PSY 369: Psycholinguistics Language Acquisition 1

Acquiring language Student in my psycholinguistics course Dr. Cutting, language sure is complicated. How do you expect us to learn all this stuff?

Acquiring language Student in my psycholinguistics course 2 year old Whadda’ ya mean, mommy. I can talk. I can understand what you say. What’s so hard?

Acquiring language Student in my psycholinguistics course 2 year old How do we (humans) do it? How do we learn to use this complex behavior?

Overview Some of the major issues Imitation vs Innateness Born to walk Born to talk? How much explicit teaching do we get? Commonalities across languages and cultures Language is complex everywhere Sounds, words, syntax, and more No primitive (simple) languages Language development is similar everywhere Similar stages

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication and the womb We experience language before we’re even born Normal human language uses sounds between 100 and 4000 Hz Sound travels through skin and fluids too In the womb, sounds up to 1000 Hz Can’t hear individual words But can hear: Intonation, durations, rhythm, stress What was that? You’re mumbling.

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication and the womb We experience language before we’re even born Mahler (mid 80’s, in France) 4 day old babies Nonnutritive sucking method Played French or Russian Sucking pattern changed if language was switched Sucking pattern didn’t change if language wasn’t switched Babies knew (something about) the languages

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication and the womb We experience language before we’re even born DeCasper, et al (1994) Fetal heart monitor

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication and the womb We experience language before we’re even born DeCasper, et al (1994) Same story Different story Had mothers read stories everyday to fetuses during weeks of pregnancy After 38th week, two stories were played to the fetuses (but mom couldn’t hear it) Fetal heart monitor

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication and the womb We experience language before we’re even born DeCasper, et al (1994) Same story Different story Had mothers read stories everyday to fetuses during weeks of pregnancy After 38th week, two stories were played to the fetuses (but mom couldn’t hear it) Fetal heart monitor

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication and the womb We experience language before we’re even born DeCasper, et al (1994) Had mothers read stories everyday to fetuses during weeks of pregnancy After 38th week, two stories were played to the fetuses (but mom couldn’t hear it) Same story Different story Decreased fetal heart-rate Baby learned something about the story Fetal heart monitor

Lecture notes from book After birth Prelinguistic communication Phonological differences are key Higher in pitch More variable in pitch More exaggerated intonation All may help to orient and maintain attention of infant May help “bootstrap” later learning Child-directed speech (motherese)

Lecture notes from book After birth Prelinguistic communication Demonstration that the infant is trying to communicate in some way e.g., pointing behaviors Criteria Waiting Persistence Development of alternative plans Prelinguistic gestures

Sharp phoneme boundary … 5 … 7 % /ba/ Eimas et al, (1971) Categorical perception in infants (1 month olds) Early phonology Young infants can distinguish different phonemes 9:30 mark in video

Early phonology A number of studies suggest that very young infants can perceive between a number of phonemic distinctions (e.g., Kuhl & Meltzhoff, 1997) Not limited to their language context However, as they age/experience their context language the ability to perceive some of these distinctions are lost (~10 to 12 months) Categorical perception in infants Nature/nurture debate: Are humans “pre-programmed” to distinguish speech sounds?

… 5 … 7 % /ba/ Sharp phoneme boundary Eimas et al, (1971) Categorical perception in infants (1 month olds) Early phonology Chinchillas do it too! Kuhl and Miller (1975) Are they “pre- programmed to perceive human speech? We’re listening

Typical language development 6 Months Responds to his name Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones

Early speech production weeks: cooing 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 Clear consonants and vowels are produced “da”, “gi” 18:15 mark in video

Early speech production weeks: cooing 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 months: Reduplicated babbling “dada”, “gigi”

Early speech production weeks: cooing 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 months: Reduplicated babbling months: CVC clusters may appear “bod”, “tat”

Early speech production 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 10 or 11 months: Variegated babbling Combining “incomprehensible words” “dab gogotah” Intonation patterns May reflect phonological rules of spoken language context By 12 to 14 months some evidence of language specific phonological rules

Early speech production The progression of cooing and babbling follows a universal pattern. Role of both nature and nurture 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.

