Language Development

Four Components of Language Phonology sounds Semantics meanings of words Grammar arrangements of words into sentences Pragmatics social uses of speech

Phonology Phonemes: the smallest units of sound that can change the meaning of a word –/d/ “dog” –/l/ “log”

Children’s mastery of the different sounds of their language is not a mechanical skill. The mastery of different sounds, or phonemes, develops along with the child’s growing understanding of the meanings of words.

Phonology –/v/ vote –/b/boat –/ee/sheep –/i/ ship

Phonology Semantics the study of the meanings of words

Phonology Semantics Grammar Morphology: arrangement of words into sentences Syntax: use of grammatical markers

Morphemes Smallest units of meaning

Morphemes –child –speak –unspeakable –childless

Syntax Susan loves Joe Joe loves Susan Susan Joe loves

Syntax English:I love you Spanish: I you love English:the green tree Spanish: the tree green

Phonology Semantics Grammar Pragmatics The communicative and social uses of speech Is the door shut? Is the milk in the fridge? Is your room clean?

Language Development Prelinguistic period –Newborns distinguish the sound of human voice –6 - 8 weeks: cooing –4 - 6 months: babbling

The progression of cooing and babbling follows a universal pattern. Babies, until around 6 months old, can produce sounds/phonemes that their parents cannot produce or distinguish

Nature/Biology plays an important role in the emergence of cooing & babbling. The form of the child’s vocalization is also affected by the linguistic environment.

Semantic Development 12 months first words age 2 years 200 words age 6 years 15,000 words

Holophrase Single word that seems to represent an entire sentence

First Words Important people Objects that move Objects that can be acted upon Familiar actions Nouns before verbs

Word Extension The appropriate limits of the meaning of words

Extension Underextension –applying a word too narrowly Overextension –applying a word too broadly

Errors of segmentation Where does one word end and another begin?

Fast-mapping using the context to guess the meaning of a word

Morphological Development Single morphemes -s to form plural nouns -ed to form past tense -s to form 3rd person singular Contraction of verb “to be”

Overregularization

Syntactical Development Telegraphic speech: –leave out the smaller and less important words, like articles and prepositions –Boy street –Billy chair –Mommy come –More cookie Is this really grammar?

Language Explosion The language explosion is not just the result of simple semantic development; the child is not just adding more words to his/her vocabulary. Child is mastering basic syntactic and morphological rules.

Questions yes/no questions –Is this a doggie? Wh- questions –Why...? –When...? –Where...?

Yes/No Questions Mommy go? I play? Did mommy go? Can I play? Mommy did go, didn’t she?

Wh- Questions What daddy eating? What mommy doing? What daddy is eating? What I did yesterday? What is daddy eating?

What? Where? Who? Why? When? How?

Negative Sentences no milk no I go I not drink milk that not milk I don’t drink milk

Process of Language Acquisition ENVIRONMENTALIST (e.g., Skinner) Mechanisms: classical conditioning operant conditioning imitation

Problems with Imitation Parents do not usually provide feedback for grammatically incorrect sentences. They do provide feedback for the truth value of sentences. child I no like spinach mom yes, I know child I’m sleeping mom no, you’re awake

Problems with Imitation Parents seem to provide subtle feedback… Child:doggie runned away Mom:yes, the doggie ran away

Problems with Imitation Even when parents provide feedback, it doesn’t work! child nobody don’t like me mom no, say “nobody doesn’t like me” child nobody don’t like me mom listen carefully, “nobody doesn’t like me” child oh, nobody don’t likes me!

Problems with Imitation Children can only imitate phrases that they can already produce

Problems with Imitation Children produce grammatically correct sentences that are unique and that they could have never heard anybody before say

Problems with Imitation Children make systematic mistakes in their early language I goed Doggie runned away

Problems with Imitation Children systematic mistakes reflect their rule-following behavior.

NATIVIST (Chomsky NATIVIST (Chomsky ) Humans are biologically predisposed to acquire language. The capacity to comprehend and produce language is innate.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Biologically based system, programmed to recognize the universal rules that underlie any language the child might hear. It contains a universal grammar

NATIVISM The capacity to recognize the rules that underlie language is innate. However, the linguistic environment dictates which particular language a child will speak. The specific language is NOT genetically transmitted.

Support for Nativist Theory Language is acquired rapidly Language is acquired with little explicit teaching Children around the world reach language milestones at around same age Sensitive period for language acquisition