Chapter 1-4 Language Development

language

a complex and dynamic system of conventional symbols that is used in various modes for thought and communication

Language Form

phonology, morphology, syntax

Language content

semantics

Language Use

pragmatics

Phonology

Rules govern combinations of sounds and stress/intonation

Phonemes

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morphology

structure of words

Morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

free morpheme

a morpheme that can stand alone as a word

bound morpheme

morpheme that always attaches to other morphemes, never existing as a word itself

inflectional morphemes

indicate tense, number, possession, or comparison

derivational morphemes

prefixes and suffixes added to root words to create derived words

Syntax

Sentence structure

Semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

Semantics has which subtypes

Lexical and conceptual

lexical semantics

Word form or composition

Conceptual Information

meaning associated with the lexeme

pragmatic

Use the form and content of language

The following is involved in pragmatics

Intention; Body language; Appropriate amount of information

receptive language

ability to comprehend or understand speech

expressive language

the ability to produce or speak language

The 3 stages of early communication development

perlocutionary, illocutionary, locutionary

perlocutionary stage

Birth to 10 months; Prelinguistic; Production of behaviors with no intended message

illocutionary stage

Around 10 months of age; Prelinguistic; Gestures and nonlinguistic vocalizations; intentional

locutionary stage

Around 12 months; Production of first words

metalinguistic skills

Child's ability to talk or think about language

The four developmental domains

cognitive, motor, social emotional, and language development

Cognitive development

Piaget; Child is active participant; Contingent on cognitive development

Piaget: Adaptation

Disequilibrium + adaptation (assimilation + accommodation)

Disequilibrium

Occurs when encountering a novel experience

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

accommodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Piaget stages of cognitive development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

sensorimotor stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

preoperational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

concrete operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events; Reversibility + classification are new skills

formal operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 11) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Imitation

copying the behavior of another person; Begin with motor then speech

Object Permanence (Piaget)

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

gross motor development

Large muscle movement; Walking or sitting

fine motor skills

Smaller muscle movements; Finger for writing or tongue for talking

Sitting without support happens at

4-9 months

Standing alone happens at

7-17 months

walking alone happens at

8-18 months

The most intense time for acquiring speech and language

Birth to 3 years old

Theoretical approaches to language acquisition

What are the three theoretical approaches to language acquisition? Nature, nurture, and interactionist.

Nature view

Language acquisition is a natural ability because humans are wired to perform the task of acquiring language.

Innateness

The idea that a trait or ability is naturally present or biologically built into an individual.

Nurture view

Language development is influenced by observable environmental factors and experiences.

Empiricism

The view that knowledge is primarily gained through experience and observation.

Interactionist view

A hybrid of the nature and nurture views; language development results from both biological abilities and environmental experiences.

Nature theories

What are the three major nature theories? Biological, transformational, and contemporary theories.

Biological bases theory

Associated with Eric Lenneberg (1967); emphasizes the biological basis of language development.

Transformational-generative grammar

Associated with Noam Chomsky (1957, 1965); proposes that humans have an innate capacity for acquiring language.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

An innate system proposed by Chomsky that allows humans to acquire language.

Government and Binding Theory

A theory proposing universal principles shared across languages along with language-specific parameters.

Idiosyncratic parameters

Language-specific variations or settings that allow languages to differ while still following universal principles.

Contemporary nature view

Associated with Steven Pinker and Ray Jackendoff (2005); emphasizes modern views of the biological basis of language.

Classical conditioning

Associated with Ivan Pavlov in the early 1900s; learning occurs through paired associations between stimuli.

Paired associates

The connection formed when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together.

Operant conditioning

Associated with B.F. Skinner (1950s–present); behavior is shaped by consequences such as reinforcement and punishment.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

An application of operant conditioning that uses behavioral principles to increase or decrease specific behaviors; it can be used to support language development in autism.

Interactionist view models

What are the four interactionist view models? Cognitive-constructivist, social-cognitive, social-pragmatic, and intentionality.

Cognitive-constructivist perspective

Learners actively build their own knowledge from personal experience’s rather then passively absorbing information

Social-cognitive perspective

Behavior is influenced by the interaction between children's innate skills and their social experiences.

Social-cognitive theorists

Who are associated with the social-cognitive perspective? Vygotsky and Bruner.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The gap between what a learner can accomplish alone and what they can achieve with guidance from more skilled partners.

Private speech

Vygotsky's concept of children's self-talk that guides their thinking and actions; it eventually becomes internalized as silent inner speech.

Joint reference

Bruner's concept of sharing a common focus of interest, which contributes to language acquisition.

Mechanisms for establishing joint reference

What are the three mechanisms for establishing joint reference? Indicators, deictic terms, and naming.

Indicators

Gestural, postural, and vocal behaviors used to get another person's attention.

Deictic terms

Words that use spatial or contextual cues to help children understand meaning, such as "this," "here," "that," "you," and "me."

Naming

The process of a child associating a label or word with a referent.

Social-pragmatics perspective

Focuses on the functions of language, speaker and listener roles, and conversational discourse.

Speech acts

The idea that language can be used to perform actions; associated with Austin and Searle.

Three types of speech acts

What are the three types of speech acts? Perlocutions, illocutions, and locutions.

Perlocution

The listener's interpretation or response to another person's intended utterance.

Illocution

The intention of the speaker when producing an utterance.

Locution

The actual form of expression, style, or speech used in an utterance.

Child-directed speech (CDS)

A form of speech commonly used when talking to babies or toddlers; characterized by slower and simplified speech, higher pitch, exaggerated vowel sounds, short words and sentences, and repetition. Also called parentese or motherese.

The three separate regions of the ear

outer ear, middle ear, inner ear

The auditory system consists of two systems

Conductive and sensorineural

Conductive system

outer and middle ear

sensorineural system

inner ear and auditory nerve; consists of cochlea, and organ of corgi

The job of the sensorineural system

Converting mechanical energy into electrical impulse

Sound Energy Conversion

Sound is acoustic energy; converted to mechanical energy; then electrical impulse

Outer ear

Gather sound from environment

Middle ear

Convert sound to mechanical energy

Middle ear

Deliver the mechanical energy to inner ear

inner ear

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs; balance

Eat development starts at

5th week of gestation

higher order perception

Fetus can recognize maternal speech and prosody

The middle ear houses

auditory ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes)

the lateral border of the ear is

tympanic membrane

Postnatal auditory development stage 1

birth to 6 months

Postnatal auditory development stage 1

sound encoding

The auditory system does not become adult-like until approximately

12 years of age

postnatal auditory development stage 2

6 months to early elementary

postnatal auditory development stage 2

Selective listening develops