SLP 329 (ch 1-12) ORAL questions

What characteristics are necessary for an utterance to be considered a true word?

the child's utterance must have a phonetic relationship to some adult word. the child must use the word consistently the word must occur in the presence of a referent, thus implying an underlying concept or meaning

What are the six pragmatic categories that describe the general purposes of language?

Verbal-gestural communication may be used to control others or a situation, to discuss entities and gain more information, to express feelings and attitudes, to greet and interact, to practice language, and to direct or control communication.

What is presupposition?

the assumption that the listener knows or does not know certain information that a child, as a speaker, must include or delete from the conversation

What is the "vocabulary spurt" and when does it happen?

rapid rise in the rate of language acquisition between 18 and 24 months

What is the principle of mutual exclusivity?

the child thinks one word refers to only one thing. if a word already names something, it probably doesn't name something else. from the textbook: "if the word means X, it can't mean Y or Z"

Name and give examples of the three general types of overextensions.

Overinclusions: occur when child uses a word to label to referent in a related category; saying "baby" for all children, "hot" for hot and cold, "dada" for both parents

Analogical overextensions: include use of a word to label a referent based on inferred perceptual, functional, or affective similarity; saying "pizza"

Predicate statements: occur when name of something is related to the action of that object or the reverse; might refer to the toilet as "peepee" or say "key" for opening the door

Describe deceleration and acceleration as the terms refer to bilingualism.

Deceleration: occurs when phonological development emerges at a slower rate in bilingual children than in monolingual children; interaction between two languages may interfere with acquisition of some linguistic features and thus result in poorer linguistic skills in bilinguals compared with monolinguals Acceleration: some aspects of language may be accelerated because interaction between the two languages of bilingual children facilitates the acquisition process and thus results in superior linguistic skills in bilinguals compared to monolinguals

Why might it be the case that although children who were part of a cross-language adoption have comparable language skills at preschool compared to their peers, they begin to demonstrate language difficulties during school age?

Although preschool language skills are comparable to those of nonadopted peers, adopted children have more language difficulties during school age. This may be due to the increasing language and metalinguistic demands of the school years or the latent effects of preadoption care, given that many children who are adopted previously resided in institutions for orphans.

How do preschool boys and girls differ in their use of "no"?

Preschool boys are more likely than girls to use the word no to correct or prohibit a peer's behavior. Girls use no more to reject or deny a play mates proposition or suggestion.

How is the register of politeness achieved?

It is achieved by using polite words (please, thank you), a softer tone of voice, and more indirect requests (May I have a cookie please?) instead of (Gimme a cookie).

What are the possible sources of stalls?

The sources of stalls are heterogeneous and may result from planning problems that leave a speaker temporarily with nothing to articulate, from an inability to rapidly retrieve lexical items, or from covert speech repairs.

What are three things that cause difficulty in learning deictic terms?

Point of reference, shifting reference and shifting boundaries

The manner of storytelling varies with culture. What is the focus of narratives of Chinese children?

The narratives of Chinese children focus more on social interaction, morals, and authority, emphasizing proper behavior and moral character, than those of American children, who reflect individualism through character autonomy and a personal perspective.

What two strategies do children use when organizing narratives?

Centering is the linking of entities to form a story nucleus. Links may be based on similarity of features Chaining consists of a sequence of events that share attributes and lead directly from one to another

In American English, what is the typical order of "participants"?

Agent before patient

What factors seem to predict later speech/language impairments among preschool children?

Male gender Ongoing hearing problems A more reactive temperament, consisting of responding negatively to frustration such as having tantrums

What are five phonological processes used during the preschool years?

Fronting, gliding, stopping, final consonant deletion, cluster reduction

How can MLU be useful to SLPs despite its drawbacks?

It can be useful because it is a moderately good measure of the complexity of the language of young English-speaking children. Up to an MLU of 4.0 increases in MLU correspond to increases in utterance complexity. Above 4.0, growth in utterance length slows considerably and individual variation increases, resulting in MLU becoming a less reliable measure.

What is "U-shaped" development?****

They describe this developmental pattern regarding irregular past-tense verbs. Children first learn a small subset of irregular verbs individually (e.g., came, went). Later, they appear to "lose" this correct form as they overextend the regular past -ed marker (producing forms like eated or goed). Finally, they master both regular and irregular forms in most contexts, usually by 46 months

Why does acquisition of the English plural marker require phonological learning?

Acquisition of the English plural marker requires phonological learning because the plural has different sound forms (/s/, /z/, /əz/). Children must learn the phonological rules that determine which form is used. Phonological context and the child's phonological abilities also affect how easily these endings are learned.

