Language Acquisition (Chapter Fourteen)

First language Acquisition

Process by which young children acquire, come to know, and use the language(s) of their caregivers

Longitudinal methodology

Follows child development over time (usually smaller sample size)

cross-sectional methodology

Compared larger numbers of children at different developmental stages performing the same experiment task

Child-Directed Speech (CDS)

Characteristics in speech that catch children’s attention, help them understand meaning, and express positive emotion

phonological error pattern

Consistent differences between adult and child speech pronunciations

lexical overextension

When a word is used for a larger set of referents than is found in adult speech

overregularization

Regular form of a morpheme is used in cases that requires an irregular form (foots)

mean length of utterance (MLU)

Used to test stage a child is at in speech development

functional continuity

The persistence of the same function (ex: listener’s attention) over time

narrative co-construction

Prompting the memory of the child to help guide them through telling a story (part of scaffolding)

formal, nativist theory

Grammar is conceptualized as an abstract formal system not impacted by the functions it serves in discourse

functional, discourse-based theory

Grammar is a system of communication shaped by human cognition and communication, not entirely different from discourse

sensitive period for acquisition

Biologically programmed time when young children can most readily acquire their first language successfully

Doll → da

Final consonant deletion

Play → pei

Consonant cluster deletion

See → tee

Stopping of fricatives

Goose → dus

Fronting of back consonants

Ready → wedi

Gliding of liquids

Pie → bai

Initial voicing

Egg → ek

Final devoicing

Taxi → gagi

Consonant harmony

Tofu → dudu

Vowel harmony