Language Development

What is language?

• language is a complex system of associations between sounds and meaning

• it entails combining a limited number of sounds according to rules specific to that language

Shared system

language works only if both people in a conversation use the same set of symbols and meanings

Symbolic

a word, sound, gesture, or object stands for something else

Rule governed

language follows predictable patterns (rules) and children actively learn and apply those rules

Generative

language allows us to create an unlimited number of new sentences using a finite set of words and rules

Communication

the exchange of information, ideas, or feelings between people

Arbitrary

there is no natural or logical connection between a word and what it represents

Displacement

talk about things that are not happening right now

Generativity

combine words to create new sentences

Duality

• language operates on two levels at the same time

• small meaningless sounds (phonemes)

• combined into meaningful units (words)

Phoneme

the physical properties of sounds in language

Phonology

basic units of sounds used in a given language and the rules for combining them

Morpheme

smallest unit of language that has meaning

Syntax

• the rules for combining words to form sentences, including which combinations are correct, or grammatical, and which are not

• a. Dozer Freddy bit

• b. Dozer bit Freddy

• c. Freddy bit Dozer

• 21-30 months

Semantics

the meaning or content of words and sentences

Pragmatics

understanding how to use language to communicate effectively

Constraint Theory
o Gavagai / Quine

• kids figure out what words mean despite ambiguity

• “Gavagai” could mean rabbit, fur, hopping, etc

Words by Age 5

• many children can quickly understand and apply most words that they hear

• if a word is used in context or explained with examples, most 5-year-olds can learn it

• learn words by making inferences given the context

• around 10,000 words

1. Reflexive sounds

• sounds babies produce without conscious control

• crying, sneezing, coughing

2. Cooing

• deliberate vowel sounds like “ahhh”, “ohhh”, “eeee”

• between 2-3 months

3. Babbling

• repeating strings of consonants and vowels such as “ba-ba-ba” and “ma-ma-ma”

• around 6 months of age

4. Variegated babbling

• babbling with varied syllables

• “ba-da-go”

• typically appears around 8-12 months

5. First word

• around 12 months

Fast Mapping

• 16-24 months

• a process of quickly acquiring and retaining a word after hearing it applied a few times

Vocabulary Spurt

• 16-24 months

• a period of rapid vocabulary learning

Whole Object Constraint

children assume a new word refers to an entire object, not just its parts or properties

Taxonomic Constraint

children assume a new word refers to a category of similar things, not just a specific instance

Mutual Exclusivity Constraint

• children assume each object only has one label

• child knows the word “cup”, adult shows a cup and a novel object (whisk) and says “blicket”, child assumes “blicket” refers to the whisk, not the cup

• if new word, must refer to something new

• about age 3

Joint Attention

ability of a child and caregiver to focus on the same object or event, and be aware that they both are attending to it

Nativist Theory

• despite wide variations in circumstances, children around the world achieve language milestones at about the same time

• language does not emerge in a finished form, instead, children learn to string words together over time based on their experiences and trial and error

Social-Pragmatic Theories

children learn language through social interaction and the use of language in context

Constraint Theory

children are guided by certain innate or learned “constraints” that help them figure out the meanings of new words quickly and efficiently

Learning Syntax

process by which children acquire the rules for combining words into grammatically correct sentences

Word order

• the correct placement of words according to a language’s grammar rules

• sequence in which words are arranged in a sentence

• “dog bites man” does not equal “man bites dog”

Agreement

• words in a sentence must “match” or be consistent

• words in a sentence agree with each other grammatically

• “he runs”, “they run”

Hierarchical structure

• language is built in levels

• sentence organization

Stages of learning syntax

1. Holophrastic Stage

2. Two-Word Stage

3. Telegraphic Stage

4. Later Multiword Stage

Holophrastic stage

• children uses single words to express whole ideas

• “milk” into “I want milk”

• 12 months

Two-word stage

• child starts combining two words in a meaningful way

• “mommy go” into “mommy is going”

• 18-24 months

Overregularization Errors

• grammatical mistakes that young children make because they are applying grammatical rules too stringently

• foots, gooses, tooths, mouses

• the most common error was is making tenses (eat/eated, fall/falled)

Telegraphic speech

• child produces short sentences with key content words, often omitting smaller function words

• “want cookie” to “I want a cookie”

• 24-30 months

Rapid Grammatical Development

• period when children move from simple to complex sentences and master grammar rules quickly

• rules become more accurate over time

gradual rule refinement

• children adjust and improve their grammar rules based on feedback and experience

Language Acquisition Device (Chomsky)

• an innate facilitator of language that permits infants to quickly and efficiently analyze everyday speech and determine its rules, regardless of native language

• innate storehouse of rules, called universal grammar that apply to all human languages

Universal Grammar

• humans are born with an innate ability to acquire language because certain grammatical principles are hardwired in the brain

• all languages share basis structure

Poverty of the stimulus argument

kids learn language despite limited input

Know the word orders that are most common

1. Subject-Object-Verb “I sushi eat”

2. Subject-Verb-Object “I eat sushi”