Language Mr. Koch AP Psychology Forest Lake High School

Basic Elements of Language Language Symbols (such as words) Grammar (set of rules for combining those symbols)

Structure Phonemes The smallest unit of sound that affects the meaning of speech – Number of phonemes in world’s languages varies from 13 (Hawaiian) to over 60 (Hindi) – English has about 40 » Same letter can represent multiple phonemes (i.e. letter “a” in cake vs. cat) Morphemes The smallest unit of language that has meaning – (i.e. Relearned → Re-, learn, -ed) Words Unit of language composed of one or more morphemes Phrases Sentences Grammar

Structure Grammar – Syntax Rules that govern the formation of phrases and sentences in a language (i.e. placement of nouns, adjectives, etc.) » Snows sudden floods melting cause. » Melting snows cause sudden floods. – Semantics Rules governing the meaning of words and sentences » Rapid bouquets deter sudden neighbors (Because uses words combined in proper syntax, it sounds right, but recognize it as nonsense because of semantics)

Development Babbling Stage – Infants of all nationalities begin with same babbling sounds By 9-10 months, begins to resemble native language – lose ability to make or distinguish certain sounds from other languages One-Word Stage – Stage where children tend to use one word at a time (~12-18 mo.) After this period, vocabulary begins expanding rapidly Two-Word Stage – Stage where children speak mostly with two word sentences (~2y.o.) “Telegraphic” Speech - mostly nouns & verbs, typically follows syntax By about 5 yrs, have acquired most of grammatical rules

Language Acquisition Theories Operant Conditioning (Skinner) – Learning comes from reinforcement and modeling But, it seems not all language behavior in children could be explain by this – learn too much, too fast and many phrases that are never conditioned/modeled Inborn Universal Grammar (Chomsky) – We all come “pre-wired” (nature) with a “language acquisition device” to use language (all languages in world are variations of similar components) – exposure allows it to develop (nurture) – “Critical Period”