Child Language development

Question 1

was it lexis?

Answer 1

Lexis is the study of vocabulory and word classes.

Question 2

what are semantics?

Answer 2

the study of meanings in language-
children need to learn what words mean

Question 3

what is syntax

Answer 3

Syntax is the study of words and phrases to create well formed sentences

Question 4

what is grammar and syntax in CLD?

Answer 4

The study of morphology and the parts of phrases, clauses, and sentences-
children need to put words together in meaningful ways

Question 5

what is phonology?

Answer 5

the study of the sound system of English, its pronunciation, and how, through prosodics, speakers can shape meaning by varying sounds-
Children need to be able to make sounds

Question 6

what are pragmatics?

Answer 6

the way that meanings are influenced by/dependent on context, the key pragmatic principles of deixis, co-operation, and politeness

Question 7

what happened to Genie?

Answer 7

She was kept in a room without contact until age 13, when she was found. Her language development was significant because she initially learnt lots of words, but acquiring grammar was a skill she could never master. Due to a lack of contact/stimulation, her brain’s left hemisphere, which is responsible for language, had lost its ability to use language in an adult way.

Question 8

what is the nature vs nurture argument?

Answer 8

language is a human instinct that emerges vs language is taught and learnt through interactions

Question 9

who hypothesised the critical age period?

Answer 9

Eric Lennburg

Question 10

what is the Critical age hypothesis?

Answer 10

the idea that we need exposure to language (by early puberty) for our brains to be activated - without it (as with Genie) a chance for language is lost.

Question 11

Who created the seven functions of language?

Answer 11

Halliday
identified the seven functions that language has for children

Question 12

what are Halliday’s seven functions?

Answer 12

( Interaction, Really, Involves, People, Requestion, Information, Happily)

1) Instrumental
2) Regulatory
3) Interactional
4) Personal
5) Representational
6) Imaginative
7) Heuristic

Question 13

what is the instrumental function?

Answer 13

Language used to fulfil a speaker’s needs
E.g: i want muffin

Question 14

what is the regulatory function?

Answer 14

language used to influence the behaviours of others
e.g: a child on a swing might say, “daddy push”

Question 15

what is the interactional function?

Answer 15

language used to develop social relationships and ease interaction
e.g: “hello”

Question 16

what is the personal function?

Answer 16

Language used to express personal preferences/the speaker’s identity
e.g: “here I am”

Question 17

what is the representational function?

Answer 17

language used to communicate information
e.g: “i got a new doll”

Question 18

what is the imaginative function?

Answer 18

language used to explore the imagination.
e.g: “I’m princess Tiana”

Question 19

What is the heuristic function?

Answer 19

Language is used to explore and learn the environment.
e.g, this is using language to learn- this may be questions or the kind of running commentary that accompanies a child’s play

Question 20

What are the pre-verbal stages of development, and when do they take place

Answer 20

(Very, Clever, Bunnies, Play)
1> Vegetative = 0-4 weeks
2> Cooing = 4-7 weeks
3> Babbling = 6-12 months
4> Proto-word = 9-12 months

Question 21

describe the Vegetative stage

Answer 21

0-4 weeks
vocal practise through crying at times of hunger and pain.
At first, crying is a reflex reaction and involuntary- though over several months, babies learn their noises entail a response

Question 22

describe the Cooing stage

Answer 22

4-7 weeks
Involves the articulation of mainly vowel sounds, often monosyllabic and usually monotone.
e.g: coo and goo

Question 23

what is the babbling stage

Answer 23

6-12 months
More advanced sound making (more consonants)
typically reduplication of vowel/consonants
e.g: bababa, dadada
Even deaf babies babble, suggesting it is an instinctive behaviour - although it becomes more sophisticated implying that listening to sounds around them is important as babies specialise in sounds of the language around them

Question 24

what is the proto-word stage?

Answer 24

9-12 months
Babbling starts to resemble adult language
Meanings begin to emerge
e.g: “mmmm” meaning give me that, often only understood by the child’s carers

Question 25

What are the verbal stages of speech development, and when do they occur?

Answer 25

a) 1-word stage = 12-18 months b) 2-word stage = 18-24 months c) telegraphic stage = 24- 36 months d) post-telegraphic stage = over 36 months

Question 26

what is phonetics?

Answer 26

The study of how speech sounds are made, transmitted, and received

Question 27

how are consonant sounds created?

Answer 27

vocal tract is either blocked or restricted so that there is audible friction

Question 28

how are vowel sounds created?

Answer 28

vocal tract is not blocked or restricted

Question 29

What are monophthongs?

Answer 29

Vowels with a single perceived auditory quality e.g: dog

Question 30

what are diphthongs?

Answer 30

vowels where there is a perceptible change in vowel quality during a syllable e.g: my (maɪ), how (hɑʊ)

Question 31

what is deletion

Answer 31

omitting a sound e.g: "do" for "dog"

Question 32

what is substitution?

Answer 32

substituting one sound for another e.g: "dip" for "ship"

Question 33

what is addition?

Answer 33

Adding an extra sound to a word e.g: cuppy instead of cup

Question 34

what is assimilation?

Answer 34

a sound that is substituted for a nearby sound that is elsewhere in the word e.g: lellow instead of yellow

Question 35

what is reduplication?

Answer 35

repeating a whole syllable e.g: dada, choochoo, dumdum

Question 36

what are consonant cluster reductions?

Answer 36

2 or more consonant sounds together are difficult to articulate so children reduce them to smaller units e.g: 'pider' for 'spider'

Question 37

what is deletion of unstressed syllables?

Answer 37

omitting a syllable in a word. Often, the 1st syllable e.g: 'nana' for 'banana'

Question 38

what do phonological errors reflect?

