Usage-based theories Flashcards
(17 cards)
What are constructions?
a ‘chunk’ of language children use to make utterances through their understanding of patterns and what can fill in the language slots
What are language slots?
“Where is X” – X is the variable element
How does this help a child to learn language?
They are using a similar framework but inserting different elements of vocab they have learned in the slot
How do children understand what is correct through slots?
They find similarity in the way things work or sound. The reliable pattern known as slots and frames provides children with a foothold into learning more complex syntax
What theory does this idea contrast with?
It differs from the nativist belief as it focuses on real language used in conversation between parents and adults
How does it contrast to Chomsky
This contrasts to the poverty of the stimulus as construction based models see rich language in the child’s environment because it suggests that children pick up ‘chunks’ of language
What studies develop this idea?
Deb Roy’s human Speechome project using the widespread use of digital corpora
What does the Speechome project place an emphasis on?
The influence of a child’s environment as well as the interaction they receive
What is there less emphasis on in the Speechome project?
The use of abstract rules to language
What does this the speechome model suggest?
That children’s early language is quite narrow and is focused on lexis and semantics with abstract rules about grammar appearing later on
Does this whole idea show that children are just copying language?
No, research shows that children are making use of what they hear in their own way by seeing patterns and being creative with the language they are exposed to
What does Tomasello say?
He states that children acquire language equipped with two sets of cognitive skills: intention reading and pattern finding
What is intention reading?
What children must do to discern the intentions of mature speakers when they use linguistic conventions to achieve social ends
What is pattern finding?
What children must do to go productively beyond the individual utterances they hear people using around them
What happens when intention reading and pattern finding work together?
Children will understand the communicative functions of utterances
How do children understand the communicative functions of utterances?
By reading the intentions of the speaker and find patterns across item-based constructions through making connections
