Child Language Theory Flashcards
(42 cards)
What does Katherine Nelson(1973) do?
She placed the early words of children into categories, naming, modifiers, social and actions. Found that 60% of children’s first 50 words were nouns.
What 3 stages of a child’s developing vocabulary did Jean Aitchinson propose(1987)?
Labelling= Linking words to thing’s.
Packaging= Starting to explore the label.
Network Building= Making connections between those things they have labelled and are able to recognise the similarities, opposites, relationships and contrasts.
What two stages did Ursula Bellugi do(1967)?
Negation Development Stages and Pronoun Usage Stages.
What is the Negation Development Stages?
Using “no” or “not” at the beginning of a sentence.
Put this inside the sentence.
Attach negatives to auxiliary verbs. “I won’t wear shoes”. The main verb is not always in the correct tense.
What is the Pronoun Usage Stages?
Uses their own name, “Katherine play”.
Recognises I/Me pronouns. “I play”, “me up”.
Use pronouns according to whether they are the subject or object position, “I play with the toy”, “Give it to me”.
What did Michael Halliday propose(1978)?
He proposed the functions of child language can be categorised.
Heuristic, Imaginative, Instrumental, Interactional, Personal, Regulatory and Representational.
What is Heuristic?
When a child questions their environment and seek information, “Why don’t stars fall out of the sky”.
What is Imaginative?
“I am Batman”. Using language to create imaginative worlds.
What is Instrumental?
A child expresses needs and wants. “David points to the refrigerator door and says “door”.
What is Interactional?
When a child will establish personal contact. “Hello said Catherine, holding out her doll”
What is personal?
When a child expresses their feelings and personal preferences. “I hate that”.
What is Regulatory?
When children request and ask for things. “Daddy push”.
What is Representational?
Language used by children to communicate information. “I’ve got something to show you”. “I got four Barbie dolls at my birthday party”.
What theory does John Dore propose?
Language focused on categorising utterances. Answering, Calling, Greeting, Labelling, Practising, Protesting, Repeating, Requesting Action.
What does Brown and Levinson propose?
That people have two faces, a “positive” and a “negative” face.
What is Operant Conditioning?
A positive or negative reinforcement.
What study did Skinner do(1957)?
His rat experiments, allowed him to conclude the success fullness of operant conditioning, where he theorised that this could help with Child Language.
What else did Skinner do?
He did the imitation theory, where children would imitate their parents.
Who is a supporter of Skinner?
Bandura(1989), as he performed the bobo doll experiment, when parents were violent towards a doll, the children would imitate this.
Who criticised Skinner?
Chomsky, as he questioned the validity of testing his theories on animals of operant conditioning.
What did Chomsky theorise?
He proposed the idea of children having an innate learning ability and universal grammar known as a LAD.
Who criticised Chomsky?
Tomasello stated that Chomsky was an armchair theorist as his ideas were only speculative.
What test did Gleason do(1958)?
The “WUG” test, which found that children are able to apply suitable suffixes with plurals and past tenses. Implying that they have implied systematic aspects of the linguistic system, “WUG’s”.
What idea does Steven Pinker propose(1994)?
He supported Chomsky, as he suggested that language is innate, rather than a human invention. This was due to deaf babies that would babble with their hands as other children would use their voice. Even in the absence of Adults correcting their grammar, accurate speech develops.
