CLA ALL THEORISTS AND TERMS

Pre-birth

Before a baby is born, it will recognise its mother voice due to pitch and intonation

(Centre of pre-speech development and developmental disorders Germany studied the cry "melodies" of 60 healthy babies, 30 French, 30 German, French speakers typically raise pitch at the ends of words, Germans lower pitch at end of words, Babies cry melodies reflected this)

Pre-verbal Stage

A period of time that involves experimenting with notes/sounds but without producing recognisable words (usually for the majority of a babies first year)

Stages of pre-verbal

CRYING

from birth

Stages of pre-verbal

COOING

2 months

not yet forming recognisable letters

experimenting with noise

Stages of pre-verbal

LAUGHING

4 months

Stages of pre-verbal

BABBLING

6 months

vocal play forming vowels and consonants

sounds like a different language

Stages of pre-verbal

REDUPLICATED BABBLING

Appears first and consists of a child making the same sounds over and over (e.g. bababa)

Stages of pre-verbal

VARIEGATED BABBLING

emerges later and involves variation in consonant and vowel wounds being produced

doesn't yet resemble words (e.g. daba)

Holophrastic Stage

12 months

when a child uses one word to communicate to deliberately try and convey meaning (this makes it different to babbling)

Holophrase

one word utterance

Two-word stage

18-30 months

Children begin to combine words to form two word utterances and learn that everything has a name and they can learn

non-verbal communication becomes less important as grammar begins to be understood

Segmenting Language

Segment

To be able to perceive the boundaries between words - this skill is gradually acquired

Segmenting Language

Gestalt expression

Compressing a string of words into single utterances as they have not been able to segment (e.g. "what's that?" becomes "wassat?")

(backed by Tomasello and Ibbotson)

Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

BROWN

How long a childs speech is, measure based on morphemes (smallest unit/ 'version' of word)

Man sit colouring books

'Man' = 1 morpheme (word cant go smaller)

'Sit' = 1

'Colouring books' = 4 (colour, ing, book, s)

SO, the MLU for child is 3

Reduplication

Repeating a word or syllable

(e.g. choo choo, snow-ow-man)

Diminutive / Addition

Adding a suffix to a word so it ends with a vowel sound

(e.g. dog becomes doggy, doll becomes dolly)

Deletion

Removing a sound from a word, usually at the beginning or middle

(e.g. cat becomes at, helicopter becomes copter)

Consonant cluster reduction

A type of deletion where a consonant is removed from a group of consonants

(e.g. squirrel becomes skirel, toast becomes toat)

Metathesis

Swapping sounds in a word

(e.g. animal becomes pronounced like aminal)

Substitution

Swapping a sound for another usually easier to say

(e.g. yellow becomes lellow, mirror becomes miwer)

Assimilation

A type of substitution where the sound swapped is already in the word

(e.g. yellow becomes lellow, rabbit becomes babbit)

Fis Phenomenon

Berko and Brown (1960)

The idea that children can't hear that they are mispronouncing themselves

(e.g. Child says 'fish' as 'fis'

"Is this your fis?" - No

"Is this your fish?" - Yes)

Underextension

A child knows a word/thing but they can't apply it to anything outside of what they know

(e.g. they know their shoes are shoes, but if you pointed to someone else's shoes they wouldn't know it was shoes)

Overextension

When a child overuses a word

(e.g. they know their dad is called dad, so now every other man is also called dad)

Hypernym

A general word representing an overarching category

(e.g. flower is a hypernym for rose, daisy, etc)

Hyponym

A specific word within a broader category

(e.g. rose, daisy etc are hyponyms of the hypernym flower)

Scaffolding

Support provided to language learners during the process of language acquisition

Infant language functions (DORE)

FUNCTIONALISM

Labelling (naming or identifying objects, people, or experiences)

Repeating (echoing something said by speaker)

Answering (Giving direct response)

Requesting action (demanding food, drinks, toys)

