Language Development Exam #1

_________ is the social use of language to interact with and form relationships with others, and it is also governed by a set of rules for appropriate social language use.

pragmatics

When we communicate messages to others, whether through spoken language, gestures, or a written message, this is referred to as:

expressive language

When we receive and interpret a message from someone else, we are using _________ skills

receptive language

The component of communication that includes the symbols that we use to communicate, including spoken and written words, sign language, and gestures is: 

language

Grammar is a part of the component of communication called ___________, which is the set of rules that govern the correct arrangement of words and phrases within sentences.

syntax

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning is referred to a:

morpheme

The component of communication that includes articulation, voice, fluency, intonation and rate is:

speech

T/F A person who doesn’t speak verbally can’t use language

false

The exchange of a message from a sender to a receiver is called:

communication

_________ is the component of communication related to vocabulary, and it allows a person to understand the meaning of words and how they relate to each other. 

semantics

On the continuum of the nature-vs.-nurture debate, the theory that would be most on the “nature” end is:

nativist

A response that follows a behavior and makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future is called:

reinforcement

According to the behaviorist view, ______________________ is the most important factor in language acquisition.

the environment

______________________ suggest that children have an innate ability to talk that is realized with minimal assistance from the environment.

Nativists

The theoretical innate language reservoir in the brain that is filled with information about the rules of language structure is called the

language acquisition device

On the continuum of the nature-vs.-nurture debate, the theory that would be most on the “nurture” side is __________________________________________.

behaviorist

According to the interactionist view, the child is more ______________________ in the process of acquiring language, whereas in the behaviorist view, the child is more ______________________ in the process of acquiring language.

active, passive

The theorist most closely associated with the behaviorist view of language development is _________________.

Skinner

The theorist most closely associated with the nativist/principles and parameters view of language development is _________________.

chomsky

T/F According to the nativist theory, each individual language is unique, and there are not general grammar rules that are universal to all languages.

False