1st Language Acquisition How do humans acquire speech?

Language acquisition  We are not born speaking!  Language must be acquired.  If we think of all that is entailed in knowing a language, it seems quite a challenge. What Does a Baby Hear?

Language instinct?  Language is innate – only surface details need be learned?  Human brain pre-programmed for language?  Language a result of general cognitive abilities of the brain?  Neither tells us what specific language to learn or particular structures to memorize.

Language Universals  What evidence is there for innate knowledge of certain basic language features present in all human languages?  LINGUISTIC UNIVERSALS > UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR  All languages have:  A grammar  Basic word order (in terms of SOV, etc.)  Nouns and verbs  Subjects and objects  Consonants and vowels  Absolute and implicational tendencies  E.g., If a language has VO order, then modifiers tend to follow the head)

“Universal Grammar”  Humans then learn to specialize this “universal grammar” (UG) for the particulars of their language.  Word order, syntactic rule preferences  Phonetic and phonological constraints  Lexicon  Semantic interpretations  Pragmatic ways to converse

Innateness of language?  Evidence for innateness of language? Eric Lenneberg  The biologist Eric Lenneberg defined a list of characteristics that are typical of innate (pre- programmed) behaviors in animals.

Innate behaviors... 1.Maturationally controlled, emerging before they are critically needed 2.Do not appear as the result of a conscious decision. 3.Do not appear due to a trigger from external events. 4.Are relatively unaffected by direct teaching and intensive practice. 5.Follow a regular sequence of “milestones” in their development. 6.Generally observe a critical period for their acquisition

Emerge before necessary, cannot be forced before scheduled 1. Emerge before necessary, cannot be forced before scheduled  When is language necessary?  When do children usually begin speaking/using language coherently?  Is this criterion met?

2. Are not conscious  Does a child decide to consciously pursue certain skills? (e.g., walking)  Do babies make a conscious decision to start learning a language?  Is this criterion met?

. Are not triggered 3. Are not triggered  What would prompt a child to take up soccer?  What would prompt a child to begin speaking?  Is this criterion met?

Cannot be taught 4. Cannot be taught  We CAN teach prescriptive rules of language. But we’re not talking about that here.  We correct children’s errors sometimes. Does it help? – ‘Nobody don’t like me’  In fact, “coaching” seems to hurt rather than help language ability in children.  Is this criterion met?

Follow milestones 5. Follow milestones  In spite of different backgrounds, different locations, and different upbringings, most children follow the very same milestones in acquiring language.  Is this criterion met?

Observe a critical period 6. Observe a critical period What is a critical period?  For first language acquisition, there seems to be a critical period of the first five years, during which children must be exposed to rich input. There is also a period, from about years, when acquisition is possible, but not native-like.  For SLA, the issue is more complicated… More on that later.  Is this criterion met?

The Critical Period Hypothesis  CPH: Proposed by Lenneberg – This hypothesis states that there is only a small window of time for a first language to be natively acquired. – If a child is denied language input, she will not acquire language Genie: a girl discovered at age 13 who had not acquired her L1 (-- Isabelle and Victor) Normal hearing child born to deaf parents, heard language only on TV, did not acquire English L1

More evidence for the Critical Period Hypothesis  Second Language Acquisition: – Younger learners native fluency. – Older learners (>17) never quite make it.  ASL Acquisition: – Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) have an advantage over later- learners of ASL in signing  Aphasia: – Less chance of recovery of linguistic function after age 5. – Lateralization

So how DO we learn our first language?

