language

Form, content, use.

Lois Bloom & Margaret Lahey

The people who divided language into the 3 components in the 70s.

Parameters of form

Syntax, morphology, phonology.

Parameter of content

Semantics

Parameter of use

Pragmatics

Syntax

• Word order, sentence organization, etc.

• Nouns/verbs are main elements of a sentence.

• Specifies acceptable/grammatical word combinations.

• English = SVO (subject, verb, object).

• Some languages have much more free word order.

Morphology

• Internal organization of words.

• Consist of 1 or more morphemes.

Morpheme

Smallest grammatical unit capable of carrying meaning. Indivisible without violating the meaning of the word/producing meaningless units.

Free morpheme

Morpheme that can stand alone.

Bound morpheme

• Morphemes that must attach to a free morpheme.

• Prefixes & suffixes.

• Derivational or inflectional.

Derivational morpheme

Bound morpheme that can change word class (adjective → adverb).

Inflectional morpheme

Bound morphemes that do not change word class.

• Tense & plural markers (-ed, -s).

Phonology

• Structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds.

• Phonemes - smallest unit of speech sound. 43 in English.

• Distributional and sequencing rules that govern phonology.

Distributional rules

Rules that describe which speech sounds can be used in various positions of a word (ex: /ŋ/ never appears in the beginning of a word).

Sequencing rules

• Rules that say which sounds can occur in combination (ex: /d/ & /n/ cannot appear back to back in the same syllable).

• Address sound modifications that are made when 2 phonemes appear next to each other.

Semantics

• System of rules governing the meaning (content) or words/word combinations.

• Word meaning contains sematic features and selection restrictions.

• The more features words share, the more alike they are (synonyms).

• Semantic knowledge = rich vocabulary.

• Semantic meanings are more important than individual word meanings.

Semantic features

Aspects of the meaning that characterize a word.

Ex: for the word “mother,” semantic features contain “parent” & “female”.

Selection restrictions

Prohibit certain word combinations that would otherwise be meaningless/redundant.

Ex: “male mother” and “female mother” are redundant.

World knowledge

• A person’s autobiographical/experimental understanding of the world and their memory of particular events.

• Primarily verbal.

• Forms each person’s lexicon - mental dictionary.

• Word knowledge is based on world knowledge.

Pragmatics

• A set of rules related to language use within communicative context.

• Selecting appropriate linguistic form: “give me” vs. “may I have”.

• Speech act.

• Conversations are governed by the cooperation principles.

• The overall organizing principle of language, determining the other 4.

Speech act

• A statement/action that conveys meaning and must meet the following criteria for validity:

  • Involves the appropriate people/circumstances.

  • Complete.

  • Appropriate intentions.

• Can be direct or indirect.

• Can be literal or nonliteral.

Direct speech act

• A speech act clearly stated in the form of a command or request.

• Reflects syntactic form.

(ex: answer the phone).

Indirect speech act

• A speech act that has implied meaning, often used for politeness.

• Does not reflect syntactic form.

(ex: could you please answer the phone?)

Literal speech act

A speech act that means exactly what is said.

(ex: “it is raining” when it’s raining)

Nonliteral speech act

A speech act that conveys a different meaning, often through sarcasm.

(ex: “great weather we’re having” when it’s raining)

Cooperation principles

• Introduced by Herbert Grice in 1975.

• Governs conversations.

1. Quantity

2. Quality

3. Relation

4. Manner

Quantity

• Cooperation principle.

• Participants in a conversation should provide the right amount of information.

• Information should not be overly/lacking in detail.

Quality

• Cooperation principle.

• Speakers should always say what they believe to be truthful.

Maxim of Relation

• Cooperation principle.

• Contributions to a conversation should be relevant.

Maxim of Manner

• Cooperation principle.

• Each participant should be reasonably direct and non-ambiguous.

Video filming rules

• Monolingual speaker.

• 12-30 months old.

• Intelligible.

• Naturalistic play interaction, preferably in the home.

• Mom isn’t always the best choice for an interactor.

• Look at the total picture for context, not just the child’s mouth.

• Ask mom for their toy preferences & permission to bring materials.

• 100 utterances recommended. Can be of various lengths.