How is new versus old information marked with "a" and "the"?

New information is marked with "a," while "the" is used to signal old or shared information that the listener already knows.

What are the three earliest prepositions?

The three earliest prepositions are typically in, on, and to.

What are three factors that affect a child's ability to answer questions?

A preschool child's ability to answer questions is influenced by both the type of question and the verb in the question. A third factor is the amount of information requested.

Define the phonological process of reduplication and give an example.

One syllable becomes the same as another in the word, resulting in the reduplicated structure Ex: wawa for water

Define the phonological process of epenthesis and give an example.

Vowel insertion, producing both consonants with a vowel between them Ex: tree → teree

Name and define the four narrative genres.

1. The recount tells about past experiences in which a child participated or observed or about which a child read and is usually requested by an adult. 2. The eventcast is an explanation of some current or anticipated event and may be used to direct others in imaginative play sequences, as in You're the daddy; and you pretend to get dressed; you're going to take the baby to the zoo 3. Accounts are highly individualized spontaneous narratives in which children share their experiences ("You know what?") and thus are not reporting information requested by adults. 4. Stories, although fictionalized and with seemingly endless content variation, have a known and anticipated pattern or structure in which the main character must overcome some problem or challenge.

How does the purpose of "and" in narratives change as children mature?

Children gradually learn to link events in linear fashion and, only later, with casual connectives. Generally by age 6, children's narratives gain casual coherence. The conjunction continues to be used as frequently in the narratives of 9 year olds as it was in those of preschoolers. The purpose seems to be cohesion (And then...And then...) rather than conjoining (clause+and+clause)

What is story grammar?

Form and narrative framework, the internal structure of a story.

How are complete episodes and complex episodes different?

Complete episodes contain an entire goal-oriented behavioral sequence consisting of a consequence statement and two of the following: initiating event, internal response, and attempt. Complete episodes: setting statement (S); two of the following; initiating event (IE), internal response (IR), or attempt (A); + direct consequence (DC) Complex episodes are expansions of the complete episode or contain multiple episodes. Complex episodes (multiple episodes): setting statement (S); two of the following; initiating event (IE1); internal response (IR1), or attempt (A1); direct response (DC1); followed by another episode

How are first-graders' responses to adult versus peer questions different?

When speaking with peers, a child makes more nonlinguistic noises and exact petition and engages in more ritualized play. With adults, a child uses different codes for his parents and for those outside the family.

How does a 9-year-old repair conversational breakdown?

A 9 year old provides additional input for the listener or addresses the perceived source of breakdown by defining terms, providing more background context, and talking about the process of conversational repair.

How might figurative expressions be learned, stored, and processed?

A figurative language may be learned and stored as a large single lexical item just as a word is learned and stored rather than as individual words within the expression. Figurative language may be processed in simultaneous but separate processes.

Why are passive sentences difficult for English-speaking children to produce and understand?

Passive sentences are troublesome, both receptively and expressively, for English speaking children in large part because of the syntactic form.

Name the three types of passives.

Reversible, instrumental nonreversible, and agentive nonreversible

What is an example of a morphophonemic change?

Morphophonemic changes are phonological or sound modifications that result when morphemes are placed together. EXAMPLE: the final /k/ in electric changes to /s/ in electricity.

How are reading and writing different from speech?

In addition to the obvious physical difference, reading and writing lack the give and take of conversation, are more permanent, lack the paralinguistic features (stress, intonation, fluency, etc.) of speech, have their own vocabulary and grammar, and are processed in a different manner.

What are the two aspects of metacognition that are important for reading?

Self-appraisal: knowledge of one's own cognitive processes and how you are using them Executive Function: self regulation and includes the ability to attend; to set reasonable goals; to plan and organize to achieve each goal; to initiate, monitor, and evaluate one's performance in relation to the goal; and to revise plans and strategies based on feedback.

How can information processing theory help to explain how automaticity develops?

Information processing theory helps explain automaticity because "each word has a switchboard that activates all the visual, auditory, and semantic features of that word. If a reader has enough information from these features, the information is automatically presented to the other parts of the system for processing."

What are the three components of a syllable?

A syllable consists of an onset (the beginning consonant or consonants), a nucleus (the vowel), and a coda (the ending consonant or consonants).

What is the major shift in reading around 3rd grade?

In third grade, the child is expected to use silent independent reading and to use reading texts in different content areas. There is a shift from learning to read to reading to learn.