Calling (attracting attention by shouting)

Greeting (saying hello)

Protesting (objecting to requests)

Practicing (using and repeating language without adult present)

Slot and Frame Construction

Children learn daddy go work

And they then learn they can substitute other words

Like mummy go work

Don't necessarily understand grammar, just word replacing

Operant Conditioning

A positive or a negative response given by a caregiver can influence the way in which a child talks on future occasions

Positive Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement

Encouraging or establishing a pattern of behaviour by rewards and praise

and

Stopping a child from repeating a mistake through correction, punishment, ignoring or a denial of wants (eg. being told off for forgetting 'please')

LAD (Language Acquisition Device)

1. Baby is born with an innate knowledge of language so already knows linguistic rules

2. Baby hears examples of his/ her native language

3. The linguistic rules help Baby make presumptions about the language it is hearing

4. From these estimations and presumption Baby works out grammatical sets of rules. As more language is heard the grammar becomes more and more like adults

Critical Period Hypothesis

The crucial time to acquire a first language; if language input does not occur until after this time, the individual will never achieve a full command of language, especially grammatical systems

Interpersonal Speech

Also termed social speech, this is external communication used to talk with one another.

Intrapersonal Speech

Also termed private speech, this is communication that a person directs at themself - typical from age 3.

Silent Inner Speech

What happens when private speech is internalised - typical at around age 7.

Intentional Reading

When language is spoken, the child understands the meaning and intentions around them from the language and gestures being used (eg. children identify the words communicating the most meaning and use these in the holophrastic stage)

Constructions

Chunks of language (such as slot and frame)

Gestalt expression

Compressing a string of words into a single utterance as they have not been able to segment (eg. 'what's that?' = 'wassat?').

Virtuous Errors

Errors in morphology that have some underlying logic to demonstrate that learning has taken place

Typically it will be if the child has applied a regular rule but it is irregular in this instance

Examples:

I runned

There was 3 mans

This goody is more braver than that one

Nelson (1973)

60% of a child's first words are nouns

John Braine (1973)

Usage based

Children use patterns of two-word utterances that seem to evolve around certain key words, this is called a pivot schema - children use certain words as 'pivots' to generate utterances.

e.g. "allgone": "allgone dinner", "allgone milk"

the pivot here is "allgone"

Brown's stages (1973)

Stage one

- between 12-26 months, children are expected to have MLU's of about 1.75 so not everything they say will be two words

Stage two

- Increased use of grammatical structures

Two Types of overextension (CLARK)

1. Semantic Features Hypothesis

The idea that overextension is based on features such as size and colour

(e.g. if they know a dog has four legs and is fluffy, they would see a cat which also has four legs and is fluffy and also call it a dog)

Two Types of overextension (CLARK)

2. Functional Similarities Hypothesis

Overextension is based on function

(e.g. everything that holds liquid is a cup)

Three types of overextension (RESCORLA)

1. Categorical Overextension

When a child mixes up hypernyms and hyponyms, though this stops when other hyponyms are learnt

(e.g. a child knows a banana is a fruit, so every fruit is also called a banana)

Three types of overextension (RESCORLA)

2. Analogical overextension

Based on properties, Clarks two ideas put together, 15% of overextension is analogical

(e.g. everything fluffy is a dog)

Three types of overextension (RESCORLA)

3. Mismatch statement

A child makes links that aren't necessarily obvious, abstract links

(e.g. their dad is always in the study, so they study is also called dad. their dolly is always in its crib, so even when the doll isn't in the crib the crib is called dolly)

Behaviourism

All behaviour is learnt

Behaviour stamped in through classical conditioning and operant conditioning

B.F. SKINNER (1957)

BEHAVIOURISM

Behaviour is learnt through positive and negative reinforcement

Children acquire language by imitating and repeating what they hear

Skinners rat

(e.g. if a baby says milk and they are given milk, they will be encouraged to do this again)

