L9: L.D Theories of Language Development Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is the Nature vs. Nurture debate in language development?
Nature suggests language ability is innate and biologically programmed, while Nurture posits that language is learned through environmental interaction.
What is the modern view on language development?
Both nature and nurture play a role in language development.
What is the Blank Slate view in Nurture-based theories?
The mind is empty at birth, and language is shaped by experience and environment.
What is Behaviorism according to B.F. Skinner?
Language is learned through operant conditioning, where reinforcement for correct language makes it more likely to be repeated.
How do caregivers contribute to language learning?
Caregivers give attention, praise, and model language interactively.
What are some limitations of the Nurture view?
Children say things they’ve never heard, language input is often ungrammatical or inconsistent, and parents focus on meaning, not syntax.
What is overregularization in language development?
Children apply rules to exceptions, such as saying ‘buyed’ or ‘foots’, indicating they learn rules, not just mimicry.
What is the universality of language?
All children go through similar language stages and errors are predictable and rule-based.
What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)?
An inborn brain mechanism to acquire language proposed by Noam Chomsky.
What is Universal Grammar?
The shared abstract underlying all languages.
How do children learn language according to LAD theory?
Children extract deep structure from surface input in their environment.
What does it mean that language is generative?
It means finite words can generate infinite ideas.
What are some limitations of the nature view of language acquisition?
Neurological evidence for LAD is limited, no universal grammar has been fully defined, and it overlooks social and communicative functions of language.
What did the ape studies (Kanzi, Savage-Rumbaugh) demonstrate?
Kanzi learned lexigrams and responded to simple instructions, but lacked the syntactic complexity and generativity of human children.
What do the ape studies suggest about non-human language abilities?
They suggest biological limits in non-humans.
What is the Social Interaction Theory by Bruner?
It emphasizes the role of social interactions in language development through mechanisms like LASS.
What does LASS stand for?
Language Acquisition Support System.
What is Social Scaffolding?
Adults provide simplified speech, expansions, and recasting to support language learning.
Example: Expansion - ‘See doggy’ → ‘Yes, you see the doggy’.
What is Infant-Directed Speech (IDS)?
A speech style characterized by high pitch, simple grammar, slow pace, and warm tone.
What is the significance of melodies in IDS?
Melodies attract attention and facilitate comprehension.
What did Schachner & Hannon (2011) find about IDS?
Infants prefer IDS over adult speech.
What is Contingent Interaction?
Infants vocalize more when adults respond immediately and contingently.