What are some examples of preliterate attempts at spelling?

Preliterate attempts at spelling include scribbles and drawings with occasional letters, invented spelling using letter names or sounds, spelling words as they are pronounced, and omitting or simplifying letters in words.

What are the ways the adolescent/adult brain continues to change?

Myelination or nerve sheathing is not complete until early adulthood/ dendritic pruning or timing, begun in utero and important in increasing neural efficiency, continues into adolescence in higher-order cognitive areas, such as the angular gyrus. In healthy brains engaged in simple tasks, such as naming, we find that brain activation continues to increase into the senior years in Broca's and Wernicke's areas as well as the correspondingly similar area to Broca's in the right hemisphere.

What is professional jargon?

Most adults have jobs that require specific language skills - talking on the phone, writing, giving directives or terminology.

What are the three levels of text comprehension?

Surface text or wording Meaning or content Integration of the text with one's own background knowledge

What three factors determine whether adults use style shifting?

Social distance Context Listener feedback

What is social-indexical knowledge?

Social-indexical knowledge is related to the styles of talking. It includes knowing how linguistic variability conveys or is perceived to convey a speaker's membership in different social groups.

What are the three characteristics of language?

Symbolic (words represent ideas), rule-governed (patterned by grammar), and generative/creative (can produce novel messages).

What are the five parameters of language?

Phonology (sound system), morphology (word parts), syntax (sentence rules), semantics (meaning), pragmatics (use in context).

Describe the deficit approach and the sociolinguistic approach as they relate to dialects.

Deficit: nonstandard dialects are seen as "incorrect/deficient." Sociolinguistic: dialects are systematic, rule-governed varieties tied to identity and social context.

Name at least four reasons for the worldwide loss of languages.

Globalization/pressure from dominant languages, economic incentives, schooling in majority languages, migration/urbanization, political suppression, mass media dominance (any 4).

Briefly explain how we know speech is not an essential feature of language.

Signed languages are full languages with grammar and natural acquisition, showing language can exist without speech.

What is communicative competence?

The ability to use language appropriately for different listeners, settings, and goals (socially effective language use).

Briefly describe ways nonlinguistic cues can convey information.

Gaze, facial expression, gesture, posture, timing/pauses, and tone/intonation signal intent, emotion, emphasis, and social meaning.

What is the difference between linguistic competence and linguistic performance?

Competence is internal knowledge of language; performance is actual use, influenced by memory/attention/stress and context.

What are the three reasons speakers can generate infinite sentences from finite resources?

Recursion/embedding, combinatorial rules of syntax, and productivity (reusable word categories/morphology create endless combinations).

Define morphemes, free morphemes, and bound morphemes.

A morpheme is the smallest meaning/grammatical unit. Free morphemes stand alone (dog). Bound morphemes must attach (-s, un-).

What is the difference between distributional and sequencing rules in phonology?

Distributional rules govern where sounds can occur; sequencing rules govern allowable sound combinations/order.

What are the four maxims of the Cooperative Principle?

Quantity, Quality, Relation (Relevance), and Manner.

What is the difference between style shifting and code switching?

Style shifting changes formality within one language/variety; code switching switches between languages or distinct varieties.

What are the major racial and ethnic dialects in the U.S.?

Commonly: African American English, Chicano/Latino English, Native American English varieties, Asian American English varieties.

Name at least two goals of child language research.

Explain how language develops and what influences it (biology, input, cognition, social interaction); also informs assessment/intervention.

In one sentence, what is the Generative approach?

Language acquisition relies on innate structure (Universal Grammar) that helps children build grammar beyond what input alone provides.

What is the language acquisition device (LAD) and how do children use it?

LAD is a proposed innate mechanism that lets children infer grammatical rules/structure from the language they hear.

In the Generative approach, what are the two components of language acquisition?

Innate constraints/Universal Grammar plus environmental input/experience that triggers and shapes grammar development.

Briefly, what is child-directed speech (CDS/IDS)?

Speech to children that is often slower, higher-pitched, more repetitive, simpler, and responsive to support interaction and learning.

Name and describe the function of the two general cognitive processes children use to construct abstractions in language.

Categorization (grouping similar forms/meanings) and pattern/statistical learning (tracking regularities to infer rules).

What are the two typical methods of data collection in expressive language-development studies?

Naturalistic sampling (spontaneous speech) and structured elicitation/experimental prompting.

What are at least three drawbacks of structured collection methods?

Less natural speech, task demands can distort ability, may miss spontaneous skills, and can be affected by child motivation/anxiety (any 3).