Answer 38

the limitation of physical rather than intellectual development - they may not, for example, show misunderstanding of meaning

Question 39

What is the 'fis' phenomenon?

Answer 39

The Fis phenomenon demonstrates that a child's comprehension is often advanced of their phonological capacity. The child in this experiment knows that the word should be pronounced fish and can hear the distinction even though they can not pronounce it

Question 40

what does the 'fis' phenomenon suggest

Answer 40

correction doesn't work

Question 41

who conducted the research for the 'Fis' phenomenon?

Answer 41

Berko and Brown (1960s)

Question 42

Whose theory is the categorisation of first words?

Answer 42

Katherine Nelson (1973)

Question 43

What is Katherine Nelson's theory on the categorization of first words?

Answer 43

Nelson observed that children's first words tend to fall into four predictable patterns: >Naming things/people (60%of first words) >actions/events >describing/modifying >personal/social words

Question 44

What does Nelson's data suggest about children's first words?

Answer 44

childrens first words come from the environment (labelling things)

Question 45

who came up with the theory of 'building meanings'?

Answer 45

Jean Aitchison identified a model of three stages in children's acquisition of words and their meanings

Question 46

what are Aitchison's stages?

Answer 46

1)Labelling 2)Packaging 3)Network building

Question 47

what is labelling?

Answer 47

Linking words to the objects that they are referring to

Question 48

what is packaging?

Answer 48

Exploring what labels can apply to. Over/under extension occurs to understand the range of words meaning

Question 49

What is Network building?

Answer 49

Making connections between words - understanding similarities and opposites

Question 50

what are hypernyms and hyponyms?

Answer 50

hypernym = more general term that is used for a broader category hyponym = more specific word that falls under that broader category

Question 51

what is overextension?

Answer 51

over extention is when a child uses a single word to describe multiple objects

Question 52

what is under-extension?

Answer 52

> when a child uses a word too narrowly > applying it only to a specific object or situation rather than to a broader category of similar things

Question 53

who theorized the types of Overextension?

Answer 53

Leslie Rescorla (1980)

Question 54

what is categorical over extension?

Answer 54

Inappropriately extending the meaning of a label to others in the same category – a hyponym is treated as a hypernym. a child calls all vegetables 'cabbage'

Question 55

what is Analogical over extension?

Answer 55

Extending a label from one item to another by connecting their functions or how they are perceived: a child might call a cement-mixer 'football' because of its shape and rolling action

Question 56

what are mismatched/predicate statements (overextension)?

Answer 56

When a child makes a connection based on what is normally the case but isn't the case on this particular occasion: A child says 'doll' when looking at an empty cot This can seem to be a complete mislabelling but could be linked to the fact that the doll could usually be found in the cot

Question 57

how do you identify the subject of the sentence?

Answer 57

Describes the person or thing who/which does the action of the verb. Check which part of the clause is the subject by asking who or what is 'doing' the verb: I am happy

Question 58

how do you identify the verb in the sentence?

Answer 58

Can express a range of meanings - actions, processes, states and so on. They are the most important clause element and cannot be omitted (except in the case of a minor sentence): The elephants wandered

Question 59

how do you identify the object of the sentence?

Answer 59

Describes something that is directly affected by the verb. You can check which part of the clause is the object by asking who or what is affected by the action or process of the verb: The cook chopped the carrots

Question 60

how do you identify the complement in a sentence?

Answer 60

Gives extra information about the subject. It usually follows a stative verb (appear, seem, be). If you can put an equals sign instead of the verb, it is likely a complement: I am happy

Question 61

how do you identify an adverbial in a sentence?

Answer 61

These give additional information about time, manner, frequency or place. They answer questions like how? when? where? how often? why?. They can be single adverbs or adverbial phrases: The cook ate quickly / in a hurry

Question 62

how do 12 month olds ask a question?

Answer 62

rising intonation to convey a question

Question 63

how do 15-18month olds ask a question?

Answer 63

the first wh-question words appear often in the following order: >what >where >why >when

Question 64

who do 24 month olds ask questions?

Answer 64

wh-question words used with others e.g: where Mummy?

Question 65

how do 36 month olds ask questions?

Answer 65

Auxiliary verbs included e.g: where is daddy going?

Question 66

Who theorised the development of children's Pronouns?

Answer 66

Ursula Bellugi

Question 67

what are the three stages theorised by Ursula Bellugi?

Answer 67

1. Child uses their name or generally favours nouns over pronouns 2. The child recognises that I/me/he/him are used in different places in a sentence, but subject and object can get confused 3. The child uses pronouns according to whether they are in the subject or object position

Question 68

what is morphology?

Answer 68

the study of the structure of words

Question 69

what are morphemes?

Answer 69

units within a word that carry meaning

Question 70

what are free morphemes?

Answer 70

can stand alone as words e.g: pig, please, mother

Question 71

what are bound morphemes?

Answer 71

can not stand alone as words e.g: -ly, -ed, un-, dis-

Question 72

Who theorised the wug experiment?

Answer 72

Jean Berko Gleason (1958)

Question 73

what is the 'Wug' experiment?

Answer 73

>When given nonsense words (like ‘wug’), children are generally able to make the plural for ‘wugs’ when shown a picture of 2. >The accuracy of doing this increases with age. >It shows children have acquired the rules of morphology (add –s to noun for plural) and can apply it to something they’ve never encountered before. >Could also be done with other morphemes (eg making past tenses) for other words. >This is useful evidence for language being an innate skill rather than copying what’s heard

Question 74

what is a virtuous error?

Answer 74

‘intelligent mistakes’ children make as they develop grammatically. This is sometimes also referred to as the over-generalisation of a grammatical rule. Virtuous errors show that children are involved in an active learning process. They only end up as errors because English has so many irregularities.