L10 Development of Language and Communication Skills

Five Components of Language

• Phonology

  • Sound system (structure) of a language

  • Phonemes: smallest units of sound /p/ vs. /b/ - Pat vs. Bat

    • children need to learn how to distinguish these phonemes

• Morphology

  • Rules for forming words

  • Past tense: walk walked (-ed to signal past tense)

  • Plural: dog dogs (s for plural form)

• Semantics

  • Meaning in language (symbolic representation; words represent objects, relationships, etc.)

  • Morphemes = smallest units of meaning

  • Free morphemes: dog

  • Bound morphemes: -s

• Syntax

  • Rules for combining words into sentences (interacts with semantics to create meaning)

  • Word order affects meaning

  • The cat chased the dog. vs The dog was chased by the cat.

• Pragmatics

  • Using language appropriately in context → Talking to a toddler vs an adult (instead of “what” you say, it is “how” and “when” you say it

  • Sociolinguistic knowledge = Cultural rules of language use (“social editors”) (e.g., Please, thank you, etc.)

  • Nonverbal signals (Tone, Body language, Facial expressions make sentences have different meanings)

• How the Five Components Work Together

Marie Barbie adored

• non-grammatical, must be arranged under English syntax rules (subject, verb, object) → violates syntax

• language has a rule-governed structure → children learn invisible grammatical rules

Theories of Language Development

• learning/empiricist perspective

• nativist perspective

• interactionist prespective

Learning (or Empiricist) Perspective

• reflects nature vs nurture debate (environmental learning)

• Operant conditioning (B.F. Skinner) - operant conditioning perspective

  • Language shaped (learned) through reinforcement (from parents) → e.g., native language babbling positively related to language learning

    • praises for using words

  • Adults reward correct speech

• Imitation (Albert Bandura) - observational learning

  • Children model language they hear

  • Reinforcement strengthens imitation

    • imitation + rewards (emphasizes external influences over innate skills) - nurture-leaning

• Criticisms

  • Grammar not consistently reinforcement. (parents rarely reinforce grammar, they respond more to meaning/semantics but not grammar)

  • Children produce novel, rule-based errors (I goed): overgeneralization)

Nativist Perspective

• Humans are biologically prepared for language

  • language too complex to be learned thru reinforcement alone

• Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD):

  • Innate mechanism (ability to learn language)

    • grammar is too complex to be taught explicitly, hence we are born with LAD

  • Contains “Universal Grammar (all languages share structural similarities + children reach linguistic milestones around the same age)

• Slobin’s Language-Making Capacity (LMC):

  • agreed that language is biologically supported but not hard-wired (review) - didn’t assume innate mechanisms

  • Inborn cognitive tools for organizing language

Language acquisition = biologically programmed process (with input required) - unfolds automatically when children grow + receive more input

Support of Nativist Perspective

1. Linguistic universals: Similar milestones found across cultures (e.g., babbling, first words, combining words, etc.), and all languages share structural features. - suggesting biology may guide language learning

2. Brain specialization: Broca’s area (language processing + Production), Wernicke’s area (comprehension) → greater left hemisphere activation for speech sounds, suggesting biological preparedness to produce/learn language

3. Sensitive-period hypothesis: Language most easily acquired before puberty. (Ex., child aphasia, early vs. late L2 acquisition, deprivation cases “Genie”, cochlear implants)

   1. biologically sensitive/optimal period where language acquisition happens more actively + efficiency (also early language exposure is important)

   2. child aphasia + cochlear implants - younger ages this can be corrected more easily than older ages → more language development

Genie video

• learning labels for the world

• couldn’t learn grammar + pronouns, missing critical stage of development

• 3 yr old has twice as many brain cells as an adult → brain must keep + prune some connections (“use it or lose it”)

  • during sensitive period, parts for grammar weren’t used and cut because her parents never talked to her + exposed her to language

• her well-being was not as looked after, seems like main purpose was for research

Criticisms of Nativist Perspective

• Vagueness of LAD & LMC

  • Descriptive, not mechanistic (how are we processing input, extracting words, etc.)

  • How do they actually work? (not enough to say we are biologically programmed, we need to now how language processing occurs)

• Underestimates Environment

  • Social interaction strongly predicts language growth

    • technology would influence lang dev

  • Quantity and quality of input matter

    • more context in conversations, quality of shows, etc.