A. BANDURA (1989)

BEHAVIOURISM

Social learning theory/neo-behaviourism

Children choose to imitate behaviour, cognitive processes considered (bobo doll experiment)

Observation, imitation, production, motivation

Limitations: Ignores bio factors, cant generalise theories to children

NATIVISM

The linguistic approach of explaining language development through the genetic and innate ability to speak, as well as the biological need for it

There is a natural system for grammar which guides the way that children learn language

CHOMSKY (1950s)

NATVISM

Rejects Behaviourism as a cause for language learning

Innate language acquisition device (LAD) that helps children to develop and recognise grammatical structure and form their own rules and language

PINKER

NATIVISM

Humans are born with innate ability to learn languages - language is biological rather than an instinct

He explored language as a unique learning ability and as a survival mechanism, just like spiders having webs and wolves having their packs

Supports: Children in different cultures show similar development of languages in pre-verbal stage

Refutes: Mainly theoretical with no hard evidence, he hasn't studied children

E. LENNENBERG

NATIVISM

Critical period hypothesis (CPH) language acquisition occurs during a specific window.

Occurs before puberty where language is acquired fluently.

Language acquisition is biologically determined, language is an innate human capacity

Support: Oxana Malaya and Genie

Oxana Malaya (1983 - present)

Ukrainian girl neglected in early childhood and lived among dogs from ages 3-8. As a result she adopted many canine behaviours.

After rescue, she had education and therapy but had stunted cognitive, emotional and speech development - missed critical period for language acquisition.

Genie

A girl who was locked up for 14 years and when she was found, she had missed the critical period where she could have learned language so she could not speak and was extremely socially capacitated.

Cognitivism

Children's language development is based on brain development

HALLIDAY (1975)

FUNCTINOALISM

7 functions of language...

1. Instrumental- used to fulfil needs or desires

2. Regulatory- used to control the behaviour of others

3. Interactional- used for social interactions

4. Personal- used to express personal feelings

5. Heuristic- used to explore and learn about the environment

6. Imaginative- used to create and express imaginative ideas

7. Informative- used to convey informative

PIAGET

COGNIVITISM

Children need certain mental abilities (schema formation, assimilation and accommodation, equilibration) before they can acquire particular aspects of a language.

Until 18 months, children are ego-centric, and after this they realise things have object permanence.

Four developmental phases:

1. Sensorimotor​

2. Pre-operational

3. Concrete operational​

4. Formal operational

For: Children's thinking does limit their language development

Against: People with learning difficulties are still linguistically fluent

Sensorimotor​ (Piaget)

From birth - 2

Infants learn about the world through motor actions (e.g. grasping)

They begin to achieve objects permanence and goal directed behaviour

Pre-operational (Piaget)

Ages 2 - 7

Children can think symbolically and engage in make-believe play which is crucial in beginning to understand symbols can represent things

However, their thinking is ego-centric so hard to pick up external contexts to imaginative play and they still and lack logic so their understanding of words and their uses are still developing

Concrete Operational Stage (Piaget)

7 - 12

Children become less ego-centric and more sophisticated and de-centred in their language

Children develop the ability to understand multiple aspects of a situation at once which can be expressed verbally

Formal Operational Stage (Piaget)

Typically begins at 12 - adulthood

Individuals gain the ability to think abstractly, reason about hypothetical situations, and use logic to solve complex problems.​

The ability to think abstractly means that their language is no longer tied to concrete objects.

​

As cognitive abilities become more complex so does understanding of language.

REPACHOLI and GOPINK

COGNIVITISM

Critical of Piaget and his idea that children are ego-centric

They gave children crackers and broccoli and got them to give them to other people

At 14 months old, child would always give the cracker

They thought if the cracker was their favourite, the crackers is their favourite

At 18 months, if researcher showed that they wanted broccoli over crackers, the child recognised this and gave them what they wanted more

VYGOTSKY

Cognitivism (and Social interactionism)

Vygotsky believed that sociocultural environment (interactions with adults, cultural norms, and environment) plays an important role in how children develop cognitively. He believed that when they learn that talking out loud is considered anti-social or eccentric, their intrapersonal speech 'goes underground', and becomes the 'silent inner speech' that adults use to think with.