L1 acquisition  Sound production/babbling  Phonological acquisition  Morphological/Syntactical acquisition  Semantic development

Caretaker Speech  A register characterized by: – Simplified lexicon – Phonological reduction – Higher pitch – Stressed intonation – Simple sentences – High number of interrogatives (Mom) & imperatives (Dad) Caretaker Speech Caretaker Speech

ASL Caretaker Speech Some of the major features:  signing on the baby's body (when the location should be on the signer)  using the baby's hands to sign on the adult's or child's body  placing the child on the lap and facing away from the mother  signing on the object  signing using the object  signing bigger than normal  signing repeated more often then normal  sign lasts longer than normal  signing special “baby” signs rather than adult signs BSL Caretaker Speech

Acquisition of phonetics  Few weeks: cooing and gurgling, playing with sounds. Their abilities are constrained by physiological limitations.  4 months: distinguish between [a] and [i], so their perception skills are good.  4-6 months: children babble, putting together vowels and consonants. This is not a conscious process! Experiment with articulation  7-10 months: starts repeated babbling.  months, children produce a variety of speech sounds. (even ‘foreign’ sounds)

Acquisition of phonology  Early stage: Unanalyzed syllables  months: words as a sequence of phonemes.  Mastery of sounds differing in distinctive features (e.g., voicing) mama, dada banana na.na  Duplicated syllables: mama, dada - CV is main syllable structure. They reduce = banana  [na.na] 2 syllable words  Early mastery of intonation contours (even in non-tone languages) fis fish  Perception comes before production (‘fis’ or ‘fish’?) Phonological Processes

Lexicon  Begin with simple lexical items for people/food/toys/animals/body functions  Lexical Achievement: 1-2 years old words (avg) 3 years old900 words 4 years old1500 words 5 years old2100 words 6-7 years old2500 words High school grad40,000 – 60,000 words!  “5,000 per year, 13 words a day” -- Miller & Gildea

But Don’t Animals Know Words, Too?  Yes, but…what about…? – Just (very) just (only) just (right) – Just (very) brilliant vs. just (only) a little dirty vs. a just (right) person – Blunt (dull)blunt (sharp) – Blunt (dull) instrument vs. blunt (sharp) comment literally (meaning figuratively) – I was literally (meaning figuratively) climbing the walls. – Clip (on)clip (off) – Clip (on) a pin vs clip (off) hair – Cleave (together)cleave (apart) – Cleave (together) vs cleave (apart) – Dust (remove)dust (sprinkle) – Dust (remove) or dust (sprinkle) inflammable – And what does inflammable mean?

The acquisition of morphosyntax  At about 12 months, children begin producing words consistently.  One-word stage  One-word stage (holophrastic stage): – Name people, objects, etc. – An entire sentence is one word  Two-word stage: – Approximately months – Use consistent set of word orders: N-V, A-N, V-N… – With structure determined by semantic relationships agent+action (baby sleep) possessor+possession (Mommy book)  Telegraphic stage  Telegraphic stage (only content words)

Word Inflections  Function word sequences: 1.-ing 2.Plural –s 3.Possessive –’s 4.3 rd person singular – s 5.Past marker –ed 6.Future marker ‘will’ 7.Verb ‘to be’ (is, are) Plurals: 1.All singular 2.Some irregulars 3.Regular ‘s’ overgeneralized 4.[-ez] for all 5.Only irregulars remain problematic 6.Irregulars memorized

Copulas before Progressives We see another consistent pattern:  Copula:am, is, are,am a doctorprogressive: am, is, are,I am singing  Copula: am, is, are, as in I am a doctor developed before progressive: am, is, are, as in I am singing.  Shortened copula:He’s a bear shortened progressive:He’s walking  Shortened copula: as in He’s a bear came before the shortened progressive: He’s walking.

Negative Formations  Negatives no/not  1 st stage - attach no/not to beginning of sentence (sometimes at end) don’t can’t  2 nd stage – negatives appear between subject and verb (don’t stayed at beginning in imperatives, but not can’t) nobody/nothing anybody/anything isdo  3 rd stage – appearance of nobody/nothing & anybody/anything & inconsistent use of “to be” verb is and auxiliary “dummy” do verb.

Question Formations Where daddy go?  1 st stage – wh- word placed in front of rest of sentence: Where daddy go? Where you will go?  2 nd stage – addition of an auxiliary verb: Where you will go? Where will you go?  3 rd stage – subject noun changes places with the auxiliary: Where will you go?