Interactionist Perspective

• Both biology and environment matter. (but are incomplete; born with a program machine but it is not fully developed → brain maturation + developing cognitively with growth + interactions with others)

• Linguistic universals arise because:

  • Humans share similar brains + early experiences

• Not a LAD or LMC (don’t require special language device - they eventually need)

• Language develops gradually through:

  • Cognitive growth (w age)

  • Social interaction

Key Factors in Language Acquisition From The Interactionist Perspective

• Language acquisition results from:

  • Biological Maturation: Developing brain areas support language processing.

  • Cognitive Development: Memory and attention support in complex sentence formation.

    • 1st words at 12m

    • able to retain more memory + reasoning improvements

    • parents have more expectations as children grow older + also use more complex words

  • Environmental Interaction: conversations, joint attention, and child-directed speech; often called "motherese”

    • not only learning thru hearing, but conversation

    • joint attention (e.g., reading a book together) + turn taking + motherese (high-pitched simplified ways to speak to babies)

Major Milestones of Language Development

Language Development is:

• Gradual

• Structured

• Domain-based (phonology, semantics, grammar, pragmatics)

• Built on early foundations

Birth to 1 year

Prelinguistic period (before children produce consistent words, but doesn’t mean lang dev hasn’t occurred yet)

• 0-3 months: Cries, coos, and gurgles. Prefers caregiver’s voice (to help tune into language).

• 3-6 months: Recognizes their name, responds to intonations, vocal turn-taking begins. (pause + vocalize after parent stops → early conversation pragmatics)

• 6-9 months: Canonical babbling begins (syllables mama, dada), gesture use (pointing) supports communication

• 9-12 months: Understands simple words, joint attention (focusing + communicating about same object, e.g., story reading, zoo), first meaningful word

• Receptive language develops before expressive language

  • babies receive more than what they can produce → they want to store + learn more, like a “sponge”

2 years old: Vocabulary Explosion

• Vocabulary Growth

  • Naming explosion/vocabulary spurt (18–24 months)

  • ~300 productive words by age 2 (although they can understand more than what they can produce)

  • Receptive vocabulary much larger than expressive

  • language development accelerates

• Word Learning Mechanisms

  • Fast mapping: learning new words after few exposures (a reason why lang dev speeds up so quickly)

• Early Grammar

  • Two-word “telegraphic” speech (e.g., “Mommy go”, “more juice”) - keep important content words and leave out little grammatical ones

• Meaning Development

  • Overextension (e.g., calling all animals “dog”)

  • Underextension (e.g., “cookie” only for one specific cookie)

• Communication

  • Strong increase in communicative intent (to comment, to interact, etc.)

3 years old

• Grammar Takes Off

• Grammatical morphemes emerge (plural – s, past tense –ed, –ing)

• Overregularization (“goed,” “runned” “foots”) - not a bad thing, suggest learning, but they’ve broadened rules → making irregular verbs regular (see diff b/w generalization)

• Questions and negations improve (e.g., “Where is the dog?” “I don’t want it.” )

• Sentences become longer and more complex

• Phonological awareness begins (rhyming, noticing sound pattern) → strongest predictor of reading + writing abilities

4 years old: Language Refinement & Literacy Foundations

• Language becomes more sophisticated (sound more adult-like)

  • Complex sentences emerge (e.g., “I went to the park because it was sunny.”)

  • Improved articulation and pronunciation

• Communication skills expand

  • Stronger pragmatic skills (adjusting speech to the listener) - e.g., sarcasm, repair misunderstandings, etc.

  • Better awareness of audience and context

• Foundations for reading

  • Phonological awareness predicts reading success (removing s from smile to mile → used in assessments to see phonological awareness) - you would still do well in a French test even as a language speaker

  • shared reading vs. explicit phonological awareness - which is better for teaching a child? explicit phonological awareness b/c they need to know the sounds before understand stories, most effective way to teach children how to read

• Language is not “finished” at age four. It continues developing through childhood and adolescence

How Babies Decode Language Before Talking (0-12 Months)

• Infants are active language analysts

• Prefer human speech from birth (recognize caregiver voice within a few days)

• Discriminate phonemes (even non-native to focus only on native sounds)

• Sensitive to rhythm & stress patterns

• Use intonation cues (meaning in tone)

• Track sound frequencies (statistical learning) - to identify when words start/end in a sentence

• Detect phrase boundaries & syllable patterns (hence, early rich language exposure is significant)

How Toddlers Figure Out Word Meaning (1-2 Years)

• Toddlers are hypothesis testers

• Fast-mapping (learn word after few exposures + connect them?)

