Child Language Acquisition (Speech)

These flashcards cover key concepts, theories, and terminology related to Child Language Acquisition, to assist in exam preparation.

What are the stages of early child language acquisition?

Crying, Cooing, Laughing, Babbling, Holophrastic, Two-words, Telegraphic, Post-telegraphic.

What characterizes the Vegetative Stage in child language acquisition?

The baby makes discomfort sounds such as crying, which is instinctive.

Define Holophrastic Stage in child language acquisition.

A child conveys a whole sentence worth of meaning using just a single word.

What is a Holophrase?

A single word expressing a whole idea.

What concept does 'noun bias' refer to?

The phenomenon where the number of nouns exceeds other word classes in early vocabulary.

What is Overextension in language acquisition?

Using a word more broadly to describe similar items (e.g., calling all round fruits 'apple').

What is the Two-word Stage in child language acquisition?

Children use two-word combinations that resemble adult speech.

What did Roger Brown identify as key features of two-word utterances?

Patterns such as Agent + Action, Action + Object, and Object + Location.

What is the role of Child Directed Speech (CDS)?

To attract the child's attention and facilitate language acquisition.

Describe the Critical Period Hypothesis.

The crucial time to acquire a first language; if exposure does not occur by puberty, full language mastery is unlikely.

What is 'scaffolding' in language acquisition?

The active support provided by caregivers to facilitate a child's understanding and use of language.

Who conducted the Wug Test, and what did it demonstrate?

Jean Berko Gleason; it demonstrated that children can apply grammatical rules to nonsense words.

How does social interactionism relate to language acquisition?

It suggests children learn language through interactions with caregivers and by scaffolding conversations.

What is a vocabulary spurt in child language acquisition?

A sudden increase in vocabulary size, typically between 24-36 months.

What does the term 'Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)' refer to?

It is a measurement of speech complexity indicated by the average number of morphemes in utterances.

Define telegraphic speech.

Short utterances that convey meaning using mainly content words, omitting grammatical words.

What is 'virtuous error'?

Errors in language use that demonstrate some underlying logic, indicating that learning has occurred.

What is the significance of imitation in language acquisition according to Bandura?

Children are likely to imitate the language they hear from adults, similar to behavioral imitation.