Language Development Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering key concepts and vocabulary related to language development.

Phonology

The study of the sounds of a language.

Morphology

The study of the formation of words.

Syntax

The set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences.

Semantics

The study of meanings of words and sentences.

Pragmatics

The use of language in different social situations.

Behaviorism

A theory that views language acquisition as a product of environmental influences and reinforcement.

Nativism

A theory that suggests infants are innately wired to learn language.

Interactionism

A theory that proposes language development occurs through the interaction of biological readiness and social interaction.

Statistical Learning

A theory that postulates infants use their exposure to spoken language to identify patterns and probabilities in adult speech.

Aphasia

A disorder that affects communication abilities, often due to brain damage.

Preverbal Communication

The early stage of communication in infants, which includes crying, cooing, and babbling.

The 30-Million-Word Gap

The disparity in the number of words heard by children from higher- versus lower-SES families by age 4.

Dyslexia

A learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds.

Brain Localization

Language processing primarily resides in the left hemisphere, Broca’s area (speech production) and Wernicke’s area (speech comprehension) being the critical region

Broca’s Aphasia

Damage impairs speech, but comprehension remains

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Damage impairs both comprehension and speech

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of language?

Audiology

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Damage impairs both comprehension and Speech

Early sound discrimination

Infants are born with the ability to distinguish all language sounds, but this narrows to their native language’s sounds by 10-12 months

Impact of Language Development

Focusing on native language sounds aids later lanugage devlopment

Crying

Immeditely after birth

Cooing

Between 2 and 3 months

One-syllable sounds

Between 4-6 months

Repetitive babbles (bababa)

Around 6 months

Canonical babbles

Before 10 months

Joint attention

The shared focus of two individuals on an object or event

Pointing

A way of communicating before words develop, helpful in identifying joint attention skills

Gestures

Often precede related words by few months, resulting in some parents to teach sign language

What stage of development occurs between 4 and 6 months

One syllable sounds

Constraints

Assumptions that language learners use to narrow down possible meanings of new words, helping them learn language more efficiently

Whole object bias

The assumption that words lead to an entire object, rather than just a portion of it

Mutual exlusivity constraint

The assumption that there is only one name for an object

Taxonomic constraint

The assumption that a new word can be extended to label other objects of like kind

Egocentric Speech

By age 3, children use complex sentences and morphemes, but often exhibit egocentric speech and do not consider the listener’s perspective (Piaget)

Private vs. Social Speech

Vygotsky proposed that children’s speech divides into social (communication) and private (self-directed) speech, with private speech becoming internalized as thought

Advanced Language Skills

Discourse skills develop, helping the child understand logical coherence in narratives and make inferences

Metalinguistic Awareness

Children begin to consciously think about language and can appreciate the sound of words independent of their meaning

Teen Language

Adolescent speech mixes maturing grammar with slang, serving crucial social functions like bonding and identity formation

Regarding early childhood language, Vygotsky…

Proposed that children’s speech divides into social (communication) and private (self-directed) speech, with private speech becoming internalized as thought

Emergent Literacy

Early skills that prepare a child for reading and writing

Dialogic reading

A technique in which an adult and child look at a book together while the adult asks questions and encourages dialogue

Phonics approach

A reading approach that teaches children to combine basic elemnts like letters and phonemes into words

Whole Language Approach

A reading approach that emphasizes understanding the meaning of a word from the context in which it appears