Chapter 7 (M36)

Module 36- Thinking & Language

  • Language: our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Structural Components of Language

  • Phoneme: in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

  • Morpheme: in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of a word (prefix, suffix)

  • Grammar: in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with & understand others

Noam Chomsky

  • Universal grammar: A built-in predispostion to learn grammar rules

  • Language acquisition device: a hypothetical tool in the human brain that lets children learn & understand language quickly

  • Early language acquisition:

    • Children’s language development moves from simplicity to complexity. By 4 months, babies can recognize differences in speech sounds

Babbling Stage

  • Begins around 4 months

  • Infant utters various sounds (phonemes)

One Word Stage

  • Age 1-2

  • Speaking mostly in single words

  • Naming explosion: a time where kids get rapid growth of words (nouns)

Two Word Stage

  • 18 months

  • learning of language explodes from a word per week to a word per day

  • consists of nouns and verbs

  • Their speech follows syntax, arranging words in a sensible order

  • The two-word stage prod. sentences in which a child speaks like a telegram (“go car”) — referred to as telegraphic speech

Critical Period of Language Development

  • By the age of 2-3, you need to be exposed to language. If not, you will probably have a hard time.

  • Critical period hypothesis: Language will develop readily until about the age of 5. After the age of 5, it becomes more difficult. By the age of 7, children lose ability to master any language.

Aphasia

  • Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speech) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)

Benjamin Lee Whorf

  • Contended that “language itself shapes a person’s basic ideas”

  • His hypothesis of linguistic determination proposed that language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us