Language Development and Linguistic Diversity Kathryn Oswood, Linda Jodock, Star Miller

Personal Outcome To understand how children learn language To investigate the positive and negative impacts of second-language learning To better serve students with language disorders

Biological Foundations Language is predominantly associated with the left hemisphere of the brain. Wernicke’s Area Affects comprehension in speech that is heard and text that is read. Broca’s Area Affects the production of language through speaking or writing. Individual differences in language ability are due to genetics. Critical Periods for Language Development Lenneberg proposed that language must be acquired before adolescence. Speed of Acquisition Relative to the Amount of Input for Language Development Children acquire language with little intervention

Language Acquisition Comprehension and production of language involves a variety of skills. Speech Perception Speech Production and Phonological Development Lexical Development Semantic Development Grammatical and Syntactical Development Pragmatic Development Metalinguistic Development

Prelinguistic Development Speech Perception Phonemes See Table 7.1 for vowel and consonant phonemes in English Speech Production Babbling

Prelinguistic Development: Speech Perception and Production

Phonological Impairment

Language Development: Deafness

Semantic Development Referential Style One-word utterances that refer to objects Expressive Style One-word expressions of emotion, feeling, and action Vocabulary Growth Fast Mapping A child understands a word in one exposure Extended Mapping A child understands a word after multiple exposures

Semantic Development

Syntactic Development Morphemes Small units of language that convey meaning. Unbound morphemes Words that can stand alone Dog, fire, tractor Bound morphemes Cannot stand alone Prefixes, suffixes MLU Mean Length of Utterance The length of a child’s utterances calculated in morphemes. See Figure 7.2, page 196

Syntactic Development Stage 1 Telegraphic Speech “Doggie run” Stage 2 Overregularization “”goed” instead of “went” Stage 3 Use of negatives “I not eating” Stage 4 and 5 Compound and complex sentences and passive constructions “The teddy and the doll are going to play.” “You bettern’t do that.”

Syntactic Development

Pragmatic Development The ability to understand the perspective of others contributes to the ability to communicate with others in dialogue.

Pragmatic Development

Metalinguistic Awareness Metasyntax Discrimination of syntactically correct sentences from incorrect ones Metalexical / Metasemantic Understanding the nature of a word Metaphonological Awareness that words are composed of separable sounds Alphabetic Principle Understanding that letters represent sounds

Metalinguistic Awareness

Bilingualism and Cognitive Development

Nature and Effects on Bilinguals

Social Consequences of Education

Effective Classroom Practices

Cognitive Differences in Deaf and Hearing-Normal Individuals

Connection to Learning Theory: Stages versus Continuous Development

Connection to Learning Theory: Nature versus Nurture

Connection to Learning Theory: Lasting versus Transient Lack of exposure to language of any kind, oral or sign, will negatively impact language development. Early exposure is essential.

Conclusions

Recommendations: Speech and Language Pathologist

Recommendations: ELL

Recommendations for Further Reading

References /language_brain.jpghttp:// /language_brain.jpg