For: Language is fundamentally a social and culturally - mediated process rather than being isolated, innate one, and MKOs can help develop language

Against: Difficult to test, critics argue that Vygotsky may have overlooked the role of individual factors, such as genetic and biological influences, in cognitive development.

DORE (1970s)

FUNCTIONALISM

Language is context bound and doesn't align with developmental stages

Focus on speech acts as individual utterances

A functionalist taxonomy of a child's needs, wants, and purposes

For: focus on communication, pragmatic accuracy, context sensitive

Against: Hard to measure intent, undervalues grammar, limited explanation on acquisition

Infant language functions (DORE)

FUNCTIONALISM

Labelling (naming or identifying objects, people, or experiences)

Repeating (echoing something said by speaker)

Answering (Giving direct response)

Requesting action (demanding food, drinks, toys)

Calling (attracting attention by shouting)

Greeting (saying hello)

Protesting (objecting to requests)

Practicing (using and repeating language without adult present)

Usage Based

How children used language opposed to innately getting it

Children learn language in terms of how they use it and in bigger patterns of constructions, they learn chunks and groups of patterns

This is called constructionist

Slot and Frame Construction

Children learn daddy go work

And they then learn they can substitute other words

Like mummy go work

Don't necessarily understand grammar, just word replacing

TOMASELLO

USAGE BASED

Children can read intention so can construct the meaning of utterances and can create their own linguistic representations based on patterns​

For: He identified that by the age of 9-12 months, children can use a pattern forming ability that makes them learn about different forms and functions of single words, and they can understand that language is used to convey meaning.

Against: no explanation for grammatical development, humans may have innate language abilities or cognitive development that need to be considered

IBBOTSON

USAGE BASED

Children pick up constructions which help them create sentences instead of just combining single words. ​

For: Agrees with parts of Tomasello's work and links with 'pattern identifying' , he studied other languages and had a consistent discovery meaning it goes beyond just English. ​

Against: doesn't take account for how children move past highly complex sentences, difficult to study this as there isn't a lot of research on children's speech.

NICARAGUAN SIGN LANGUAGE

NATIVISM

Deaf children in Nicaragua spontaneously collaborated to form their own sign language,

suggesting an innate capacity to create a new language with quite sophisticated grammar systems

FUNCTIONALISM

Based on a usage view of language acquisition, which means that a child learns language partly by using it and they learn structures and grammar through the same process.

BERKO and BROWN

Fis Phenomenon

Children can't hear their own mistakes

Child: "i have a fis"

Adult: "Is that a Fis?"

Child: "No"

Adult: "Is that a fish?"

Child: "Yes"

BLOOM

Most babies first words are nouns

Gleason

Did the research Chomsky couldn't be bothered to do but she back his idea - WUG TEST

76% of 4-5 year olds even with an unfamiliar word (wug) were able to add the regular -s plural

97% of 5-7 year olds also did this

BELLUGI

Stages of negative formation: children find it difficult to use negatives correctly at first and learn forms of the negative in three stages, from 'no' through to 'don't' and 'am not'.

Social interactionalism

Children need to interact with other people in order to develop language

More than learning the language itself, they also learn the pragmatics of using language

BARD AND SACHS

- Studied Jim, hearing child of deaf parents

- Jim learned language through TV but struggled with interaction because he hadn't spoken to anyone else

- shows interaction is necessary, not just imitation.

GARVEY

Socio-dramatic play

- Enacting a real word behaviour

- It shows children learn subject specific lexis (for a shopkeeper - change, pay, bag, pay, cash, card, saying good morning and goodbye)

- Mirroring of real world scenarios and learning through pretending

SNOW

Child Directed Speech