Child Language Acquisition

Question 1

Communicative Competence

Answer 1

The ability to creative meaningful speech or writing.

Question 2

Proto Word

Answer 2

A made up word such as “ray-rays” for raisins becuase the child can not yet pronounce the word.

Question 3

Pre- Verbal Stage

Answer 3

Consisting of crying, cooing and babbling

Question 4

Reduplicated babbling

Answer 4

Repeatedly using the same sounds such as “bababababa”

Question 5

Variegated babbling

Answer 5

Involves variation of the consonant and vowel sounds being produced.

Question 6

Holophrastic Stage

Answer 6

Usually between 12 and 18 months. A whole sentence worth of meaning in a single word. Often concrete nouns.

Question 7

Non-Verbal Communication

Answer 7

Gestures, Haptics (Touch), Paralanguage (stress, amplitude, speed), Eye Contact and Facial Expressions -these are the main ones for a child.

Question 8

Reduplication

Answer 8

Repeated syllables within a word Such as moo-moo or wee wee

Question 9

Diminutives

Answer 9

The reduction related to the scale of an object through addition of extra suffix e.g. Doggie, Dolly. More accessible and phonologically easier or more appealing to say.

Question 10

Substitution

Answer 10

The process of swapping one sound for another that is easier to produce.

Question 11

Assimilation

Answer 11

One consonant or vowel is swapped for another

Question 12

Deletion

Answer 12

Omitting a particular sound within a word

Question 13

Consonant cluster reduction

Answer 13

Reducing phonologically complex units into simpler ones - from two or more consonants down to one.

Question 14

Two word stage

Answer 14

Occurs around 18 months - puts two words together. The more a child progesses, the clearer and more refined the language becomes. Begins to understand grammar.

Question 15

Vocabulary spurt

Answer 15

Cognitive change occurs and child moves into a period of rapid acquisition and faster lexical development.

Question 16

Telegraphic stage

Answer 16

Occurs around age 2. Longer and more complete. Coveys main message with minimum number of words. Include key content words but likely to omit grammatical words.

Question 17

Content words

Answer 17

Words within a sentence that are vital to meaning

Question 18

Gramatical words

Answer 18

Words within a sentence that are necessary to demonstrate structural accuracy.

Question 19

Post telegraphic stage

Answer 19

Occurs around age 3. Contracted forms, verb inflections and formation of pronouns. By age 4 largely grammatically accurate and complete sentences.

Question 20

Operant conditioning

Answer 20

A positive or negative response given by caregiver can influence the way a child speaks in the future

Question 21

Positive reinforcement

Answer 21

The positive feedback given to a child which is thought to encourage similar performance again.

Question 22

Language Acquisition Device

Answer 22

Proposed bt Chomsky. All humans are born with an innate language capacity.

Question 23

Tabula Rasa

Answer 23

Latin for “blank slate” and the term used to describe the idea that children are born with unbdeveloped, fresh brains.

Question 24

Universal Grammar

Answer 24

Term coined by Chomsky -the idea that all human languages possess similar grammatical properties which the brain is “hard -wired” to decode and use.

Question 25

Virtuous errors

Answer 25

Grammatical errors that are understandable and logical through an incorrect assumption being made about grammar rules.

Question 26

Cognitive development

Answer 26

Piaget A child's development of thinking and understanding.

Question 27

LASS Language Acquisition Support System

Answer 27

Proposed by Bruner. A system whereby caregivers and other individuals who play a key role in a child's language development.

Question 28

Scaffolding

Answer 28

The support provided by caregivers through modelling how speech ought to take place in order to help language development.

Question 29

Egocentric

Answer 29

Thinking only of the self without undersatnding or regard for the feelings of others.

Question 30

Object permanence

Answer 30

An understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen or touched.

Question 31

CDS Child directed speech

Answer 31

The various ways in which a caregiver (unconsciously) adapts their speech in order to aid a child in language development.

Question 32

Expansion

Answer 32

Where a caregiver might develop the child's utterance to make it more grammatically complete.

Question 33

Recast

Answer 33

The grammatically incorrect utterance of the child is spoken back to the child but in the correct form.

Question 34

Mitigated imperatives

Answer 34

An instruction given in such a way that it does not appear to be a command but a more gentle suggestion

Question 35

IRF Structure Initiation, Response, Feedback

Answer 35

Sinclair and Coulthard's means of analysing educational discourse. Three part conversational exchange. One speaker starts the conversation, a second speaker responds and the first speaker then provides some feedback.

Question 36

Instrumental function

Answer 36

Where a child's utterance is trying to fulfil a need.

Question 37

MKO More knowledgeable other

Answer 37

The older participant in an interaction who might offer support to a child so they can further their own developmental learning. Vygotsky

Question 38

ZPD Zone of proximal development

Answer 38

Describes the area between what a child can already do and that which is beyond their reach. Caregiver might enable child to progress by offering support. Vygotsksy

Question 39

Usage based linguistics

Answer 39

A model that emphasises that language structures emerge from use and language patterns are formed becoming what we know as grammatical constructions. Tomasello

Question 40

Overextension

Answer 40

Whena child uses a word more broadly than intended to describe things other than the actual item to which the word applies.

Question 41

Underextension

Answer 41

Where a child might use a word more narrowly to describe something without recognising the word has a wider use.

Question 42

Hypernym

Answer 42

A more generic term that is connected to more specific word choices that are all within the same semantic field. e.g Fruit is a hypernym

Question 43

Homonym

Answer 43

The more specific words that can be defined within the more generic hypernym. (Tree - hypernym) (Oak, Ash, Willow, Beech - homonym)

Question 44

Bound morphemes

Answer 44

Units of meaning within a word that depend on other morphemes to make sense.

Question 45

Unbound or free morpheme

Answer 45

Units of meaning within a word that do not depend on other morphemes to make sense.

Question 46

Superlative

Answer 46

An adjective or adverb that expresses the highest degree of quality.

Question 47

MLU Mean length of utterance

Answer 47

The average utterance length of speakers - calculated by adding up the total number of words spoken and dividing by the total number of utterances - a way of measuring each speakers input or dominance.

Question 48

Copula verb

Answer 48

A verb that joins a subject to an adjective or noun complement. "I am happy" joins the subject "I" to the adjective "happy" - can include the verb "to be" - "to look" - "to seem" - "to feel".