Child Language Acquisition Flashcards

Flashcards covering the stages of language acquisition from birth to age 5, based on lecture notes.

Nativism

The theory that language is innate and that all babies go through the same stages in the same order.

Crying

Expressing fear, hunger, or pain during the first few weeks of life.

Cooing

vowel sounds, Occurs when babies are approximately 6/8 weeks old.

Babbling

Mix of vowels and consonants ex. ‘ba’, ‘ma’, ‘ga’. Occurs around six months; these combinations often move on to reduplicated syllables such as ‘dada’.

Reduplication

Reduplicated syllables such as ‘dada’.

Phonemes

Sounds each letter and combination of letters in the alphabet make (phonics). There are 44 phonemes in the English language.

Phonemic expansion

During the babbling phase, the number of different phonemes produced by the child increases initially.

Phonemic contraction

By the age of about 9/10 months a reduction in the number of phonemes begins to occur.

Holophrastic

In language acquisition means “a single word that expresses a complete thought.

paralinguistic features

Nonverbal communication—pointing, clapping, facial expressions. They indicate a child’s willingness to use language

Telegraphic stage

Utterances of two-word stage—a noun and a verb.

Under-extension

Occurs when a word is given a narrower meaning than it has in adult language.

Over-extension

Is the opposite of under-extension. For example, the word ‘dog’ may be used for all four-legged animals.

Phonological Errors - Omission

Omitting the final consonant in words: “Do” instead of dog

Phonological Errors - Substitution

Substituting one sound for another (especially the harder sounds that develop later e.g. sh or th.) “Pip” instead of ship

Phonological Errors - Addition

Adding an extra vowel sound to the ends of words, creating a ‘cvcv’ (consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel) pattern– “doggie”

Phonological Errors - Assimilation

Changing one consonant or vowel for another (as in early plosive sounds) “Gog” for dog

Phonological Errors - Reduplication

Repeating a whole syllable–”Dada”, “Mama”

Phonological Errors - Consonant cluster reduction

Consonant clusters can be difficult to articulate, so children reduce them to smaller units– “Pider” instead of spider

Phonological Errors - Deletion of unstressed syllables

Omitting the opening syllable in polysyllabic words– “Nana” for banana

The ‘fis phenomenon’

A child's refusal to accept an adult's rendering of what the child has just said. Child says 'fis' but means 'fish'.

Post-telegraphic stage

Three to five years--continuing development. Use of connecting words, number words, family terms.

monologues

From about the age of two, children will talk to themselves about what they are doing, as they are doing it, including in imaginative play.

Virtuous Errors

Mistakes are termed virtuous errors (an oxymoronic meaning ‘good-wrong answer’) and are rightly celebrated for the skills they display.

Caretaker language/ Child directed speech (CDS) - phonology

Slower, clearer pronunciation, more pauses, higher pitch exaggerated intonation.

Caretaker language/ Child directed speech (CDS) - lexis

Simpler, restricted vocabulary, diminutive forms, concrete lexis referring to the child’s immediate surroundings.

Caretaker language/ Child directed speech (CDS) - grammar

Simpler construction, frequent use of imperatives (commands), lots of repetition, personal names instead of pronouns.

Expansion

The adult develops the utterance into a longer, more meaningful form. The child utters a word and the caretaker expands on the idea

Extensions

Take expansions a step further by adding more information to your child’s utterance.