What is the goal of language studies in regard to variability?

To explain systematic variation across speakers/contexts and what it reveals about learning, processing, and social meaning.

What is the observer paradox?

People change how they speak because they know they are being observed/recorded.

What are the four steps of information processing?

Attention, Discrimination, Organization, Memory

What are the three components of a neuron and their functions?

Dendrites receive signals; soma/cell body integrates; axon transmits signals to other neurons.

What are the components of the brainstem and what general function do they serve?

Midbrain, pons, medulla; support basic life functions, arousal, and relay pathways between brain and body.

Name the components of the cerebellum, discuss its functions, and describe its feedback loop.

Cerebellar hemispheres/vermis (and deep nuclei); coordinates timing and error correction, including speech motor control; interacts with cortex via thalamic relay feedback loops.

What are the three types of fiber tracts in the brain and what do they connect?

Association (within hemisphere), transverse (between hemispheres), projection (cortex to subcortical/spinal).

What are the three basic brain functions and areas involved?

Regulation (located in the reticular formation of the brainstem), processing (posterior of cortex). And formulation (in the frontal lobe)

In which language functions does the right hemisphere play a large role?

Prosody/intonation, pragmatics, discourse/narrative coherence, figurative language, emotional tone.

Name at least four factors that influence activated regions for language.

Task demands, proficiency/experience, age, bilingualism, working memory load, modality (speech/reading), injury/compensation (any 4).

Discuss the functions for which Broca's area is important.

Speech production planning, sequencing, syntactic processing, and aspects of verbal working memory.

Describe three steps involved in language production.

Conceptualize message → formulate (lexicon/grammar/phonology) → articulate.

What are the interactive mechanisms in working memory and their functions?

Phonological loop (sound info), visuospatial sketchpad (visual/spatial), central executive (attention/control), episodic buffer (integration with long-term memory).

What is the difference between near transfer and far transfer?

Near transfer is when you use something you learned to solve a very similar new problem. Far transfer is using something you learned and applying it to whole new situation.

Name and describe the two subprocesses of adaptation.

Assimilation: fit new info into existing contexts; accommodation: change context to fit new info.

What is the progression of the development of fetal sensation?

Touch>Hearing>Taste>Smell>Vision

In regard to brain structure, describe "local architecture" and "global architecture."

Local architecture refers to microcircuits/synapses/neurons within a region; Global architecture refers to large-scale networks and connections between brain regions.

Name at least four factors that can disrupt expression of genes.

Toxins/alcohol/drugs, malnutrition, stress, infection/illness, prematurity, lack of stimulation (any 4).

What are sensitive periods and why are they important?

Windows of heightened plasticity when experience has stronger, lasting effects on development.

How is information transferred to long-term memory?

In order to transfer info to long term memory you need to rehearse it while integrating it with what you already know. (Integrative Rehearsal)

Speech perception at 6 months is significantly correlated with which skills?

Later language outcomes, especially vocabulary growth and broader language/phonological skills.

How does syllable stress contribute to memory?

Stress highlights prominent units and helps segmentation, creating stronger stored patterns for word-like chunks.

What are phonotactic regularities and phonotactic probabilities?

Regularities are the rules for which sound combinations are allowed, and probabilities are how common those sound combinations are in the language.

Describe the difference between reflexive and vegetative sounds.

Vegetative: physiological noises (burp/hiccup). Reflexive: automatic reactions (cry/cough) that can become communicative.

What is the difference between quasi-resonant nuclei and fully-resonant nuclei?

Quasi-resonant: early vowel-like sounds with limited control; fully-resonant: clearer, stable vowel-like sounds with more vocal-tract control.

What are the speech characteristics of infants with deafness?

Early vocalizations may occur, but without hearing themselves, their babbling usually becomes less varied and changes over time.

What is the difference between reduplicated and variegated babbling?

Reduplicated repeats syllables (bababa); variegated mixes syllables (badaga).

What are the six techniques parents use to create opportunities for children to communicate?

phasing, adaptive, facilitative, elaborative, initiating, and control

What is a newborn's visual and auditory preference?

Visual: faces/face-like patterns. Auditory: human voices, often caregiver's voice.

Importance of routines and games for communication?

They create predictable turn-taking and repeated shared contexts that support early interaction and language learning.

How does a mother maintain optimal infant wakefulness?

By adjusting stimulation (voice, touch, movement) to infant cues—keeping engagement without overstimulation.

What does a caregiver's responding teach an infant?

That the infant's signals are meaningful and can influence others, supporting shared attention and regulation.