• Object scope (word = whole object, not parts)

• Taxonomic assumption (labels categories for similar objects)

• Mutual exclusivity (one object, one label)

• Lexical contrast (new word = subtype) - review

• Syntactic bootstrapping (grammar guides/infers meaning) (in noun position = object; in verb position = action)

What Really Changes After Age 3?

• Preschool = rule refinement (less about learning words)

• Grammatical morphemes acquired in predictable order (ing > past tense > -ed > -s)

• Overregularization (“goed,” “runned”)

• Passive sentences difficult (reversible vs irreversible) (e.g., boy was hit by the girl)

• Complex sentence transformations emerge (e.g., when words start? review)

• Metalinguistic awareness begins (thinking of language - notice rhymes, correct grammatical errors, play w sound structure)

• Phonological awareness predicts reading

What This Means for Practice

• Applied Implications

• Talk to infants early and often (they recognize speech long before than can talk)

• Use exaggerated intonation & joint attention

• Encourage gestures (as a predictor for later vocab)

• Don’t overcorrect overregularization (shows learning)

• Read interactively (build vocabulary)

• Explicit sound play supports literacy (decoding + reading comprehension)

• Repair communication breakdowns, model clarity

• therefore, language = biologically prepared but shaped by human interactions

Bilingualism

• Language Development and Bilingualism

• Types of Bilinguals

• Code-switching

• Language Development and Bilingualism

  • Pre-1960s, research suggested bilingualism caused cognitive delays (Flawed studies: often low SES, immigration status, English-only testing)

  • Modern research: No developmental harm (after controlling for SES, etc.)

• Types of Bilinguals

  • Simultaneous Bilinguals: Two languages from birth or before age 2.

  • Sequential Bilinguals: Second language learned after first is established (may retain accent, review)

    • Early (early elementary)

    • Late (after ~age 10)

• Code-switching: Mixing languages within conversation (rule-governed, not confusion) → shows cognitive flexibility, using 2 brains at once?

BICS vs. CALP in Bilingual Learners

• Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS):

  • Conversational everyday language skills used in social situations. (what students learn socially)

  • Develops in 2-3 years of exposure.

• Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP):

  • Academic, abstract, decontextualized language skills needed for understanding concepts in an academic setting.

  • Takes 5-7 years to develop.

• test children on narrative skills (retell a story, or talk about something) rather than comprehension for students in school for few years to test their language development

• Strong BICS ≠ Strong CALP:

  • Vocabulary lags may persist across both languages

  • Combined vocabulary often comparable to monolingual peers

Language Acquisition in Children with Disabilities

• impact of disability types

• intervention strategies

• Impact of Disability Types:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Pragmatic language challenges (turn-taking, topic maintenance)

  • Down Syndrome: Delays in expressive and receptive language; Relative strengths in vocabulary; challenges in syntax

  • Hearing Impairments: Early intervention with sign language or cochlear implants support language development (visual and auditory language acquisition)

• Intervention Strategies:

  • Early Intervention: Speech therapy, sign language, and communication devices can support language development.

  • Alternative Communication Systems: AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)

  • Supportive Learning Environments: Structured, consistent environments encourage language use and social interaction. (as well as emotional growth = multi-tiered system)

Advantages of Bilingualism

• Before age 3, children can easily acquire proficiency in multiple languages, with no harm to first-language development

• Executive Function Advantages (inhibitory control - both languages active in mind + bilinguals must inhibit other lang while practicing, cognitive flexibility)

• Comparable Overall Language Knowledge (may score low on monolingual tests, but combined vocabulary across languages often similar to monolingual peers)

• Piagetian Conservation Tasks: Stronger performance on logical reasoning tasks

• Nonverbal Intelligence Tasks: Enhanced selective attention & problem solving

• Metalinguistic Awareness: Greater ability to reflect on language structure → they think about language as a system, supporting academic + socialinguistic success

