1. Thursday, November 15 What are the two types of fixation?
What were your first words? What age was it?
Do you think language development is more a product of nature or nurture?
Upcoming Dates:
Tonight’s HW
You should have all reading and terms for 7B
Start reading chapter 11 (we are going to move quick through this chapter) pages ______
Read article on Genie on my website
Assessment:
TEST after Thanksgiving

2. Language

3. Language
Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.
Humans claim that language asserts our position over all other animals.
Linguistics – the scientific study of language

4. 3 basic building blocks
Language Structure

5. Phoneme
The smallest distinctive sound unit
BAT B A T
CHAT CH

6. Morpheme The smallest unit that carries meaning
may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)
Most are 2 or more phonemes
Boy (1)
Boy-ish (2)
Boy-ish-ness (3)

7. Grammar SEMANTICS SYNTAX
A system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.
SEMANTICS
the set of rules by which we derive meaning from language
-ed = past tense
SYNTAX
the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.
Adjectives before nouns
English: White house instead of casa blanca

8. Speech Development Stages
Characteristics
Babbling
4 months
Spontaneous various sounds unrelated to household language
Mostly consonant-vowel pairs (ma-ma, ta-ta, da-da)
By 10 months, phoneme sounds outside of the household language will disappear
One-word
1-2 years
Speaking mostly in single words.
Inflection of the word dictates meaning
By 1.5 years, learning a word/day.
Two-word
2 years
Speaking mostly in two-word phrases
“telegraphic” speech – “want juice” or “go home”
Follows basic syntax rules, but not semantic
After 2 years, speech develops rapidly as two-word phrases become longer and more complex sentences.

9. Language Development The average HS graduate knows about 60,000 words…
3,500 words/year…
10 words/day…
Is the capacity for language development innate? Learned?
Language Development

10. Explaining Language Development - NURTURE
Skinner – Operant conditioning theory
We learn language through association, imitation, and reinforcement.

11. Explaining Language Development - NATURE
Noam Chomsky – Inborn universal language
Children learn language too quickly to be the product of conditioning alone
Inborn language acquisition device that biologically prepares us to learn language
When languages are heard, the brain gets ready to learn.
Development of language (communication) will happen in some form, nurture helps direct the development.

12. Explaining Language Development – NATURE/NURTURE
Cognitive scientists – critical periods
Childhood is a critical period for language development that gradually closes beginning at age 7.
Those not exposed to a spoken or signed language during the critical period will never be able to fully master any language.

13. Genie
Secret of the Wild Child

14. Thinking with/out Language
What impact does language have on our thinking?
Can we think without using actual language?
Thinking with/out Language

15. Thinking WITH Language
Whorf’s linguistic determinism – hypothesis stating that language determines the way we think.
Cultural constructions of language and identity – Study on bilingual students and self-rating
Thinking influences thought  thought influences language.

16. Thinking WITHOUT Language
We often think in images or visualizations, without language.
Power of imagining/visualization
Sports
Studying

17. Animal Thinking and Language
Do animals think?
Do animals exhibit language?
Animal Thinking and Language

18. Do Animals Think?
Animals, especially great apes, show great capacity for thought.
Wolfgang Kohler – insight in chimps
Animal tools – cognitive abilities
Customs and cultures

19. Do Animals Exhibit Language?
Animals communicate constantly.
A border collie named Chaser, can identify toys by name… But is this language? Chaser II

20. Case of the Apes Humans DNA most similar to apes/chimps.
Can be taught sign language to the ability of a 2 year old.
Apes may be able to learn sign language well due to evolution.
Kanzi

21. Can Apes Really Talk? Cynics Optimists
Chimps can push buttons for a reward… language?
Chimps can use symbols but don’t understand syntax.
Scientists can fall victim to perceptual sets.
Chimps used sign language to speak to each other.
Kanzi, pygmy chimp, can recognize spoken words/commands and can communicate with a keyboard. One trainer says he can speak English words (yet to be proven).
Kanzi Radiolab

22. Friday, March 24 Homework: Give examples of the following:
Phoneme
Morpheme
Syntax
Semantics
Do you think language development is more a product of nature or nurture?
Do you think animals exhibit language?
Today’s topic:
Forgetting review and Intro to Language
Homework:
Read pages ,
Terms
Upcoming Dates:
Test, ____?