Semantic Development

What is Semantic Development? The acquisition of words and their many meanings; the development of word knowledge into a complex hierarchical network of associated meanings.

Semantic Development Important Concepts Word-arbitrary label Referent-the object, entity, or concept to which a word refers Meaning-mental construct, conceptual aspect that permits us to comprehend

Semantic Development Lexicon Mental storehouse of information about words and morphemes. -Is Word knowledge

Stages of Development of Communicative Functions Perlocutionary Stage–(8-10 months of age) early forms of sounds and behaviors to which an adult can infer communicative intent; the child demonstrates behaviors for successful communication such

Stages of Development of Communicative Functions Illocutionary Stage – (around 10 months until the time they speak their first word); the child demonstrates intent to communicate; this stage is characterized by:

Stages of Development of Communicative Functions Locutionary Stage – (time of first words) (around 12 months) using first words; with the first ten or so words they display unstable word use (new words come and go); then the child …

When is it “the first word”? It may occur as early as 8 months or as late as 16 months Characteristics of true words Phonetic consistency Semantic coherence Symbolic autonomy

Characteristics of Children’s Early Use of Words Easier words to say are more likely to be included in early productive vocabularies Vocabularies are from a variety of grammatical classes Nouns are favored over verbs in acquisition of the English language because verbs are more linguistically complex

Characteristics of Children’s Early Use of Words (con’t) Overextensions-occur when a child uses a word in a context or manner that is inconsistent with, but in some way related to, the adult meaning of the word Invented words-children use their own “made-up words”

First 50 Words (Adapted from Owens, 2001) Grammatical Function Percentage of Vocabulary Examples Nominals: General & Specific 51 14 Milk, dog, car Mama,dada, pet names Action Words Give, do, bye-bye, up Modifiers 9 Mine, no, dirty Personal-social No, please Functional 4 This, for At approximately 18 months of age, will have first 50 words After the first 50 words, most children have a huge spurt in vocabulary Which category has the highest percentage? Reasons why get nouns quicker: adults may emphasize labeling of objects in their speech to young children. Noun rituals. Labels for kinds of objects are more numerous than labels for actions, properties or relations the concepts referred to by nouns are clearer, more concrete and more readily identifiable than those referred to By other classes of words. Verbs are more linguistically complex. -Nominal specific-refers to specific, unique members of a category(Priscilla the dog) /nominals general-refer to items that represent general examples of a category (dogs) Action words-refer to a requested, ongoing, or just completed action/modifiers-describe the features or qualities of objects or events/personal-social-express feelings and indicate social relationships/Functional=fulfill grammatical functions

What do first words sound like? Front consonants are the most common sounds used in early words. /p, b, d, t, m, n/

How fast does the first lexicon grow? 12 to 18 months of age 50 18 to 24 months of age 200-300 3 years of age 900-1000 5 years of age 2,100-2,200 This is expressive vocabulary!! Differences in rates of growth across toddlers may relate to various factors such as differences in experiences and exposure to language. Differences due to socioeconomic factors, caregiving styles, or health related concerns (middle ear infections) have been. Children learn 2 to 5 words per day. During preschool years. Some words may emerge and then disappear, at least temporarily

Emergent Word Learning 12-18 months of age a child learns words through salience and perception. They pay more attention to things they think are interesting or calling their attention. For instance, the child will look at a moving object. The mom labels an object and the child assumes it is the object the child is interested in.

Emergent Word Learning 18-24 months of age a child begins learning words using social cues as well. They look at mom or the caregiver to see what they are looking at when they hear a label. They pay much more attention to the adult’s gesture and eye gaze.

Expressive vs. Receptive Vocabulary Elliot (1981) “Both comprehension and production of linguistic structure undergo development, probably at different rates.” Nakazima (1962) “A child can perceive speech sounds very early. Intonational patterns are discriminated at about 8 months.”

Expressive vs. Receptive Benedict (1979) proposed that comprehension precedes production. Based on one of his studies, it shows that children can understand approximately 50 words at the time they are producing about 10 words.

Expressive vs. Receptive If during the 2nd year of life a child shows such a drastic increase in vocabulary usage, it is assumed that the child is using words they already understand. Bloom (1974) proposed that a child will use known words, that the nonlinguistic context is a comprehension and use aid.

Theoretical Perspectives on Semantic Development Learning Theory-learn words through associative learning. Developmental Theories- consider semantic development within the wider context of the child’s unfolding social, cognitive and linguistic skills. Fast Mapping-Children’s ability to form an initial hypothesis about a word’s meaning very quickly, after hearing it only once or twice

Lexical Principles of Fast Mapping Default assumptions that children may use as working hypothesis when mapping a word Words refer to objects Words refer to whole objects New words can be extended to other members of the same category Each object can have only one name New words refer to categories that do not already have a name No two words have exactly the same meaning -

Slow Mapping The principle of enriching your semantic representations of words already fast-mapped into your lexicon.

Later Semantic Development kindergarten and beyond A. Acquisition of Complex Concepts: Kinship terms Spatial words Color terms Deictic terms – (pointer words)(this, that, I, you, here) Concrete object categories are the easiest to acquire than are action or affective categories and superordinate categories Kinship-aunt and uncle. How are the concepts aunt and uncle different? It is complex because it has more than one relational component. What is easier for the kids? Terms that only have one relational component. Like father: a parent who is male Spatial words indicate the location of a referent, typically in relation to some item. Color-Any word that refers to a color. They have to be able to isolate color from objects and notice similarities and differences between different shades. Younger preschoolers can sort by color but they perceive color as a perceptible part of an object. They cannot dissociate object from physical appearance. Deictic terms-Words that are used as pointers or contrasting relational terms that are used to indicate which of object is being referred to. Example: this, that, I and you, here, there

Later Semantic Development According to Owens (2008) a preschooler can make valuable conversational contributions, but by kindergarten a child can uphold their end of a conversation.

Later Semantic Development A preschooler advances from 1- to 2- to multi-word sentences, whereas from kindergarten and beyond a person will become more adept at vocabulary use, concept use, narrative discourse, etc. Beyond preschool we learn to modify our language, to interact using our language – we become more flexible with our language.

Later Semantic Development B. Metalinguistic Awareness- The ability to use language to think about and to analyze language. Example: using language as an object of play vs. using language for communication

Later Semantic Development Metalinguistic Development Is the knowledge of the nature of language as an object. First, children learn that words are separable from their referents. Rhyming is one of the earliest metalinguistic skills acquired by children.

Later Semantic Development Metalinguistic Development (con’t) Children learn that they can manipulate words, reflect on the properties of words (long vs. short) and objects separately. Children continue to develop metalinguistic skills during the school years.

Later Semantic Development C. Phonological Awareness The ability to consciously recognize and manipulate units of the speech stream Is both important for and influenced by learning to read The big debate on if SLPs should be involved in reading

Later Semantic Development D. Humor -Children play with semantic elements in syntactic structures for humorous effect from an early age -Puns and riddles are a favorite in middle elementary school years -By age nine, children understand the humor in riddles, but can also explain its source -

Later Semantic Development E. Metaphor and Irony Metaphor- figure of speech in which one thing is called by the name of another to indicate the similarities between them Irony-Using words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning -metaphor- “This room is a pig pen” “ “You are like a bull in a china cabinet” -irony- “It’s so clean in here”, “Einstein”

Later Semantic Development F. Word Definitions During the early school years children’s definitions are concrete, personal and incidental Through the elementary years, these definitions are replaced by abstract types of responses: synonyms, explanations, and specifications of categorical relationships