Communicative Competence

What are the main components of language?

Phonology, lexicon, grammar, and communicative competence.

What is phonology?

The system of sounds and sound patterns in a language.

What is the lexicon?

The words and meanings in a language.

What is morphology?

The system for combining words and word parts.

What is syntax?

The system of sentence formation.

What is communicative competence?

The ability to use language appropriately in social interactions.

What is pragmatics?

The rules for using language in conversation.

What is a speech act?

An utterance that performs a function, such as promising, requesting, or arguing.

What are the three components of a speech act?

Illocution, locution, and perlocution.

What is illocutionary force?

The intended function or purpose of an utterance.

What is locution?

The linguistic form or actual words spoken.

What is perlocution?

The effect an utterance has on the listener.

What is intentionality?

Communicating with the purpose of conveying a message.

Is all communication intentional?

No. Behaviors can communicate information without the person intending to.

What is an example of unintentional communication?

Sneezing can signal allergies without intending to communicate that information.

What characterizes children's initial vocalizations?

They initially lack communicative intent.

What is the perlocutionary phase of speech act development?

Birth–10 months: behavior has consequences but lacks communicative intent.

What is the illocutionary phase of speech act development?

10–12 months: behavior has communicative goals but does not use language forms.

What is the locutionary phase of speech act development?

12 months and older: behavior has communicative intentions and adult-like forms.

When does intentional communication emerge?

Gradually; research has found evidence as early as 6 months.

Is there a clear boundary between intentional and unintentional communication?

No. Intentional communication emerges gradually.

What are signs of intentional communication?

Eye contact, consistent gestures, pausing for responses, and persisting when misunderstood.

What is a ritualized gesture?

A consistent gesture or vocalization used to communicate a particular meaning.

How do prelinguistic infants communicate?

They use sounds and gestures to convey multiple meanings.

How does communication expand during the second year?

Children produce more intentional acts and develop more ways to communicate.

What is the expanding reach of speech?

By 24 months, children discuss absent objects, past and future events, and imagination.

What are the two major types of discourse development?

Conversations and narratives.

What are Grice's four conversational maxims?

Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner.

What is Grice's maxim of Quantity?

Provide as much information as required, but not too much or too little.

What is Grice's maxim of Quality?

Be truthful and accurate; do not say things without evidence.

What is Grice's maxim of Relation?

Be relevant to the conversation.

What is Grice's maxim of Manner?

Be clear, brief, orderly, and unambiguous.

What is egocentrism in early conversation?

Difficulty considering another person's point of view.

What did Piaget call children's early conversations?

Collective monologues.

What was Piaget's view of children's early conversations?

Children cannot yet engage in true conversations because they focus on their own perspectives.

What was Vygotsky's view of children's early conversations?

Private speech intrudes into children's early conversations.

What is private speech?

Speech children direct toward themselves rather than toward another person.

What is scaffolding?

Temporary support from more competent people that helps children reach higher-level thinking.

How do parents scaffold early conversations?

They provide support that helps children participate in conversations and narratives.

When are conversation partners most helpful?

When they share knowledge with the child, ask questions, and are motivated.

Can peers and siblings help conversational development?

Yes, although they generally provide less high-quality input than more helpful conversation partners.

Why is turn-taking difficult for young children?

They must learn when to speak and when to let another person speak.

What are fillers in conversation?

Words such as "uh," "um," and "you know" that signal the speaker is not finished.

What is back-channel feedback?

Responses such as "uh-huh," "right," and "I see" that indicate comprehension.

What is skilled interrupting?

Interrupting appropriately without disrupting the conversation.

What makes turn-taking more difficult?

Multiple speakers, texting, and communication that is not in real time.

How does topic initiation change between birth and age 2?

Children initiate more topics and shift from nonverbal to verbal topic changes.

What topics do young children initially talk about?

Themselves, then their immediate environment, then absent or intangible things.

What is a non-contingent response?

A response that introduces a new topic unrelated to the previous conversation.

What is an imitative response?

A response that maintains the current topic but adds no new information.

What is a contingent response?

A response that maintains the current topic and adds new information.

What is a contextually contingent response?

A response that provides relevant information but is not necessarily linguistically connected.

Which Grice maxim is especially related to contingent responding?

