(8) Language Development

Question 1

What is Communication?

Answer 1

not necessarily verbal, can be facial expressions and body language

Question 2

What is Language?

Answer 2

communication system, has combined units

Question 3

What is Expressive language?

Answer 3

production

Question 4

What is Receptive language?

Answer 4

comprehension

Question 5

What is Phonology?

Answer 5

sound and the rules by which they are combined, prosody, intonation, tone, stress, rhythm

Question 6

What is Semantics?

Answer 6

Word meanings and word combinations, vocabulary and beyond

Question 7

What is Grammar?

Answer 7

Morphology – root words, prefixes and suffixes, parts of words which change the meaning e.g., grammatical markers –ed, Syntax – rules that govern how words are combined to make sentences

Question 8

What is Pragmatics?

Answer 8

Appropriate and effective communication, social use of language, using language in contextually appropriate ways, nonliteral meaning, the way we use language

Question 9

Skinner and Bandura believed…

Answer 9

• Language is learnt
• Imitation and reinforcement
• However, children don’t hear all of the language that they produce

Question 10

What does (Pinker, 1994) believe?

Answer 10

Reinforcement for incorrect as well as correct utterances

Question 11

What did Chomsky believe?

Answer 11

• Nativist approach: language is innate, species specific

- Focus on grammar

Question 12

What is a Language acquisition device (LAD)? (Chomsky)

Answer 12

innate system that allows child to produce and comprehend grammatically consistent sentences

Question 13

What is a LASS: language acquisition support system?

Answer 13

A collection of strategies and tactics that environment influences, initially, a child’s parents or caregivers, provide to the language-learning child

Question 14

What does a LAD include?

Answer 14

• LAD contains universal grammar, rules common to all languages
• Children acquire grammar spontaneously and with limited exposure to language

Question 15

What evidence is there for nativism?

Answer 15

• Children learn language quickly and well
• Children learn language even when input is limited (deaf children)
• There is a time when children are biologically predisposed to learn language (critical period)
• The brain: is specialised for language, younger children recover better to brain damage

Question 16

How can deaf children communicate?

Answer 16

In the absence of systematic sign language input, children spontaneously develop communication systems with vocabulary and syntax

Question 17

What are Pidgins?

Answer 17

creoles parents to children (Bikerton, 2008)

-Simplified language, mixture of two or more simplified languages

Question 18

What are Creole?

Answer 18

stable natural language, develops from a pidgin and becomes a friend language for children

Question 19

What evidence is there for the critical period and language?

Answer 19

• Genie never acquired normal language
• Neglected at childhood
• Minimal exposure to language but did learn language

Question 20

What is a Broca?

Answer 20

grammatical processing and speech production (area in the brain)

Question 21

What is a Wernicke?

Answer 21

lexical comprehension (area in the brain)

Question 22

What are language functions associated with?

Answer 22

Language functions more associated with left and right hemisphere

Question 23

What is left-localisation associated with?

Answer 23

Left-localisation is associated with effective language processing but it is not necessary

Question 24

Can animals acquire language?

Answer 24

With training in sign language or artificial language (visual symbols) animals can acquire vocabulary: chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, parrots, dolphins

Question 25

What are the key evaluation points to Chomsky?

Answer 25

- Grammar innately determined? This is inconsistent with the learning and experimentation that we see as children develop e.g. errors that children make suggest that learning occurs and is gradual, not just switched on - Ignores the quality of the language input - Doesn’t consider pragmatic or social influences on language development

Question 26

What is the social interactionist approach?

Answer 26

- Drive to understand/communicate and rich language environment combine to learning language - Therefore, social competency and language experiences shape development

Question 27

How can infants perceive speech before words?

Answer 27

Infant methods (head turn, novelty, familiarity)

Question 28

What is a Phoneme?

Answer 28

- smallest sound unit that can signal a change in meaning e.g. ‘pa’ vs ‘ba’ - Phonemes are different across different languages

Question 29

When does an infant coo?

Answer 29

Cooing – 2 months, vowel sounds

Question 30

When does an infant babble?

Answer 30

Babbling – 6 months: consonant vowel, universal timing, range expands

Question 31

What is Joint attention?

Answer 31

children and adult attending to the same object, often with labels/language, important for language and social development

Question 32

What is proto-imperative?

Answer 32

getting someone else to do something (e.g., give me that)

Question 33

What is Proto-declarative?

Answer 33

bring object to others attention

Question 34

What is Under extensions?

Answer 34

too narrow, e.g. only calling your own cat a cat

Question 35

What are Over extensions?

Answer 35

too broad, e.g. calling all men 'dad'

Question 36

What is Expansion?

Answer 36

a technique adults use in speaking to young children in which they imitate and expand or add to a child's statement

Question 37

What is Recasting?

Answer 37

a technique adults use in speaking to young children in which they render a child's incomplete sentence in a more grammatical form

Question 38

What is a Holophrase?

Answer 38

a single word that appears to represent a complete thought

Question 39

What is Telegraphic speech?

Answer 39

two-word utterances that include only the words essential to convey the speaker's intent

Question 40

What factors can effect language development?

Answer 40

- Adult feedback - Quality of interactions/input (Weizman & Snow, 2001) - SES and shared book reading (Tamis-LeMondaet al., 2006) - Ability to understand intentions (cf. theory of mind) - Nature of the language to be learned: English has a very large vocabulary with lots of similar words (cf. learning to read)

Question 41

What is an overregularisation?

Answer 41

- Overregularisation errors (e.g., Marcus et al., 1992) - Applying rules without appropriate exceptions - E.g., past tense “breaked”, plural “foots”

Question 42

How can you use language effectively in social contexts?

Answer 42

- Eye contact - Turn taking - Developing the conversation e.g. turnabout (requesting more information) - Shading: initiating change in topic gradually - Understanding of speaker intention (theory of mind)