Child Language Acquisition Flashcards
Which language level is developed by children first?
Phonology (sounds)
How early do children start to hear and recognise words?
26 weeks in the womb
What and when is the first stage of phonology development?
Vegetative state
0-2 months
What are the key features of the first stage of phonological development?
Crying Coughing Burping Sucking Sensitivity to reduplication
How is the first stage of phonological development beneficial to the baby?
Physically beneficial as adjusting to breathing in air rather than fluid
When is the second stage of phonological development? What is its key feature?
4-7 months
Cooing= sounds around 6-8 weeks as babies discover their vocal chords
What are two other features of the second stage of phonological development?
First laughter
Changes in pitch and loudness
When is the third stage of phonological development? What is its key feature?
6-9 months
Babbling= experimenting with articulate sounds but no recognisable words, meaningless
Define phonemic contraction. How does it fit into phonological development?
Up to nine months, all sounds international
Sounds of language around them then start to dominate, some emphasised, others discarded
What are two other features of the third stage of phonological development?
Extending sounds so like syllables
Repeated patterns- reduplicated monosyllables
Define phonemic expansion. How does it fit into phonological development?
Baby’s capacity to produce sound becomes more wide-ranging and complex
In the third stage
When is the fourth stage of phonological development? What is its key feature?
9-12 months
Protowords= clusters of sounds that represent baby’s attempt to articulate specific words
What does learning in the fourth stage of phonological development rely on?
Babies gain more control over sounds and respond to feedback mechanisms- children feel satisfaction when they speak so continue to speak
How does the development of vowels and consonants compare to each other?
By 30-40 months, 2/3s of consonants but a whole range of vowels
Vowels are easier than consonants
Combinations of the two
Why are consonant clusters more challenging for children to learn than consonant sounds?
Requires more muscular control
Give three ways children make words easier to say using deletion
Final consonants may be dropped
Unstressed syllables
Consonant clusters reduced
Give one way and two examples of how children make words easier to say using substitution
Reduplication of sounds= sounds in a word are pronounced in the same way
‘r’ becomes ‘w’
‘t’ becomes ‘d’
Describe Berko and Brown’s (1960s) theory
Children don’t have ability to pronounce certain phenomes but can perceive them accurately
Can hear and distinguish more than they can say
Describe the Cruttendens (1974) experiment and its conclusions
Adults and children listened to recording of football results
From intonation used, adults able to predict accurately whether result was home win, away win or draw
Children aged 7-11, had little success
Suggests although children are able to reproduce main patterns of intonation from an early age, understanding their meaning still developing up to early teens
What follows the development of phonology?
The development of grammar
Define holophrase
Single word representing a more complex thought
When is the holophrastic stage?
9-18 months
What word class makes up most of an infants first 50 words?
Nouns
Describe Nelson’s (1973) theory. What is some endorsement for this theory?
Babies vocab in first utterances falls into 4 categories:
Naming occurred most frequently
Action
Modifying
Social
Most concrete nouns fit into four categories (cohesion, continuity, solidity, contact_- children like clearly defined shaped objects, don’t disappear and solid
