Areas of Language Development Theories of Language Development Lecture Outline Areas of Language Development Theories of Language Development Nativist Interactionist Language Development in Infancy/Childhood

Phonological Development Acquisition of knowledge about the sound system of a language

Syntactic Development Learning the rules for combining words in a language Ex: English—many rules related to word order

Semantic Development Learning the system for expressing meaning in a language Ex: learning what words mean

Pragmatic Development Acquiring knowledge about how language is used (cultural rules) Ex: turn-taking

Nativist Theories (Chomsky) Language Acquisition Device (LAD): Innate set of rules common to all languages (universal grammar) Unique to humans

Evidence Consistent with Nativist Theories: Children master language with little explicit training Non-human primates require extensive training to master the most basic language skills Although some non-human primates may combine symbols, don’t show evidence of using syntax (rules)

Certain areas of the brain appear to be specialized for language Evidence (con’t): Certain areas of the brain appear to be specialized for language Left hemisphere of cerebral cortex Hemispheric specialization present in infancy—suggests that innate biological factors are involved in language development

Appears to be a “critical” period for language acquisition: Evidence (con’t): Appears to be a “critical” period for language acquisition: Critical period: Time during which language is easily acquired and after which language acquisition is more difficult and less successful Suggests that innate biological factors are involved

Evidence for “critical period”: Brain damage more likely to result in permanent language impairment if it occurs in adulthood than in childhood

Less hemispheric specialization occurs when a second language is learned at 4 years or older than if learned earlier Knowledge of grammar is related to the age at which individuals begin learning a second language, not the length of their exposure to the language Individuals exposed earlier show greater knowledge

Evidence (con’t): Congenitally deaf children whose parents are not proficient in sign language: Develop larger vocabularies (gestures) than their parents Spontaneously impose syntax (grammatical structure) when signing

Criticisms of Nativist Theories: Universal grammar common to all languages has not been identified Focus on syntactic development and neglect other aspects of language development Ignore role of social environment in language development

Interactionist Theories Children are motivated to communicate with others Children pay attention to “clues” available when language is used Helps them to learn language

Evidence Consistent with Interactionist Theories Children use a variety of strategies to learn the meaning of new words

Fast Mapping: Process of rapidly learning a new word when a familiar and unfamiliar word are contrasted Ex: “chromium” and “red”

Whole-Object Assumption Expectation that a novel word refers to a whole object (rather than a part or other aspect of the object) Ex: “Cat” refers to whole cat, not its whiskers or other parts

Mutual Exclusivity Assumption Expectation that a novel word applies to an unfamiliar object Ex: “Show me the blicket”

Linguistic Context Grammatical form of a novel word influences children’s interpretation of it Ex: “sibbing” vs. “a sib” vs. “some sib”

Syntactic Bootstrapping Inferring the meaning of a word based on the grammatical structure of the sentence in which it is used Ex: “The duck is kradding the rabbit” OR “The duck and rabbit are kradding”

Pragmatic Cues Aspects of the social context that are used to infer the meaning of words Direction of gaze Intentionality

Criticisms of Interactionist Theories The rules involved in language are too complex to be learned simply through paying attention to “clues” available in language Especially true for syntactic development