Language, literacy & learning

Chapter 8

LANGUAGE

Communication system that uses a limited number of symbols that can be combined to produce messages

PRAGMATICS

Meaning in context of discourse

SEMANTICS

Literal meaning of phrases and sentences

SYNTAX

Phrases and sentences

MORPHOLOGY

Words

PHONOLOGY

Phonemes

PHONETICS

Speech sounds

The Universal Grammar hypothesis

All human languages language share some fundamental similarities. Humans have a unique genetic capacity for language.

E.g. “Colourless green ideas sleep furiously”

Grammatical structure must be innate - environmental factors not so important

Operant Conditioning

We learn language through positive reinforcement

Werker & Tees’ (1984)

Early perception influences speech production

Babies discriminate all sounds in the first year of life – but lose this ability around 1 and specialise in their own language

Infant-Directed Speech (IDS)

Exaggerates word length, hyper-articulated vowels, stress on rhythmic or prosodic aspects.

Prosody tells you where words begin and end

Infants prefer over adult-directed speech

Critical Period

A biological deadline during which language acquisition must occur in order for language to be learned properly

Learning another language in adulthood defies this - optimal period

Paul Broca

Linked speech difficulties to damage to left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)

Carl Wernicke

Damage to left superior temporal gyrus (STG) results in fluent language that is meaningless

Middle Temporal Gyrus

Inferior Temporal Gyrus (left)

Sound-meaning, lexical activation (Identifying a word and its meaning)

Superior Temporal Gyrus (bilateral)

Acoustic-phonetic mapping. All parts of “t” sound

Specific Language Impairment

Late talkers, may struggle to learn new words and make conversation, have difficulty using verbs

Strong genetic link - persists into adulthood

Basic components of literacy

Mastering a language system, understanding connections between sounds and their printed symbols, discriminating phonemes that make up words

Skilled readers

Understand the alphabetic principle, have a higher level of phonological awareness, read all the words

Unskilled Readers

Skip words or parts of words, have difficulty with phonology

Two broad approaches to reading instruction

The phonics approach& the whole-language approach.

Dyslexia

A severe reading difficulty that persists despite high- quality evidence-based instruction - no agreement on cut-off/diagnosis

-2

Response to Intervention Model

Focus on individual and interventions required rather than label

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD, CHOMSKY 1965)

Linguistic input feeds into Linguistic processing skills which generates A theory of language which determines Child's grammatical competence

Sounds infants prefer

Speech sounds

Formal (Adult Learning)

Structured, leads to recognized qualification.

Non-formal (Adult Learning)

Structured, may lead to ‘credits’ or professional development

Informal learning (Adult Learning)

Unstructured, non-institutional

Statistical learning

Human learners are sensitive to structure and patterns in our environment

Which reading approach does research support

The phonics approach

What in childhood, benefits adult skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT skills

home libraries - at least 80 books

beyond the benefit of parental education and college

Dyslexia independent of

IQ

Causes of dyslexia

Environmental (SES, parent’s education)

Genetic/biological

Sensory, Cognitive and Motor biomarkers (linguistic, visual, phonological skills)

Medical model

Identification of causes underlying dyslexia will lead to appropriately tailored intervention programmes

Response to Intervention Strategies

Understanding Assignments - audiobooks, graphic novels, extra reading time, provide assignments in advance

Written expression - offer dictation/speech-to-text apps, work on keyboard skills, find spelling strategy that is not memorisation

Tests - extra time, make clear what is assessed, typed class notes for students who cannot listen and write at the same time

Fast forward

Intervention aimed at remediating impairments in temporal processing (speech and reading problems)

No evidence as a effective treatment

Coloured Lenses for dyslexia

No evidence that they improve reading difficulties

Placebo effect?

Poor readers are at risk for

anxiety more than depression

How many adults in AUS/NZ have literacy/numeracy skills to meet demands of everyday life

50%

Age infants use one-word holophrases

12 months

Age infants use telegraphic speech

18 months

Phase metalinguistic awareness is developed

The child

Contributes to child high performance

Growth mindset & set learning goals (over performance goals)

Impacts achievement in adolescents

Quality of school, parental encouragement, peer values

Achievement drops in adolescents due to

Cognitive growth, family/community characteristics, low motivation, peer pressure, poor fit