Language Communication is part of cognition Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communication Language – our spoken, written or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Language can be….. Language - Spoken, written, body language and the ways they are combined to communicate meaning

Language Structure Phonemes Morphemes Grammar Semantics Syntax

All languages contain…. Phonemes Morphemes The smallest units of sound in a language. English has about 44 phonemes. The smallest unit of meaningful sound. Examples : How many phonemes in cats? How many morphemes in cats? 3 building blocks of language – Phoneme, Morphemes, Grammar Phonemes – smallest distinctive unit of language The various vowel sounds that can be placed between a t and an n produce words such as tan, ten, tin, and ton. These various vowel sounds represent different phenomes Phonemes in bats = 4 How many morphemes in bats = 2 This and that share a common phoneme Baked and cleaned (ed) is a morphene What are other prefixes or suffixes that have meaning? Ly – makes it an adverb Ness Those who grow up learning phonemes for one language have difficulty pronouncing those of another language (including sign language) Morphemes – smallest unit of language that carries meaning. Some morphemes are also phonemes ie. I, a, s (indicating plural) Morphemes mark verbs to show tense (walk-ed, walk-ing) and mark nouns to show possession (maria’s, people’s) and plurality (foxes, children) Lucky, lucky, unlucky, all morphemes – express a distinct meaning Example:

How many phonemes and morphemes? Rich Hat   Knock   Bring    Through  Strict Stretch Bats Called Nightly Luck, lucky, unlucky Coolness Zebras Defroster Rich – 3 hat -- 3 (/h/a/t/) knock -- 3 (/n/o/k/) bring -- 4 (/b/r/i/ng/) through -- 3 (/th/r/U/) strict -- 6 (/s/t/r/i/k/t/) Stretch - 5

Language Structure Grammar: The rules of a language. Example: Semantics - rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences. Examples: Syntax: the order of words in a language. To combine words into grammatically sensible sentences, we need to apply proper rules of syntax When her teacher mentioned the arms race, Krista understood that the word “arms” referred to weapons and not to body parts. Krista's correct interpretation best illustrates the importance of semantics A European visitor to the United States asked a taxi driver, “Can you please a ride to the airport me give?” This visitor has apparently not yet mastered the syntax of the English language. Syntax – in English, adjectives precede nouns Nouns precede verbs Grammar – a system of rules that enables us to communicate Semantics – set of rules we use to derive meaning from morphemes words and sentences adding ed makes a word past tense Syntax - rules we use to order words into sentences ie Adjectives come before nowns Is this the White House or the House White?

Language Acquisition Receptive language Productive language Begins at @ 4 months Can read lips 7 mo. Can segment spoken sounds into individual words Can listen to an unfamiliar language Productive language Starts around 4 months of age with babbling Segmenting spoken sounds - Ability at this task predicts language abilities at age 2 and 5 Can listen to an

Language Acquisition Stages that we learn language… Babbling Stage make speech sounds both in and out of native language First able to discriminate speech sounds Example: Holophrastic Stage/one word stage Productive language begins (speaking meaningful words) Receptive language (comprehension of meaning) Telegraphic Stage/two word stage Grammatically correct 2 word saying Contains mostly nouns and verbs Follows rules of syntax Overgeneralization - extending the application of a rule to items that are excluded from it in the language norm, 4. Speaking in Complete Sentences Receptive language – ability to comprehend speech Begins at @ 4 months At 7 months they segment spoken sounds into individual words – their ability at this task predicts their language abilities at age 2 and 5 Mentally segmenting other's spoken sounds into individual words best illustrates a 7-month-old's capacity for receptive language Productive Language Ability to produce words with meaning, and comprehend the meaning of speech Once receptive language begins – they can match mouth movements with the appropriate sounds Babbling stage – beginning at @ 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds, at first unrelated to household language Includes sounds from various languages (not imitation) During the earliest stages of speech development make some speech sounds that do not occur in their parents' native language **10 months – sounds and intonations from other languages disappear – without exposure to other languages, babies become functionally deaf to sounds outside their native language One word stage – stage in speech development from about age 1-2 during which a child speaks mostly in single words Using barely recognizable syllables to communicate meaning best illustrates a 12-month-old's developing capacity for productive language = the ability to comprehend the meaning of speech Two-word stage – begins about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two word statements Telegraphic speech – early speech stage in which a child speaks using mostly 2 word sentences made from nouns and verbs – go car Early elementary school children understand complex sentences and double meaning in humor   Having spent his childhood in the Middle East, Parviz did not begin speaking English until he was a teenager. When he pronounces words such as “mother,” native English speakers hear a word that sounds more like “mudder.” As an infant he lost his ability to produce sounds he never heard

