Lecture 9: Language Flashcards
What is thinking?
Any mental activity or processing of information (ie. learning, remembering, communicating, deciding etc)
What is linguistic relativity?
The characteristic of language shape our thought processes
Supporting evidence
bilinguals recall information that was learned in a language better if they are asked to recall it in the same language, not the other domains of thinking (ie. memory) are more influenced by language
Higher-order cognition
Decision making & problem solving
..They require the integration more basic aspects of cognition (ie. perception, knowledge, memory, language & reasoning) into a plan of actions
What are the obstacles of problem solving
- Salience of surface similarities
- Mental Set
- Functional fixedness
Problem solving..Approaches to solving problems
- Algorithms = step-by-step learned procedure used to solve a problem
…Helpful when problem depends on the same basic steps for arriving at a solution but, they are inflexible
- Using reasoning from related examples
More effective when algorithms are inflexible
ie. analogies helping us to solve scientific problems (with similar structures) - Breaking a problem down to subproblems that are easier to solve
Each approach is more or less appropriate depending on the problem
Explain salience of surface similarities
Salience refers to how attention-grabbing or noticeable something is. We tends to focus our attention on surface level properties of a problem
..Try to solve problems the same way we solved problems that showed similar surface characteristics. Ignoring the surface features of a problem and focusing on underlying reasoning is needed to solve its challenge
Explain mental Set
A phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem solving strategy, inhibits our ability to generate alternatives. The inability to think outside the box when we find a solution that is workable. Getting stuck in that workable solution.
Having trouble “thinking outside the box”
Explain functional fixedness
Difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another purpose. Become fixated on one conventional use of an object. Words are interpreted based on context, rather than fixed definitions.
What is language
A largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols (ie. words and gestural signs) in rule-based ways to create meaning. One hallmark of language is that it tends to be arbitrary.
Functions of language
- Transmission of information
- Emotional and social functions
What are the 4 levels of analysis of language
- Phenomenon
- Morphemes
- Syntax
- Extralinguistic Information
Explain Phonemes
The sounds of our language
These sounds are influenced by elements of our vocal tract (ie. lips, tongue placement, other physical manipulations of the mouth)
- Each language includes only a subset of all available phonemes
- Thus, some of language contain sounds (ie. phonemes) that don’t occur in other languages
Explain Morphemes
Smallest unit of meaning in a language..Stringing phonemes together. It can convey information about semantics
- Meaning derived from words and sentences (ie. dog, jump etc)
- Can attach to words to
- “Re-“ (to do again)= (rewrite)
“-ish” (to a moderate degree) = “pinkish”
Explain extra-lingual information
Elements of language that aren’t part of the content of language but are critical to
Interpreting its meaning
- For example= nonverbal cues ( facial expressions, posture, gesture, tone of voice)
We can easily misunderstand speech if we don’t pay close attention to this information, or if some of it is blocked - Eg. texting, talking on the phone
Explain Syntax
Grammatical rules that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings
Word order: “¡ love eating sushi” vs “sushi eating i love”
Morphological markers and sentence structure
“-s” = plural
“-ed”= past tense
“ing” = ongoing action
LANGUAGE DIALECTS
There is variability across & within languages in morphemes, syntactic rules and etc
Dialects = language variation used by a group of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background
- Are not distinct languages
- Slight variations in vocabulary, pronunciation or syntax of the language
- Speakers of dialects that differ from the “standardised version of the native language are not making pronunciation and grammatical errors
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
The language learning process starts long before children begin speaking
By the 5th month of pregnancy, the auditory system is developed enough to allow fetuses to:
1. Learn their mother’s voice
2. Learn to recognize the melody/rhythm of their native language
3. Learn to recognise a specific song/story heard repeatedly
- High-amplitude sucking procedure = allows us to test newborn’s ability to distinguish between sounds
- 2 day old infants engage in more pacifier sucking when hearing mother’s native language than a foreign language
BABBLING
- Any intentional vocalization that lacks specific meaning
- Any sound other than crying, burping, sighing and laughing
** Important in language development
- Progress over the first year of life, demonstrating increasing control of vocal tracts (ie. lips, tongue placement, other physical manipulations of the mouth etc)
By the end of the first year of life, babbling takes on a conversational tone..Over the first year life, infants learn which phonemes are relevant for their own native language
All babies initially share the same basic phoneme categories (regardless of parents’ native language)
By ~10 months old, infant’s match that of adults’ (who speak their native language)
- Motor coordination required to produce language-specific phonemes lags behind babies’ knowledge about phonemes of their native language
LEARNING WORDS
..Comprehension precedes production
Due to limited ability to coordinate sounds to produce recognizable words. Most produce their first words around their first birthdays (can vary by children).
Children acquire first words slowly, but as they become more experienced at learning
new words..
* The difference between the number of words they know and those they can produce continues to narrow
* Children tend to frequently overextend and underextend
Overextend = applying words in a broader sense than adults do
All flying objects are birds
Under-extend= applying words in a narrower sense than adults do
“Dog” only refers to their dog
SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT
One-word stage of language
development = children use single-word phrases to convey an entire thought (major milestone)
“Doggy” for where is the doggy, there is a doggy, doggy licked me
- 2 word phrases (by ~2 yrs) = combining words into simple 2-word phrases
- Use words in the correct order
- Comprehension precedes production
3- and 4- word phrases & production of morphological markers (ie. ‘-s’ & ‘-ed’)
Most syntactic rules are acquired by preschool age (acquire more during early yrs of school)
SPECIAL CASES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING; sign language
Challenges that may prevent or slow down acquiring a language
Sign Language…A language developed by members of a community with hearing loss that uses visual rather than auditory communication
- Requires using hands, face, body & “sign space” to communicate
Many different sign languages in different communities & countries (ie. ASL,
French Sign Language)
BILINGUALISM
Being proficient and fluent at speaking & comprehending 2 distinct languages
- Factors that enhance how well (& quickly) a second language is learned
- Living with native speakers of the second language
Motivation to learn the second language..Earlier age of acquisition (the younger a person is, the better they can master the second language)
Age-of-exposure effects are more dramatic for syntax and pronunciation than for vocabulary
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, 4 major theoretical accounts of language acquisition
- The “pure” nature & nurture accounts
- The nativist account
- The social pragmatist account
- The general cognitive processing account
