Study Guide for SHH 300 Exam: Normal Language Development

STUDY GUIDE FOR SHH 300 EXAM: NORMAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

BLOCK 1: INFANT LEARNING (BIRTH TO 24 MONTHS)

This section focuses on how babies learn before they start speaking, which includes both cognitive development and early communication through gestures and sounds, leading eventually to word formation. Expect about 35 questions from this section.

1. Infant Learning: Cognitive Skills (Slides 4–14)

  • Babies learn by observing, interacting, and remembering rather than starting with words.

  • Their brains function like empty filing cabinets that are slowly filled with categories, referred to as schemas.

Key Terms & Ages:

  • Schemas

    • Definition: Mental folders created by experiences.

    • Age Range: Birth onwards

    • Example: A baby sees three dogs and starts forming the idea of what "dog" means.

    • Trick to Remember: "Schemas = brain folders"

  • Object Permanence

    • Definition: Knowing an object still exists when out of sight.

    • Age Range: Starts ~8 months; full understanding by ~24 months

    • Example: A baby still looks for a toy under a blanket after it disappears.

    • Trick to Remember: "Peek-a-boo = I still see you"

  • Causality

    • Definition: Understanding that actions can create effects.

    • Age Range: Starts ~8 months; full understanding by ~24 months

    • Example: Pushing a toy leads to the toy moving.

    • Trick to Remember: "Push it = boom!"

  • Means-End

    • Definition: Planning to achieve a goal.

    • Age Range: Starts ~8 months; full understanding by ~24 months

    • Example: A baby pulls a string to bring a toy closer.

    • Trick to Remember: "Means to an End"

  • Imitation

    • Definition: Copying someone else's actions.

    • Timings: Immediate imitation starts from 8-12 months; delayed imitation crosses over from 18-24 months

    • Example: A baby sees someone clap and claps later themselves.

    • Trick to Remember: "Monkey see, monkey do (later too)"

  • Symbolic Play

    • Definition: Pretending something represents something else.

    • Age Range: ~18-24 months

    • Example: Using a banana as a pretend phone.

    • Trick to Remember: "Play pretend"

  • Communication

    • Definition: Using gestures, vocal sounds, and eventually words.

    • Age Range: 8 months and onwards

    • Example: A baby points at a cup and says "ba".

    • Trick to Remember: "Point and grunt"

2. Infant Development Stages (Slides 15–24)

While the official names (perlocutionary, illocutionary, locutionary) aren’t tested, the actions that occur at each age are essential.

Timeline Table:

Age Range

What Happens

Birth–8 months

Reflexive actions occur with no intentional communication. Cries, makes noises, reacts to stimuli.

8–12 months

Intentional gestures and sounds develop; eye gaze, pointing, reaching to communicate.

12–18 months

First real words emerge, alongside some babbling. Examples include saying "dog" and "mama" while still developing speech.

18–24 months

Combines two words leading to a vocabulary boom of around 50 words such as "more juice" and "Mommy go".

2–7 years

Expanding speech capabilities, still reliant on adult support, while the theory of mind begins to develop.

7–11 years

Advanced language and reasoning capabilities develop, leading to less egocentric perspectives and improved social understanding.

3. Key Adult Strategies (Slides 25–32)

These strategies facilitate babies' language learning.

  • Infant-Directed Talk ("Parentese"):

    • Description: Characterized by an exaggerated tone, high pitch, and slower pace, which captures the baby’s attention.

  • Contingent Responding:

    • Description: The adult responds directly to the baby's actions (e.g., if the baby points, the adult labels the item).

  • Scaffolding:

    • Description: Adults simplify language and model words to assist the baby in understanding.

  • Expansion & Extension:

    • Description: Adults repeat what the baby says but add more detail.

    • Example: If the child says "Dog," the adult might expand by saying, "Big dog! Dog runs!"

BLOCK 2: BROWN STAGES 1–3 (GRAMMAR DEVELOPMENT)

This section describes how toddlers begin to utilize grammar, commencing when they could say approximately 50 words and start combining them. Expect about 20 questions on this section.

Grammar Concepts You Must Know (with examples):

Term

Meaning

Example

Noun

A person, place, thing, or idea

dog, car, happiness

Verb

Action or state of being

run, jump, is, have

Adjective

Describes a noun

big, red, happy

Adverb

Describes a verb or adjective

quickly, very, gently

Preposition

Shows location, time, or relation

in, on, under, before

Article

A type of determiner; signals a noun

a, an, the

Determiner

Comes before a noun, provides information

this, that, some

Lexical verb

A main verb carrying meaning

eat, go, play

Auxiliary verb

A helping verb that assists a main verb

is, have, do

Inflectional morpheme

A word ending that adds grammatical meaning

-s, -ed, -ing

How to Study This:

  • Focus on understanding the grammatical structures rather than merely matching ages to stages, as you’ll be given sentence examples and will need to identify the represented stage.

Brown Stage 1 (18–26 months):

  • Sentences: Majority consist of 1-2 words; sometimes 3. No grammar connectors are present.

    • Examples: "No dog" / "My toy" / "That ball"

  • Grammar Usage:

    • Nouns and some possessives (e.g., "my dog")

    • Basic verbs like "go" or "sit"

    • Begins utilization of negation (e.g., "no juice")

    • May use prepositions such as