Language development exam 1

language

A complex and dynamic system of symbols used for thought and communication

abstract symbol

Symbols stand for something and communicate things verbally, nonverbally, in writing, or signs. They look nothing like what they represent and must be learned. Language is always changing.

speech

The neuromuscular process where we turn our thoughts into a sound signal transmitted through air to a receiver. It requires precise activation of muscles for respiration, phonation, articulation, and resonance.

What is the difference between language and speech?

Language is the symbols that we use to communicate whereas speech is the actual production of the language where we turn the symbols or our thoughts into words.

preintentional

baby crying (have to guess intent)

intentional

may not use words but point or grunt (we know what they are wanting)

symbolic

saying the actual words to communicate wants

communication

how we get our points across on what we want and need (preintentional -> intentional -> symbolic)

Form

phonology (sounds), morphology (smallest meaningful unit), syntax/grammar (form meaningful sentences)

content

o   semantics (study of meaning) receptive (what we understand) and expressive (what we say) language

use

pragmatics (using language appropriate to context and using language to get things done)

form errors

phonological errors, morphological errors, syntactical errorp

phonological error

error of sound production

morphological error

incorrect form of word

syntactical error

incorrect sentence structure

content errors

use words incorrectly, speaking without meaning, verbosity (more than needed), cocktail speech (superficial), cognition and language disassociation

use errors

don’t receive/interpret cues, Poor eye gaze, Ramble, Repeat (echolalia), trouble with initiating interaction

what are some noteworthy features of language

o   Acquired at a remarkable rate

o   A universal phenomenon

o   Species specific

o   Allows for semanticity/displacement (past and future)

o   Is productive (constantly generating new ways to say things)

language differences

Variability among language users. Children’s language abilities are, abilities, vocabulary size, diversity

dialect

language variation due to geography evident in all areas (form, content, use)

bilingualism

knowing more than one language

gender

girls tend to speak earlier, develop vocabulary faster, and have less language disorders

genetic predisposition

have been found to play a key role in an individual’s ability to successfully acquire and use language. About 50% of the variability in language ability can be attributed to heritability

language environment

language is shaped by input from their environment. Quantity (the amount of language surrounding the child) and quality (characteristics of language from caregiver)

language disorders

Specific language impairment (SLI) and secondary language disorders

specific language disorder (SLI)

occurs with no other causes

secondary language disorder

co-occur with other causes/primary conditions (HL, developmental disability, brain injury, etc.)

developmental disability

disabilities such as autism and downs syndrome

brain injury

acquired or traumatic injuries to the brain

What are the three key phonological building blocks?

segment the speech stream

acquire a phonetic inventory

develop phonological awareness

Segment the speech stream

prosodic cues and phonotactic cues

Prosodic cues

rhythm and stress, pauses

Phonotactic cues

legal sound combinations

Acquire a phonetic inventory

sounds I know, sounds I can say, consonants and vowels

Develop phonological awareness

attending to the sound units -> syllables and individual sounds; skills (counting sound, counting syllables, rhyming, identify first sound, etc.)

morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit of speech

what are the two types of morphemes that must be acquired?

Grammatical morphemes and derivational morphemes

free morpheme

can stand alone

bound morpheme

cannot stand alone but DO carry meaning

grammatical morpheme

add information and are acquired in a specific order.

bound grammatical morpheme

may provide information on the verb tense, number, or possession. They are always suffixes and cannot stand alone. (ex: -ing, -s, -‘s)

free grammatical morpheme

include information about the specific entities (the dog) vs general entities (a dog) or location (in/on)

derivational morpheme

added to a root word to create a new word. We add a prefix or suffix to make it a multisyllabic word. They often change the part of speech of a word but not always. (ex: unhappy, preview, adoption, slowly)

14 grammatical morphemes

They are acquired in a specific order (a universal) and learning them does not require coaching from adults

What are the three building blocks of syntactic development discussed in lecture?

utterance length

sentence variety

complex syntax

Utterance length

by about 6 most children produce utterances that are on average, almost as long as adults. Gradual increase from 1-6 years as they start linking morphemes together to create sentences

Sentence variety

declarative sentences, negative sentences, interrogative sentences, complex sentences

Calculating the mean length of utterance provides a measure of what aspect of language?

