Language A system of words and rules for combining words to communicate thoughts and feelings

Components of language: Phonemes  Basic, smallest units of sound  Individual sounds that letters make  Most languages have  English has about 40

Components of language: Morphemes  Smallest unit of language with meaning  Can be words, prefixes, suffixes and compound words portal.com/academy/lesson/what-is- language.html

Grammar  Rules for the combination and use of words  Syntax = combo of words to form phrases & sentences  Semantics = rules that govern the meaning of words & sentences  Proposed by Chomsky in the 1960s:  Surface Structure = the order of words in a sentence  Deep Structure = a representation of underlying meanings in sentences  See handout 8.15

Development of Language  Stages of development  Cooing  Babbling  Single word stage  Two-word stage “telegraphic”  Year 3…complex sentences

Learning Theory  Conditioning & imitation  Focuses on the role of modeling and rewards

Biological Basis Theory  Chomsky’s theory of innate language acquisition  Genetic predisposition to develop language  Eric Lenneberg’s Critical Period Hypothesis  States that there is a sensitive (critical) period for language development when learning a language is easier

Language Development  acquisition.html acquisition.html  Special Pre-Primer Activity: try to read by learning a new language  Secret of the Wild Child videos