lecture 23 - Language Development Flashcards
What are the subcomponents of language?
Phonetics (the sounds of language)
Semantics (the system of decontextualised meaning)
Lexical items (words)
Morphology (the grammatical structure of words)
Syntax (rules for combining words into sentences)
Pragmatics (how language is used in a contextually appropriate manner for the purpose of social interaction)
Which of these fall under structure, and which fall under meaning?
- Language structure is made up of phonology, syntax and morphology. Language meaning is made up of semantics and pragmatics.
What phonological comprehension are babies born with? When does this change?
Babies are born with the ability to discriminate sounds of any language, this declines during the first year.
What is the initial omission of morphemes?
Initially toddlers combine words, omitting many morphemes. The rate of morpheme omission gradually decreases up to 4 years.
What is the U-shaped morphological development?
U-shaped development in morphology is the name given to the phonemon where children at first learn irrregular verbs correctly during rote-learning and then later overgeneralise the irrelgular verbs incorrectly before gradually decreasing incorrect use over time
What is syntax?
Syntax are the rules which allow the organisation of words into large structures
What is comprehension like at 12-18 months?
At 12-18 months, infants understand simple sentences with familiar objects and actions where the child had to do some calculating of the relationship between object and action (with much environmental and parental support)
What is comprehension like at 18-24 months?
At 18-24 months, infants can do the previous in more complex contexts and with less adult scaffholding
What should happen to a child if they are not understanding simple phrases by 24 months?
If a child is not understanding simple phrases by 24 months, he should be referred for assessment by a Speech and Language specialist.
What are holophrases?
Holophrases are rote-learned chunks such as allgone
What is telegraphic speech?
Telegraphic speech is speech where nonessential elements are missing
What is the mean length of utterance?
The Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) is the use of morphemes to measure the rate of language acquisition.
What are pragmatics?
Pragmatics are how language is used and interpreted in a contextually appropriate manner for the purpose of social interaction
How does pragmatic development unfold?
Children are often under-informative up to around 7 or 8 years
What factors influence language development?
The two main factors that influence language development are the quantity of language input to the child and the quality of language input to the child.