Measures syntactic knowledge in the utterances of children. The average number of morphemes in an utterance. Longer utterances = different types of utterances (requests, statements, questions)

To calculate we collect 50 utterances, calculate the number of morphemes per acceptable utterance, then divide by the total number of acceptable utterances

What are the four sentence modalities discussed in class and in your text?

declarative sentences

negative sentences

interrogative sentences

complex sentences

Declarative sentence

declare something/make a statement

Negative sentence

adding no, don’t, wont, not, etc.

Interrogative sentence

the act of questioning wh- questions and yes/no questions

Complex sentence

When we link phrases and clauses together

What is the relationship between the complexity of parent speech and complexity of child speech.

The speech directed at children from parents and caregivers is child-directed speech. The exposure to syntax they receive relates to their syntactic development. The greater the maternal use of complex syntax, the greater the syntactical development of the child.

What are some of the syntactic challenges on developmental language disorders. On language disorders of individuals with acquired conditions.

Impacts on developmental language disorders: Produce shorter sentences, difficulty understanding complex sentences, particular difficulty with verbs, impacts reading and writing

Impacts on acquired language disorders: inability to produce and comprehend complex sentences and agrammatical aphasia.

What are the THREE major tasks for the language learner that serve as semantic building blocks?

Acquire a mental lexicon of roughly 60,000 words between infancy and adulthood, acquire new words rapidly, organize the mental lexicon into an efficient semantic network.

What comprises one's mental lexicon?

Receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary

What are the categories of early words as described by Nelson and Ingram.

General nominals, action words, specific nominals (nouns), personal/social, modifiers (adjs.)

What are some of the factors that contribute to how quickly we can learn a new word?

the concept or idea represented (how easy it is to understand and how easy it is to picture in your brain), the phonological form (how easy it is to say), and the context of the first exposure (learned quicker when adults label objects or events and children use cues surrounding the use of the word)

What is a semantic network and why is it important?

How we organize what we learn, it is not random. Connections between words dictate how we organize. Connections may be strong or weak based on number of shared features

How does language impairment impact semantic development?

Smaller vocabularies, more difficulty learning new words so require repeated exposures, poorly organized semantic networks.

What is the relationship between language exposure and semantic development?

The number and types of words children hear in the environment is related to the size of their vocabularies. Children raised in orphanages have depressed vocabularies, children from low SES households tend to have smaller vocabularies as compared to children from high SES households.

What are the three building blocks of pragmatic development discussed in lecture and in your text?

using language for different communication functions

developing conversational skills

gaining sensitivity to extralinguistic cues

Using language for different communication functions

behind everything we say there is a purpose or an intention, these intentions are the reasons or functions of the communication

Developing conversation skills

when we express any communication function, the purpose is to exchange/engage with other people, this is called conversation. Conversations have a schema (structure) that is a key aspect of pragmatic development

Gaining sensitivity to extralinguistic cues

cues that are outside the realm of language and must be interpreted in context. As we get older, we become more and more sensitive to these cues.

protoconversation

Where adults carry most of the burden of a conversation and infant’s attempts are interpreted as communications (baby cooing)

Can you name 3-5 extralinguistic cues we rely on in day-to-day conversation?

Eye contact/gaze, body language, hand motions

what are the influences on pragmatic development discussed in lecture.  

temperament

social and cultural influences

Temperament

how we approach a situation. Describes a person’s behavioral style or personality type

Social and cultural influences

children’s pragmatic development reflects pragmatic rules of their larger community. Achievements in each area of pragmatic building blocks reflect the socialization practices children experience at home, school, and in the community

Why is the study of theories of language acquisition and development important to the clinical practice of speech-language pathology and audiology?