Social and Cultural Influence on Language Acquisition

• Social & Cultural Context

  • Communication styles vary by culture (direct vs indirect communication; adult-directed vs observational learning)

• Family Structure

  • Parent-child interaction patterns influence vocabulary

  • Extended family provides diverse language input, enriching language + social development

• Socioeconomic Status

  • Access to books & enriched input affects vocabulary

  • Language exposure differences influence complexity (resources impact this)

• Multilingual Contexts

  • Code-switching

  • Cross-language transfer (phonological awareness) (exposure to second lang also depends on quality + quantity)

  • Heritage-language instruction supports identity & academic outcomes

Language Policy & Instruction in Canada

• Canada is a multilingual nation

• Instructional Models

  • Core Language Programs

  • Language taught as subject (limited exposure)

• Immersion Programs

  • Content taught in second language

  • Early > Middle > Late immersion

  • Do not harm first-language development

  • Greater exposure = stronger expressive outcomes (especially stronger vocab)

• Newcomer & Refugee Supports

  • LEAP: Intensive literacy & numeracy bridging • Supports students with interrupted schooling (separate school)

  • ESL / FSL: Academic + conversational language development • Targets BICS → CALP progression

  • SWIS: School–family cultural mediation • Community integration support

• Heritage & Indigenous Language Programs (review)

  • Promote identity and collective self-esteem

  • Strengthen first-language skills

  • Support academic outcomes

  • Do not prevent acquisition of majority language

Q.1 What is the central developmental claim being made? (What is being argued about development, change, or risk?

Language development is shaped by interaction of multiple layers of context (macro = society, culture, policies & micro = daily interactions w caregivers), including:

• societal systems (policies, economics)

• cultural beliefs

• community environments

• everyday interactions with caregivers

6 main points:

• macro context influences language (society, culture, policies, SES, access to resources, opinions towards bilingualism)

• micro context - daily interactions key for language development (direct speech, engaging back-forth conversations, joint attention, shared activities) → not just hearing, but social interactions

• quality of language input > quantity (TV exposure limited - doesn’t teach child how to be expressive) → need interaction for language development (it may support language dev, but still very limited)

• children = active learners, not passive receivers → deduce statistical analysis for speech

• emphasized social interactions

• highlighted everyday important activities to support language development → speaking about your day, reading, dinner conversations, naming objects on your way

Q.2 What type of evidence is used? (Correlational, longitudinal, experimental, animal models, review?)

This paper is a theoretical review. It combined findings from:

• observational studies of parent-child interaction

• longitudinal research on language development

• sociocultural and environmental research

• developmental psychology studies

Q.3 What does the article not claim? (Where are the limits, cautions, or unresolved questions?)

It does NOT claim that:

• One factor alone determines language development.

• Language ability is fixed by genetics

• All children must learn language the same way

• One cultural communication style is superior

Q.4 How would this evidence be misused in the media or public discourse? (Correlation vs causation, overgeneralization, determinism)

• claiming one parenting style guarantees language success

• blaming families from different cultures for language delays

• confusing correlation with causation

• assuming differences reflect deficits rather than cultural variation

Q.5 Which developmental lens or theory helps interpret these findings best? (Biological, learning, cognitive, sociocultural, transactional)

• sociocultural and transactional perspectives (interactionist framework) + learning is also correct

Applied activities

• Example 1: A child says: “Yesterday I goed to the park.”

  • developmental phenomenon: overregularization

  • cognitive mechanism behind it: child has learned past-tense rule (-ed) + applying it productively, indicating rule-based grammar learning

  • age range: 3 yrs

• Example 2: A child sees a cow and says: “Dog!”

  • developmental phenomenon: overextension

  • cognitive mechanism behind it: child is using one known word for a broader category of similar objects, showing formation of semantic categories while vocabulary is still limited

  • age range: 2 yrs

• Example 3: A toddler says: “Mommy go work.”

  • developmental phenomenon: telegraphic speech

  • cognitive mechanism behind it: child combines content words but leaves out grammatical words, showing the child has begun syntactic structuring even before mastering full grammar

  • age range: 2 yrs

• Example 4: A parent points to a strange object and says: “This is a dax.”

  • developmental phenomenon: fast-mapping

  • cognitive mechanism behind it: child can learn a new word after few exposures, showing efficient vocabulary learning mechanisms

  • age range: 2 yrs