Acquisition of Semantics  Concrete before abstract: – ‘in/on’ before ‘behind/in front’  Overextensions: – Using ‘moon’ for anything round – Using ‘dog’ for any four-legged animals  Underextensions: – The word ‘bird’ may not include ‘pigeon’, etc

Reviewing Linguistic Stages  6-12 weeks:  6-12 weeks: Cooing (googoo, gurgling, coocoo)  6 months:  6 months: Babbling (baba, mama, dada)  8-9 months:  8-9 months: Intonation patterns  years:  years: Holphrastic stage (one word)  2 years:  2 years: Two-word stage  2.5 years:  2.5 years: Telegraphic stage  3,4 – 11 years:  3,4 – 11 years: Fluent speech w/errors  12 years+:  12 years+: Fluent speech

What about Second Language Acquisition? L2

Second Language Acquisition Differences from L1 acquisition Teaching Methods

Terms/Associations  Native Language  Native Language = L1 =1st Language, mother tongue, heart language  Second Language  Second Language = L2 = Target Language or Learner Language  Second Language Acquisition (SLA) – Research investigates how people attain proficiency in a language which is not their mother tongue

Differences between L1 and L2  Interlanguage contrasts/similarities – Equal transfer Same word order, words, vowels – 2 to 1, 1 to 2 (splits) his/hersuEnglish his/her to Spanish su – 1 to 0, 0 to 1 (new items) El hombre es mortal, “do”English must learn to add new determiners: El hombre es mortal, English learners of Spanish must learn to “forget” the English “do” as a tense carrier – Old 1 to New 1 (changes) English must learn new distribution for French nasalized vowels.

Mastering the L2  Is there a critical period for L2? – For authentic accent perhaps (Scovel 1999)  Cognitive considerations? – Does formal/abstract thought help or hinder? – Conscious vs. automatic learning  Affective considerations? – Self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, extroversion  Interference between L1 and L2? – Adult may be more vulnerable to interference from L1, but L1 can also be useful to adults  Second Culture Influence? – Culture shock, social distance, policy and politics

Stages of L2 Aquisition  Stage 1 – Random errors/wild guesses – The different city is another one in the another two John cans sing – The different city is another one in the another two. Or John cans sing.  Stage 2 – Emergent – Learner cannot correct errors even when pointed out. L: I go New YorkL: I go New York NS: You will go to New York? When?NS: You will go to New York? When? L: 1972.L: NS: Oh, you went to New York in 1972.NS: Oh, you went to New York in L: Yes, I go 1972.L: Yes, I go 1972.

Stages of L2 Acquisition  Stage 3 – Systematic – Learners can correct errors if pointed out: L: Many fish are in the lake. These fish are serving in the restaurants near the lake.L: Many fish are in the lake. These fish are serving in the restaurants near the lake. NS: [laughing] The fish are serving?NS: [laughing] The fish are serving? L: [laughing] Oh, no, the fish are served in the restaurants!L: [laughing] Oh, no, the fish are served in the restaurants!  Stage 4 – Stabilization – Learners can self-correct. fossilization – However, often they may not correct errors that aren’t brought to their attention and may manifest fossilization of their L2.

L2 Teaching Methods  Grammar-translation – Mother tongue, vocabulary lists, grammar, classical texts, reading important  Direct (Berlitz) method – Active oral interaction, spontaneous use, no translation between L1 and L2, little grammar, good for smaller classes  Audio-lingual method – Dialogue form, mimicry, set phrases, drills, memorization, tapes, language labs, pronunciation important, little use of mother tongue, popular in military training, short-term effectiveness  Today’s approach? – Multiple approaches, customized, interactive

Communicative Competence  What is it, and how do we know when we have it? – Pragmatic Competence: Functions of language: –Discourse, sociolinguistic, cultural, contexts of use – Organizational Competence: Grammatical: –Vocabulary, morphology, syntax, phonology, graphology Textual: –Cohesion, rhetorical organization  What does it mean to befluent?  What does it mean to be fluent?