Help us understand and explain health behavior and to guide the identification, development, and implementation of interventions. The connection between practice and theory is important as it demonstrates your ability to use evidence to increase your understanding of key concepts, justify your decision making, and inform future practice

What is evidence-based practice?

The integration of clinical expertise/expert opinion, evidence, and client/patient/caregiver perspectives

Basic research

pure research, fundamental research or basic science research. Improve theories and help us understand a natural phenomenon (how does speech develop in children? What are the brain bases for speech motor control?)

Applied research

use real world problems to identify solutions. Improve practices, products, or services (what is the best method for teaching spatial relationships to preschoolers? Is group therapy effective in treating individuals with aphasia)

What are the major approaches to measuring speech perception?

high amplitude sucking (HAS)

head turn preference procedure

preferential looking paradigm

electrocorticography (ECoG)

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

High amplitude sucking (HAS)

an indirect measurement technique. A pacifier connected to pressure transducer to measure suck strength. Sounds are presented with every HAS event, therefore, suck controls the sound. The outcome measure of interest is a change in sucking rate (speed)

Head turn preference procedure

measures how long an infant orients to different auditory stimulus. The duration of the infants head turn towards one of two sound speakers is recorded, with longer looking times indicating a preference for that particular sound. Outcome measure of interest is listening time

Preferential looking paradigm

baby is seated on caregiver’s lap and visual stimuli are presented simultaneously (images or videos); Auditory stimulus is presented simultaneously. Researcher notes the stimulus the infant looked at longest. Outcome measure of interest is looking time

Electrocorticography (ECoG)

measure brain activity during speech tasks

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

measures magnetic fields produced by electrical brain activity – used to study neural speech tracking and brain responses to continuous speech

What are the major approaches to measuring language production?

Observational studies examine language use in natural or semi-natural settings

natural and semi-structured

Natural

context is not manipulated. Data is collected over a specific time

Semi-structured

setting is manipulated to elicit a certain response

Experimental studies

often occurs in a research laboratory. Follows strict protocol. Experimenter actively manipulates variables of interest

What are the major approaches to measuring language comprehension?

Use eye gaze or pointing: to measure prelinguistic comprehension (look at ___, point to ____)

Acting out spoken language using props: show me jumping, show me the girl give the toy

How can we use the ideas behind the Connectionist Theory of language development to clinical practice?

We can use this theory in clinical practice to focus on specific areas/categories such as animals, modes of transportation, dogs, etc. because it was found that there is a rapid acquisition of phonological categories because of their stream of connections based off prior knowledge.

Operant conditioning is a major component of which theory and what is it?

Skinner’s behaviorist or empiricist view. Says how children learn language through operant conditioning and shaping; some verbal behaviors reinforced, others suppressed.

When we use reinforcement in treatment, whose theory of language development are we working from?

Skinner’s behaviorist or empiricist view. When we reinforce a behavior it strengthens it and ones that are punished are suppressed.

Is the language acquisition device an actual part of the brain?

No, it is theoretical and not an actual device

The LAD is associated with which famous scientist?

Chomsky

What is the ‘zone of proximal development’ and how do we sue it in treatment with children AND adults?

Some language is learned via remote imitation but not a significant contributor to language acquisition. The language environment supplies children with the types of language experiences necessary for development

Identify ways we apply Piaget’s cognitive theory to language development?

Language development follows cognitive development – language at the service of cognition (cognitive precursors to language are innate) children actively involved in constructing understanding of language

What is the role of context in the Intentionality Theory of language acquisition?

Language structure/syntax must be studied in context and context refines meaning. Children’s abilities in language, emotional expression, cognition social interaction, and play develop together. We have to learn to generate meaning so we can be understood and make our needs known.