Language Development Comunicación y Gerencia See Website “handouts” for Fundamentals of Language

From Handout Phonology Grammar –Morphology –Syntax Semantics Pragmatics

Stages of Lang. Development Crying / Fake cries Begins: during first month 1st sounds, initially reflexive Function: partially to get the attention of the caregiver but mostly to hear themselves Onset: related to reflexive responses Adults & children can detect the difference btwn. real & fake cries

Stages of Lang. Development Cooing weeks starts with vowel sounds open mouthed, vowel-like gurgling Function: social response & self- entertainment Onset: related to /\ in visual attention & /\ in tongue control

Examples months months

Stages of Lang. Development Babbling Begins: 4 - 7th month repetition of consonants & vowels (ba ba ba) early babbling, all children sound the same by 8 months, babbling limited to sounds in native language Function: cooing & babbling prime infant for speech production facilitate their ability to distinguish between sounds first attempts at communication Experimentation: certain “coos/babbles only occur in certain contexts Onset: triggered by increased control over vocal production mechanisms consonant sounds added to cooing vowel sounds vocalizations become increasingly speech like at end may accidentally say words Pat Kuhl- 53:17

Stages of Lang. Development Holophrasic period Begins: months one word at a time, conveys whole sentence to understand meaning, parents use contextual cues Joint Attention ******* naming objects (doggie, runner, car) % of speech verbs, actions (go, eat) 20% Function: communication Onset: related to cognitive ability the understanding that things have names we use those names to talk about things.

Stages of Lang. Development Telegraphic speech Begins: months combinations - but contain only key words. “doggie go bye -bye” simple sentences, abbreviated form, conveys essential info Still need context to convey meaning Function: communication Onset: associated with experience, motivation, desire to communicate

Examples of the need for context –Kaylin- 2 yrs, 4 mo.Kaylin- 2 yrs, 4 mo. –Anika- 4 years, 7 mo.Anika- 4 years, 7 mo.

Language Theories How do children learn grammer? Learning perspective (experience with other speakers is key) Imitation- Leonard Bloomfield (1933) learn rules by imitation learn grammatically appropriate speech by hearing correct forms hear it once, store it away for future use Correct???? it IS responsible for: accents we develop vocabulary we use speech patterns Reinforcement -BF Skinner (1957) language develops from simple to complex there are correct & incorrect word orders adult speakers shape child’s acquisition of these probabilities by reinforcing desired patterns and ignoring undesired patterns Correct?????

Language Theories Nativist perspective: must be a biological component - even the simplest of languages are far too complex for us to learn from experience, our parents, or through trial & error process. Research also shows that explicit grammar correction does not occur. Language acquisition device (LAD)- Noam Chomsky humans have inborn model (template) of human language composed of an inborn linguistic process activated by verbal input an innate knowledge of grammar ability-all children can learn grammar Chomsky says that the LAD has a universal grammar or rules that are common to all languages Correct?

Language Theories Evidence for Nativist Theory Critical Period? Sensitive Period? Window of time Not just one way to learn child aphasias If early insult to left hemisphere, we see linguistic function taken over by right hemisphere if insult occurs during or after adolescence function is lost permanently Wild child, Genie upon recovery, learned language (vocabulary) at amazing rate never mastered the grammar (syntax specifically)

Language Theories Arguments against nativist No proof for existence of this specific part of brain (no proof of biological mechanism) IF there is a universal grammar, why do we have so many forms (so many languages) IF language is strictly biological, why does it take so long to mature (slow, gradual process, different rates in different children, passive vs. active voice)

Language Theories Social Interactionist perspective It takes both a biological component and an experiential component. We are biologically prepared to learn language – innate abilities It takes a linguistically rich environment Why do we talk to babies in “THAT” way?

Language Theories Motherese/parentese – infant directed speech (language experience aimed at infant’s innate preferences) infants have preference for high pitched voices, moving faces universal tendency of parents/sibs to tailor speech (both length & complexity) to age high pitched, slow delivery, emphasis speech becomes more elaborate as infants get older

Strategies for Lang Dev Mutual activities Vocal imitation – parent imitates infant’s vocalizations Reciprocal imitation – back & forth between parent & child Non-linguistic games (peek-a-boo)-Infants learn turn-taking, anticipation, attention Reading – early books w/ pictures- Joint attention (both paying attention to the same thing) Joint attention and pointing Protodeclarative and protoimperative pointing

Strategies for Lang Dev Recasting responding to a child’s ungrammatical utterance with a grammatically improved (but identical) form of the statement Doggie go Yes, the dog is going away Expansions responding to a child’s ungrammatical utterance with a non-repetitive statement that is grammatically correct and goes BEYOND what the child said. Doggie go Yes, the dog is scared of the loud car

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