• Minimum of 30 minute tape length. Longer recommended.

• Collect at least 2 samples.

Good materials to have during language sample

Blocks, stuffed animals, make-believe toys, playdoh, bubbles, cars, puzzles, music, light-up toys, dolls, farm animals, ball, books.

CDI - words and gestures

• MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory.

• 8-16 months old.

CDI - words and sentences

• MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory.

• 16-30 months old.

• Looks at:

  • Vocabulary production

  • Grammatical development

  • Morphology

• Gives percentile scores, allowing comparison to same age peers.

Part 1 to CDI - words and sentences

A) Vocabulary production checklist, 680 words, semantic categories.

B) How children use words: tenses & objects/events.

Part 2 to CDI - words and sentences

A) Word endings (-s)

B) Word forms (nouns, verbs)

C) Over-regularizations (“goed” instead of went)

Q: has child began combining words? Only continue if yes.

D) 3 longest sentences they’ve said.

E) Sentence complexity. 2nd will be more advanced than the 1st.

Chronological age (CA)

• The actual age of an individual.

• Measured in months.

• Shows expectations for that age.

• Standardized tests use it to tell you where to start/stop and how to score.

• Requires birthday and date of session.

5 parameters of language

Syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics.

Development principles

1. Development is predictable.

2. Developmental milestones are attained at about the same age in most children.

3. Opportunity for development is needed.

4. Children go through developmental phases.

5. Individuals differ greatly.

Cephalocaudal progression

Motor development that proceeds from the head downwards.

4 areas of development

1. Physical/motor

2. Cognitive

3. Socioemotional

4. Communicative growth

Physical/motor development

• Developmental area.

• Physical growth and development of motor control.

Gross motor skills

• Larger movements of the body.

• Coordination of head, torso, and limbs.

• Crawling, walking, running, jumping.

Fine motor skills

• Smaller, more precise movements of the body.

• Coordination of fingers and hands.

• Grasping objects, writing, using utensils.

Cognitive development

• Developmental area.

• Intellectual growth.

• Organizing, storing, retrieving information.

• Problem-solving, reasoning, memory.

Socioemotional development

• Developmental area.

• Social skills and emotional understanding.

• Children become less egocentric as they grow older.

Communicative development

• Developmental area.

• Ability to use linguistic symbols (words & gestures) to communicate effectively.

• Depends on the attainment of certain motor, cognitive, and social abilities.

Newborn

Developmental title for 0-1 month olds.

Examiner

Developmental title for 1-6 month olds.

Experimenter

Developmental title for 7-12 month olds.

Explorer

Developmental title for 12-24 month olds.

Exhibitor

Developmental title for 3-5 year olds.

Expert

Developmental title for 6-12 year olds.

Newborn physical development

• Unable to control motor behavior voluntarily/smoothly.

• Involuntary motor patterns (reflexes).

  • Phasic bite & rooting reflexes.

Phasic bite reflex

Bite-release action when gums receive stimulation. Disappears around 3-4 mo.

Rooting reflex

Reflex where babies will turn their jaws when their cheek is lightly stimulated.

Newborn cognitive development

• Near-sighted at birth.

• See best at 7.5 inches away.

• Short-term visual memory if the object reappears within 2.5 seconds.

Newborn socioemotional development

• Comforted by the human voice.

• Smile is reflexive.

Newborn communicative growth

• Most sounds are reflexive.

• Fussing, burping, crying.

• Quasi-resonant nuclei (QRN).

Quasi-resonant nuclei (QRN)

• Vowel-like sounds with a brief consonantal element.

• May accompany feeding.

• Produced by newborns.

Examiner physical development

• Begin to examine surroundings, reach, and grasp.

• May be able to creep, roll over, and have head/neck control.

• If sitting, hands are free to examine objects.

Examiner cognitive development

• Visual memory extends to 3 hours.

Examiner socioemotional development

• Social smile (smile in response to familiar faces).

Examiner communicative development

• 2 mo search visually for their mother’s voice, not for strange voices.

• 5 mo can imitate general sounds and babble (single syllable units).

• Fully resonant nuclei (FRN).

Fully resonant nuclei (FRN)

• Full vowel-like sounds (aaaaaaa).

• Produced by examiners.