Relation, because the response must be relevant to the conversation.

What is sustaining a topic?

Producing relevant or contingent conversational turns.

How is MLU related to sustaining a topic in the lecture?

Higher MLU is associated with producing more related utterances.

What is message repair?

Changing or repeating a message when someone misunderstands it.

What do children ages 1–3 typically do when misunderstood?

Repeat their utterance.

What do children ages 3–5 typically do when misunderstood?

Revise their utterance.

When do children improve messages more effectively?

When they notice the communication problem themselves.

What do children initially believe about communication?

They may believe that if a message is heard, it has automatically been understood.

Why does message repair take time to develop?

Children must learn that their words do not automatically communicate their intended meaning.

What is narrative development?

The development of children's ability to tell stories about events.

How do parents scaffold narrative development?

They ask questions and provide support that helps children organize and explain events.

What is elaborative scaffolding?

Adults ask leading questions that help children move a narrative forward.

What is repetitive scaffolding?

Adults repeatedly ask for the same kind of information.

What are the benefits of elaborative scaffolding?

It helps children tell richer narratives immediately and develop better narrative skills over time.

What did research on elaborative scaffolding find about 2-year-olds?

Children whose parents asked elaborative questions at age 2 told better narratives at age 3.

What can 3-year-olds do in narrative development?

Mention past activities during conversations.

What can 6-year-olds do in narrative development?

Tell real stories with characters, settings, conflict, and resolution.

Does narrative development stop during early childhood?

No. It continues throughout the school years.

Why are narratives cognitively demanding?

They require children to organize events and use sophisticated language.

What helps children produce better narratives?

Pictures, external support, and describing personally meaningful events.

What is sociolinguistic development?

Learning to use language appropriately in different social situations.

What is language socialization?

Learning to use language in ways consistent with one's social group.

What are registers?

Styles of language use associated with particular contexts or settings.

How do children initially acquire accents and dialects?

They acquire features of their parents' and immediate family's speech.

Whose accents do children often adopt during school years?

Their peers' accents.

What ages are children especially influenced by peers' speech?

Approximately ages 4–14.

Why do people change their accents or dialects?

To express solidarity with a particular social group.

What did Eckert (1988) find?

Detroit teens in different social groups at the same school used different accents.

What did Hewitt (1983) find?

Black teens of Caribbean descent in London shifted toward a British Jamaican accent during adolescence.

How do 4-year-olds change their speech when talking to babies?

They use shorter and less complex sentences than when talking to adults.

Are 4-year-olds as effective as adults at adjusting speech to babies?

No. They modify their speech less than adults do.

How do bilingual children accommodate conversation partners?

They switch or mix languages depending on their conversation partner's language habits.

What did Genesee and Nicoladis (2007) find?

2- and 3-year-old bilinguals switched between French and English or mixed them depending on their partners.

What is a direct request?

A request that explicitly states what the speaker wants.

What is an indirect request?

A request that communicates what the speaker wants less explicitly.

Which is generally perceived as more polite: direct or indirect requests?

Indirect requests.

What did Bates (1976) find about politeness?

Children as young as 3 used more indirect requests when asked to request something nicely.

How does age affect children's request forms?

Older children use a wider variety of request forms.

How do children adjust politeness?

They vary requests depending on the status of their listener.

How do parents teach situationally appropriate language?

Through indirect input and direct instructions about what, how, and when to speak.

What did Becker (1994) study?

Parent input about politeness during dinnertime conversations.

What are examples of direct parental instructions about language?

Saying please, adjusting volume, knowing when to speak, and staying on topic.

Why is communicative competence important in real life?

Children are judged by peers and adults, affecting academic and social success.

Why is communicative competence important for academic achievement?

Children need appropriate classroom behavior, interaction skills, and the ability to communicate their thoughts.

What factors contribute to individual differences in language development?

Language input, genetics, personality, prior language experience, gender, and birth order.

What gender-related language patterns did the lecture describe?

Boys were described as more assertive; girls as more polite and cooperative.

What narrative patterns did the lecture associate with gender?

Boys' narratives involved more conflict and action; girls' narratives described more stable relationships.

What are important considerations about gender differences in language?

Effect sizes are smaller than expected, individual differences exist, and social pressures influence development.