Part 4: Definitions and Theories of Language Development and Acquistion

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

What is the critical period for language development?

Birth to puberty.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: What is universality?

The idea that language development follows relatively similar patterns across people and cultures.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: What is species specificity?

Human language is a human-specific system that is much more complex than animal communication.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: What is semanticity/displacement?

they describe how language can represent meaning beyond what is happening right now.

Displacement means you can talk about something that isn't here or isn't happening right now.

For example:

“I went to the beach yesterday.”

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: What is productivity?

The ability to combine a small number of units to create seemingly infinite expressions.

Productivity means that we can use language to create new sentences and expressions.

We don't memorize every possible sentence. Instead, we combine words and rules in different ways.

HEARING

What is hearing?

The sensory system that allows speech to enter and be processed by the brain.

HEARING: Why is hearing essential for spoken language?

It allows a person to receive and comprehend spoken language.

PHONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

What develops first: vowels or consonants?

Vowels develop before consonants.

PHONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

What factors influence when phonemes develop?

👉Frequency = how often the child hears a particular sound.

👉Number of words containing the phoneme 🗣

This means how many different words contain that sound.

For example, if a sound appears in many words, the child gets lots of opportunities to hear and practice it.

👉Articulatory complexity = how difficult the sound is to physically produce. Easier sounds may develop earlier, while more difficult sounds may take longer..

PHONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Around what age does phonological knowledge and production support intelligible speech?

Around ages 3–4.

MORPHEME COUNTING

What should you remember when counting morphemes?

Count meaningful grammatical parts, but irregular forms can count as one morpheme.

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "The boys and girls went shopping"?

9

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "The cat's name is Kevin"?

6

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "He’s happy to be at home"?

7

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "She likes to bake cookies"?

7

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "The boys played in the yard"?

8

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "Aren't you having fun?"

6

MORPHEME COUNTING

How many morphemes are in "The women took their bags"?

6

MORPHEME COUNTING

Why is "women" counted as one morpheme?

It is an irregular plural.

MORPHEME COUNTING

Why is "took" counted as one morpheme?

It is an irregular past-tense form.

STEPHEN PINKER

Who is Stephen Pinker?

A linguist and cognitive scientist whose work is included in your course material.

STEPHEN PINKER

What Pinker material is associated with your Chapter 1 material?

“Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain.”