Beginning of Language Learning Language learning emerges from general communication skills. Emotion “Motherese/Parentese”:Special form of speech that caregivers use with children to convey meaning through sound patterns. Gesture After six months the infant begins to follow pointing gestures. At 8-10 months pincer grips develops and infant begins to point. Nonverbal communication skills at 13 months predict language ability up to 5 years of age (Ulvund & Smith, 1996)

Hurdles to Learning to Understand Spoken Language Segmenting the continuous speech input into words Associating a novel word with its meaning.

Speech Segmentation Segmenting the continuous speech input into words Characteristic stress pattern High frequency items Motherese Touch or use child’s name when starting. Use a high pitched voice Speak slowly with extra pauses Repeat instructions Analysis-by synthesis through babbling Associating a novel word with its meaning.

Early Language Learning AgesSkillDescription 0-12 Mo. ProductionCooing: Infant produces phonemes of all possible languages (deaf infants included). At 6 mo.: Babbling: Produces only phonemes of language(s) being acquired (not deaf infants). Speech Perception By 5 mo.: discriminates stress patterns of own lang. By 6 mo.: recognizes isolated words and simple categories (based on appearance and function). By 10.5 mo.: segments words in fluent speech. General communi- cation From beginning: Emits emotional utterances. 6 mo.: Some context-independent memory. 6 mo.: Can follow pointing gestures. 10 mo.: Checks adult emotion before acting.

Learning A Word’s Meaning Segmenting the continuous speech input into words Associating a novel word with its meaning. Social cues Attention cues Novelty

Early Word Learning AgesSkillDescription Mos. Production1-word utterances: 3 –100 word vocabulary. Comprehen- sion Well-developed context independence in memory (can move around). At 16 mo.: Can combine social and emotional cues to associate words not present together (Tomasello, et al. 1996) Mos. ProductionTwo-word utterances Comprehen- sion By 2 yrs: Can combine social and emotional cues from speech of others to learn words. Also, understanding of grammar begins (Hall, Lee & Belanger, 2000).

Vocabulary surge AgesAbilities Mos. Rapid growth of vocabulary and, after 500 words, learning of syntax. By 3 yrs: Associates new words with novel objects (Markman & Wachtel, 1988). By 4 yrs: Uses correct agent-action-object sequence rules (Akhtar, 1999). Understands that instances of a category share non- observable characteristics (Gelman & Markman, 1986).

Vocabulary Growth Phonological loop critical for early vocabulary growth. Correlation of 0.5 between nonword repetition and vocabulary for children 4-5 years old. By the time a student enters college they have learned 6-10 words a day between the ages of 5 and 18 and know about 50,000 words.

Categorization Categories give information not present in the input stimulus. As children get older, their category structures become more sophisticated: 1. Living & non-living. 2. Artifacts (functional) & other objects. 3. Events & physical objects. 4. Intentional events & other events. 5. Abstract concepts & events Family resemblances.

Reading Initially learned through letter-sound conversion, which makes English particularly difficult, but then uses direct vision-to-meaning route. Even first graders use direct route. Reading has a large effect on: vocabulary growth. development of grammar. general cognitive functioning.