Chapter 8 - Language Development Flashcards
(26 cards)
typical language development (0-12 months)
1-5 months:
reflexive communication - vocalizes randomly, coos, laughs, cries, engages in vocal play, discriminates language from nonlanguage sounds
6-18 months:
babbling - verbalizes in response to the speech of others; responses increasingly approximate human speech patterns
10-13 months:
first words - uses words, typically to refer to objects
12-18 months:
one-word sentence stage - vocabulary grows slowly; uses nouns primarily; overextensions begin
18-24 months:
vocabulary spurt - fast mapping facilitates rapid acquisition of new words
What language-related ability do 3 month-old infants have, that they lose between 4-12 months?
the ability to distinguish phonemes from all languages, even those not in their environment
Why do infants at around 12 months-old lose the ability to distinguish phonemes from all languages?
this ability disappears without exposure, as infants’ language systems become tuned to the speech properties of their native language during the first year.
by what age do infants start recognizing common word forms, even without knowing their meaning?
around 8 months
Janet Werker
-senior scientist at UBC who has done pioneering work in infant language development
argues that:
-infants are well prepared to learn language
-babies have perceptual biases that guide phonological acquisition
-there are optimal periods for different subsystems of language learning
define critical period
refers to a limited time span in the development of an organism when it is optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the organism is especially responsive to certain experiences.
Laura-Ann Petitto
a Gallaudet University psychologist known for her research on:
-children’s language acquisition (especially babbling)
-the origins of language
-bilingualism
What did Laura-Ann Petitto discover about babbling in deaf babies?
Petitto found that deaf babies exhibit manual babbling; rhythmic hand movements similar to verbal babbling, and that their first signed words are continuous with this babbling just like a hearing baby who verbally babbles “bababa”, and says “baby” as their first word.
first words (10-13 months)
-most children’s first words are similar in phonetic form and meaning, even in different languages
-the first words resemble the syllables that infants most often babble spontaneously
-words like dada, mama, and papa are names for parents in many languages because they consist of sounds that are easy to produce
how many words can toddlers say by 18 months?
between 3 to 50 words.
however, their receptive vocabulary is larger than their productive vocabulary, so they can understand 50 words long before they can actually say 50 words.
why do children usually learn nouns before verbs? (note: this generalization may not apply to all languages)
nouns refer to concrete objects and are easier to encode, whereas verbs often refer to more abstract relationships
Fast Mapping
the process by which children map a word onto an underlying concept after only one exposure
*children often add words like tank, board, and tape to their vocabularies after their first encounter with objects that illustrate these concepts
The vocabulary spurt (18-24 months)
children typically acquire their first 10-15 words very slowly, but they soon go through a vocabulary spurt - a period beginning around 18-24 months where they rapidly acquire many new words. the vocabulary spurt may be attributable to children’s improved articulation skills, improved understanding of syntax, underlying cognitive development, or a combination of these factors.
typical language development (2-6 years)
2 years:
two-word sentence stage - uses telegraphic speech; uses more pronouns and verbs
2.5 years:
three-word sentence stage - modifies speech to take listener into account; overregularizations begin
3 years:
uses complete simple active sentence structure; uses sentences to tell stories that are understood by others; uses plurals
3.5 years:
expanded grammatical forms: expresses concepts with words; uses four-word sentences
4 years:
uses five-word sentences
5 years:
well-developed and complete syntax: uses more complex syntax; uses more complex forms to tell stories
6 years:
displays metalinguistic awareness
how many words does the average child know by grade 1?
approx. 10,000
how many words does the average child know by grade 5?
approx. 40,000
how many words can a two year old learn in one week?
up to 20 new words (partially due to fast mapping)
overextension
occurs when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is meant to. e.g., a child might use the word ‘ball’ for anything round like apples, oranges, or even the moon.
underextension
occurs when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than it is meant to. e.g., a child might use the word ‘doll’ to refer only to a single, favourite doll, as opposed to using it for all dolls.
**the child does not realize that the word ‘doll’ applies to other dolls too
when do children typically begin combining words into sentences?
near the end of their 2nd year.
**early sentences are characterized as telegraphic because they resemble telegrams.
telegraphic speech
consists mainly of content words; articles, prepositions, and other less critical words are omitted.
e.g., a child might say “give doll”, rather than, “please give me the doll”
**occurs around 2 years
note: not exclusive to the English language but also is not cross-culturally universal
when can most children express complex ideas such as the plural or the past tense?
by the end of their third year
overregularizations
occur when grammatical rules are incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they do not apply.
e.g., children will say things like “the girl goed home” or “I hitted the ball”
**these errors begin around 2.5 years of age
note: overregularizations occur in all languages
when do children make the most progress in language development?
in the first 4-5 years, with continued refinement during school-age years