How do we learn language? Behaviorist Theory Nativist Theory

Behaviorist Theory B.F. Skinner Association – Imitation – Reinforcement- Association - very morning, Krista pages through a picture book with her 12-month-old daughter. For each picture, Krista points to the picture and identifies it by name, such as “dog.” Can’t be explained solely by imitation and reinforcement because children generate all kinds of sentences that they never heard before

Chomsky’s Theory Inborn Universal Grammar Universal language acquisition device – In born (innate)readiness to learn grammatical rules Universal grammar – common grammatical building blocks that all languages share (inborn). All languages have nouns and verbs, subjects and objects, negations and questions If there is a word purple in a language it will also have a word for red Chomsky was impressed by the underlying similarities of all human languages Genetic predisposition to learning language Children acquire languge too rapidly to be explained solely by learning principals. Given adequate nurture, language will naturally occur. Language acquisition device – prewired with a sort of switch box. Switches need to be turned either on or off for us to understand and produce language Universal grammar—all human languages have the same universal buiding blocks such as nouns, verbs, negations, questions. No matter what the language we start speaking in nouns rather than verbs or adjectives. language acquisition device is an inborn, prewired ability to acquire language that is active during childhood.

Overgeneralization Overgeneralization - Applying a grammatical rule too widely and thereby creating incorrect forms Supports Chomsky’s Universal Grammar Examples: Tendency to overgeneralize rules of grammar: The fact that most children overgeneralize grammar rules as they develop language supports the idea that humans are born with a language acquisition device. For example, students could explain that most children say “goed to the store” before they learn to say “went to the store” as an example of overgeneralization.

Statistical Learning and Critical Periods Statistical Learning – discerning word breaks, analyzing which syllables most often go together Critical Period – sensitive period for mastering certain aspects of language Learning a language as an adult you will always speak with an accent Most easily master language as a child Statistical learning After two minutes of exposure to an unbroken monotone string of nonsense syllables, 8-month-old infants could recognize three-syllable sequences that appeared repeatedly. Most easily master a second language during childhood Before 1st b-days brains discern word breaks, statistically analyzing word breaks—universal adaptibility—can adapt to any languages phenomes 7 month old infants can learn simple sentence structures Critical period - 7 years for mastering certain aspects of language 10 months for mastering native language sounds Children who have not been exposed by @ age 7 to either a spoken or a signed language during their early years, gradually lose their ability to master any language. After the window for learning a language closes – learning a second leanguage seems more difficult Learn a second language as an adult, you speak it with an accent Deaf children not exposed to sign language early, never learn to sign as well as those exposed early. Evidence of a critical period for language acquisition—people most easily master grammar of 2nd language during childhood

Whorf’s Linguistic Determination Hypothesis The idea that language determines the way we think. The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their language, so Whorf says they rarely think of the past. Underestimates how much thinking occurs without language Language and Words shape the way people think English = self-focused emotions (anger) Japanese = interpersonal emotions The isolated Piraha tribespeople of Brazil have no words for specific numbers higher than 2. If shown seven nuts in a row they find it difficult to lay out the same number from their own pile of nuts. If our capacity to form concepts depends on our verbal memory, this would best illustrate linguistic determinism It has been suggested that Alaskan Eskimos' rich vocabulary for describing snow enables them to perceive differences in snow conditions that would otherwise go unnoticed Six-month-old Ohmar recognizes the difference between squares and circles just as accurately as his 3-year-old brother, who can correctly name the different shapes – challenges linguistic determination Leland's language does not distinguish between “family love” and “romantic love,” so he has difficulty realizing that he deeply loves his sister. Bilingual children, who inhibit one language while using the other, can better inhibit their attention to irrelevant information.

Thinking and Language Bilingual advantage Thinking and images Thinking affects language, which then affects our thoughts. Bilingual Advantage - increased aptitude scores, creativity and appreciation for a second culture When English-speaking Canadian children were taught only in French during their early school years, researchers found that they experienced a(n) improvement in intellectual apptitude We think in images – artists, composers, poets, mathematicians, athletes, scientists Chinese pianist imprisoned for seven years rehearsed in his head for 7 years Using implicit memory, we think in images Thinking in images can increase our skills when we mentally practice upcoming events Introductory psychology students performed best on a midterm psychology test if they had previously spent five minutes a day visualizing themselves Thinking affects language – word slam dunk was coined after the act had become common