SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT ECSE 500 CLASS SESSION 6

REVIEW PHONOLOGY SEMANTICS MORPHOLOGY TODAY - SYNTAX

SYNTAX IN LINGUISTICS, SYNTAX IS THE TERM FOR THE STUDY OF RULES GOVERNING THE COMBINATION OF WORDS TO FORM SENTENCES

SYNTACTIC KNOWLEDGE In English the basic order for a simple sentence is: Noun – verb – object What if - The kicked boy ball the? How do we give these words meaning?

SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT RULES THAT ENABLE US TO COMBINE MORPHEMES INTO SENTENCES. MORE CRACKERS INCREASINGLY COMPLEX AS THE CHILD DEVELOPS. FROM TWO MORPHEMES, TO COMBINING WORDS WITH SUFFIXES OR INFLECTIONS (-S OR -ING, AS IN PAPERS AND EATING) TO QUESTIONS, STATEMENTS, COMMANDS, ETC.

SYNTACTIC KNOWLEDGE THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW WORDS CAN BE COMBINED IN MEANINGFUL SENTENCES, PHRASES, OR UTTERANCES. MEAN LENGTH OF UTTERANCE COMPLEXITY OF SENTENCES NEGATION INTERROGATIVES PASSIVE VOICE PRONOUNS

MEAN LENGTH OF UTTERANCE Language development follows a sequential order As age increases so does the length of a child’s utterance months of age utterances are typically two words long months they are up to four words long, and so on the typical length of a child’s utterances what would be expected for their age.

CALCULATING MLU-M Morphemes vs words Calculating MLU-M 1. Record a Language sample from the child 2. count the number of morphemes – 3. count the number of utterances – 4. Divide the number of morphemes by the number of utterances

MLU-M Example ‘go home now I live in Billingham mummy kissed my daddy I like your dogs’ Morphemes = 17 Utterances = 4 MLU-M = 17/4 = 4.25 This child’s MLU-M is 4.25 or what would be expected of someone between 42 and 48 months of age

NEGATION Progression of use of negation: Stage 1: No want some food No the sun is shining Wear mitten no Stage 2: He no bite you. I no want envelope. I can’t see you. That no fish school. Stage 3: I don’t want no food. I didn’t did it. No, it isn’t.

Intonation and Interrogatives Stage 1: I ride train? Who that? Where milk go? Stage 2: Does the kitty stand up? (Y/N) Did Mommy pinch her finger? (Y/N) Why kitty can’t stand up? What you are smiling? Stage 3: What did you doed? What does coffee taste like?

EFFECTS OF DISABILITIES PROBLEMATIC SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES INCLUDE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WORDS IN SENTENCES AND PHRASES. UNDERSTANDING WHO A PRONOUN APPLIES TO AND WHAT FUNCTION IS SERVED BY A DIRECT OBJECT AND AN INDIRECT OBJECT ARE EXAMPLES OF THIS SYNTACTIC SKILL. ORAL LANGUAGE PRODUCTION DID NOT AUTOMATICALLY IMPROVE WITH AGE FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES AS IT DOES FOR OTHER STUDENTS (WIIG ET AL., 1977).

BROWN'S STAGE I 15 TO 30 MONTHS CHILDREN ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE MLUM'S (MEAN LENGTH OF UTTERANCE MEASURED IN MORPHEMES) OF ABOUT 1.75 MORPHEMES.

BROWN'S STAGE II 28 and 36 months of age, MLUms between 2.0 and 2.5, They begin using – -ing verb using prepositions -s plurals ("my cars")

Brown’s Stage iii 36 to 42 months of age MLUms between 2.5 and 3.0 They begin using irregular past tense ("me fell down") 's possessive as in "Dada's book”They copulas (words that link a subject and predicate - "I am tall").

Brown’s Stage iv 40 TO46 MONTHS OF AGE MLUMS BETWEEN 3.0 AND 3.7 IT'S AT THIS STAGE THEY BEGIN TO USE ARTICLES REGULAR PAST TENSE THIRD PERSON REGULAR TENSE AND PRESENT TENSE.

Brown’s stage 5 42 t0 52 months of age MLUms between 3.7 and 4.5 they begin using – third person irregular uncontractible auxiliaries contractible copulas

A child with morphology and syntax deficits may: Demonstrate inconsistent or incorrect word order when speaking Use a limited number of grammatical markers (e.g. –ing, a, the, possessive ‘s, be verbs) Have difficulty understanding and using past, present and future verb tenses Show limited understanding and use of plural forms Struggle with story retell tasks

SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT By age twenty-four months: Consistent word order is in place Expressive language contains few grammatical markers and speech is “telegraphic” By age thirty months: -ing and plural /s/ begin emerging Use of negatives between subject and verb (e.g. Mommy no go) appears Rising intonation is used to indicate a question Paul, R (2001)

SYNTAX DEVELOPMENT By age thirty-six months: Overgeneralization of past-tense verb forms is in place (e.g. runned) Use of negatives between subject and verb (e.g. Mommy no go) appears Rising intonation is used to indicate a question Present tense auxiliaries have emerged (e.g. Daddy is eating; Bunny does hop) By age forty-two months: Auxiliary verbs are being ordered correctly in questions and negatives (e.g. What is he doing? versus What he is doing?) Grammatical markers have emerged including: possessive ‘s, articles a, the, and irregular past tense Paul, R (2001)

SYNTAX DEVELOPMENT By age forty-eight months: A variety of early complex sentence types emerge including compound sentences (e.g. My shirt is blue and green), full prepositional clauses in sentences (e.g. I put away the toys in the toy box), and simple infinitives (I want to draw). By age forty-eight to sixty months: Later developing morphemes are acquired, including Be verbs, regular past, and third person /s/ By age five to seven years old: Passive sentences are understood and used Paul, R (2001)

SYNTAX DEVELOPMENT FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX, PLEASE VISIT, SPEECH LANGUAGE THERAPY.SPEECH LANGUAGE THERAPY. REFERENCES PAUL, R (2001). LANGUAGE DISORDERS FROM INFANCY THROUGH ADOLESCENCE: ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION 2ND EDITION. ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: MOSBY, INC.

ECSE 500 OF COURSE SPEAKERS OF A LANGUAGE CONSTANTLY USE THESE COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE TOGETHER, AND USUALLY IN SOCIAL SITUATIONS. IN THE NEXT CLASS SESSION WE WILL ADD A FOURTH COMPONENT: PRAGMATICS, WHICH DEALS WITH RULES OF LANGUAGE USE.