Early speech production Transition to speech Early words Common Phonological processes Reduction Delete sounds from words Coalescence Combine different syllables into one syllable Assimilation Change one sound into a similar sound within the word Reduplication One syllable from a multi-syllabic word is repeated

Typical language development 12 Months Uses one or more words with meaning (this may be a fragment of a word) Understands simple instructions, especially if vocal or physical cues are given Practices inflection Is aware of the social value of speech

Typical language development 18 Months Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over) Much jargon with emotional content Is able to follow simple commands

Building our lexicon Comprehended words 12 months first words age 2 years 200 words age 6 years 15,000 words

Building our lexicon One word stage Early words Fast mapping Over and under extensions Role of adults’ speech Holophrases Single word that seems to represent an entire sentence

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

Word Extension The appropriate limits of the meaning of words

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

Lecture notes from book Early grammar Measures of syntactic development Emergence of grammatical categories Comprehension and production comparisons Individual differences

Lecture notes from book Acquisition of morphology Later syntactic development Cross-linguistic differences Metalinguistics and discourse

Lecture notes from book Bilingualism and second-language acquisition

Lecture notes from book Using words One word utterances Two word utterances Development of syntax Production and comprehension comparisons

Lecture notes Later developments in syntax and semantics Emergence of linguistic awareness Bilingualism and second-language acquisition Language and social contexts Language in the school Revisit the innateness issue

24 Months Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible Vocabulary of approximately words Rhythm and fluency often poor Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused My and mine are beginning to emerge Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)” Typical language development

36 Months Use pronouns I, you, me correctly Is using some plurals and past tenses Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name Handles three word sentences easily Has in the neighborhood of words About 90% of what child says should be intelligible Verbs begin to predominate Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and activities Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason Able to reason out such questions as "what must you do when you are sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?" Should be able to give his sex, name, age Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands what is expected Typical language development

Lecture notes from web 48 MonthsKnows names of familiar animals Can use at least four prepositions or can demonstrate his understanding of their ﾊﾊﾊ meaning when given commands Names common objects in picture books or magazines Knows one or more colors Can repeat 4 digits when they are given slowly Can usually repeat words of four syllables Demonstrates understanding of over and under Has most vowels and diphthongs and the consonants p, b, m, w, n well established Often indulges in make-believe Extensive verbalization as he carries out activities Understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a contrast is presented Readily follows simple commands even thought the stimulus objects are not in sight Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even sounds 60 MonthsCan use many descriptive words spontaneously-both adjectives and adverbs Knows common opposites: big-little, hard-soft, heave-light, etc Has number concepts of 4 or more Can count to ten Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems Should have all vowels and the consonants, m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng,y (yellow) Should be able to repeat sentences as long as nine words Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair) Should be able to follow three commands given without interruptions Should know his age Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later, after, while Tomorrow, yesterday, today Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and some ﾊﾊ complex sentences Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct 6 ﾊ YearsIn addition to the above consonants these should be mastered: f, v, sh, zh, th,1 He should have concepts of ﾊ 7 Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a picture, seeing relationships Between objects and happenings 7 ﾊ YearsShould have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the soft g as in George Should handle opposite analogies easily: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-swims, blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour, etc Understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end, etc Should be able to tell time to quarter hour Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words 8 ﾊ YearsCan relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at some time in ﾊ the past Complex and compound sentences should be used easily Should be few lapses in grammatical constrictions-tense, pronouns, plurals All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple compositions Social amenities should be present in his speech in appropriate situations Control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well and appropriately established Can carry on conversation at rather adult level Follows fairly complex directions with little repetition Has well developed time and number concepts