Child Language Features and Stages Flashcards
What is the ‘Pre-Verbal Stage’ in child language acquisition?
The initial stage where children make sounds before producing recognizable words.
List the phases of the pre-verbal stage and their corresponding age ranges.
- 0-4 months: Vegetative
- 4-7 months: Cooing
- 6-9 months: Babbling
- 9-12 months: Protoword
What is ‘phonology’ in the context of child language development?
The study of speech sounds, beginning at birth with the first noises made by the child.
What are common patterns in children’s pronunciations compared to adults?
- Deletion
- Substitution
- Addition
- Reduplication
- Consonant cluster reduction
- Deletion of unstressed syllables
What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)?
A system developed so that every sound has its own letter.
What are the ‘Early 8’ phonemes that children typically acquire by age 3?
- m
- b
- j (y)
- n
- w
- d
- p
- h
What are the ‘Middle 8’ phonemes that children typically acquire by age 4-5?
- t
- ŋ (ng)
- k
- g
- f
- v
- tʃ (ch)
- dʒ (j)
What are the ‘Late 8’ phonemes that children typically acquire by age 6?
- ʃ (sh)
- ð (th)
- Ɵ (th)
- s
- z
- l
- r
- ʒ (zh)
What is the ‘Holophrastic Stage’ in child language acquisition?
The stage where children use one word to convey a whole phrase.
What are the four predictable categories of the first 50 words learned according to Katherine Nelson?
- Naming things (N)
- Personal / social (S)
- Actions / events (A)
- Modifying (M)
Define ‘overextension’ in child language development.
When a child uses a word too broadly, applying it to things beyond its typical meaning.
Define ‘underextension’ in child language development.
When a child uses a word too narrowly, applying it only to a specific instance.
What occurs during the Two-word Stage of child language?
Children begin to link two words to create relationships, indicating an understanding of syntax.
What are ‘pivot class’ and ‘open class’ words?
- Pivot class: can be combined with various open class words
- Open class: can stand alone or be combined with pivot words
What is the focus of the Telegraphic Stage?
Children combine three or more words but omit several words that adults would typically include.
What are some key developments in the Telegraphic Stage?
- Questions
- Negation
- Tenses
- Determiners
What are morphemes?
The smallest units of a word that carry independent meaning.
Differentiate between free morphemes and bound morphemes.
- Free morphemes: stand alone as independent words
- Bound morphemes: must be attached to a free morpheme
What are ‘virtuous errors’ in child language development?
Logical errors made by children that demonstrate their understanding of language rules.
What is ‘Child-Directed Language’?
The distinctive way adults talk to children to facilitate language learning.
List the purposes of Child-Directed Speech.
- Attract and hold the child’s attention
- Make language more easily comprehensible
- Make conversation more predictable
What are some linguistic features of Child-Directed Language?
- Repeated sentence frames
- Expansions
- Re-castings
What are the three purposes of child-directed speech?
To attract and hold the child’s attention, to make language more easily comprehensible, to make the conversation more predictable.
What is a repeated sentence frame in child-directed speech?
The parent uses the same structure over and over, filling in part of it with a different word.
