1. Slide 1 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Chapter 10 Language

2. Slide 2 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language The Building Blocks of Language What are the elements that make up spoken language? Language can be broken down into elements at several levels. Take a sentence such as: “The players talked to the fans”

3. Slide 3 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Phonemes Morphemes Words Phrases Sentences

4. Slide 4 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Phonemes /p, b/ Bilabial Plosives/s, z/ Alveolar Fricatives Phonemes are the smallest significant units of sound in a language. Difference between p and b as well as between s and z is voicing (vibration of vocal cords). Carlson book shows how onset of voicing is responsible for difference between pa and ba. What’s involved is changing the column of moving air.

5. Slide 5 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Interesting Facts About Phonemes There are 40 phonemes in English, yet only 26 letters to capture these sounds?! Some letters can stand for different phonemes! For example “O” in HOT and COLD. Really confusing for ESL folks. The normal rate of speech is about 180 words per minute which is equivalent to 14 phonemes per second. More trouble for ESL folks!

6. Slide 6 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Morphemes Morphemes are the smallest units of sound that denote meaning in a language. As an example, the word “talked” has two morphemes: “talk” and the suffix “-ed ”

7. Slide 7 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Lexicon or Vocabulary A lexical item is a root word in the vocabulary. Most English-speaking high school students have a vocabulary of over 60,000 words. Most English-speaking university students have a vocabulary of well over 120,000 words.

8. Slide 8 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Syntax or Grammar Syntax refers to the way users of a particular language put words together in sentences. Each language has rules of grammar. “The players to the fans talked” is wrong. The rules differ across languages. “John drives the car orange” sounds wrong in English, but that order of words is correct in French. Phrases Sentences

9. Slide 9 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Properties of Language Language is a complex skill that humans excel at: It is symbolic, allowing us to communicate concrete or imaginary thoughts. It has structure because it is governed by rules. It is generative so that symbols can be combined in an infinite number of ways.

10. Slide 10 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Language and Humans Language has been described as: “The last bastion of human uniqueness” Is it true that only humans possess the ability to: Use symbols to communicate. Arrange the symbols in a structured way. Generate an infinite number of combinations of symbols.

11. Slide 11 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language

12. Slide 12 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Chimp Vocal Language

13. Slide 13 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Approach to Chimp Language Chimps obviously do not have the vocal apparatus to generate language sounds. But what happens if a chimp is taught to speak using sign language. Meet Washoe, who was taught American Sign Language (also known as “Ameslan” or “ASL”).

14. Slide 14 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Washoe

15. Slide 15 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language What’s to Make of Chimp Language? Does the experiment with Washoe convince us that he could: Learn to use signs to label things? String together signs into “grammatical” sentences? Generate new combinations of signs to communicate new ideas? Before reaching a firm conclusion, let’s consider a negative opinion that nearly brought all chimp language research to an end...

16. Slide 16 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Meet Nim Chimpsky Nim Chimpsky with psychology professor Laura Ann Petitto. Petitto was his caretaker and sign language tutor. Question: “Nim Chimpsky” is a play on the name of what famous psycholinguist?

17. Slide 17 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language

18. Slide 18 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language At Columbia University, Herbert Terrace designed the program to teach Nim sign language. Herbert Terrace was optimistic, envisioning that one day Nim might serve as a chimp interpreter for chimps in the wild. After years of work and videotape analysis of Nim’s conversations, Terrace found that when Nim combined symbols into longer sequences, he was either imitating his trainer’s previous signs, or “running on” with his hands until he got what he wanted (e.g., “eat Nim eat” or “play me Nim play”. Moreover, Nim signed spontaneously only when he wanted something whereas humans use language in a more diverse way. Did Nim Have Language?

19. Slide 19 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language The Controversy Heats Up At Georgia State University, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh (and others) has taken the position that primates can learn a rudimentary form of language. Could Washoe and Nim Chimpski have been handicapped by: Their species? Savage-Rumbaugh worked with Kanzi, a bonobo chimpanzee. Koko, another famous example, was a gorilla. The use of sign language? Kanzi pointed to geometric symbols. Lana, yet another famous example, pressed on symbols on a board.

20. Slide 20 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language The Controversy Continues The question of whether the communication skills of animals constitutes language is still being debated. On the question of whether primate language is: Symbolic Structured Generative Evidence for the first of these criteria seems the most compelling.

21. Slide 21 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Language: The Brain and Language Disorders

22. Slide 22 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Hemispheric Specialization Language is mostly localized in the left hemisphere. This is more the case for men than women (fMRI scan). Rhyming Task Inferior frontal regions

23. Slide 23 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Localizing Language Centres Speech Production Comprehension: Recognizing sequences of sounds and words.

24. Slide 24 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Aphasia Aphasia refers to problems of speech. Some aphasias involve difficulty with the production of speech. They are known as nonfluent aphasias Other aphasias involve difficulty with understanding speech. They are known as fluent aphasias.

25. Slide 25 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Language Centres and Aphasias Speech Production Comprehension: Recognizing sequences of sounds and words. Broca’s Aphasia: Laborious speech Agrammatism (no production or comprehension of complex grammar. No function words) Wernicke’s Aphasia (receptive aphasia) Poor comprehension. Produce fluent gibberish. Use function words but few content words.

26. Slide 26 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Broca’s Area

27. Slide 27 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language A Clear Distinction? Lesions caused by strokes are seldom limited to a specific area such as Broca’s or Vernicke’s. Still, does the broad distinction between disorders of production and disorders of comprehension map neatly on Broca and Wernicke’s areas? Not quite. The problem is that speech involves a series of processes, and that problems with one process have an impact on what happens in other processes.

28. Slide 28 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Stuttering Stuttering involves disfluencies of speech at the motor end of speech production. Patterns of stuttering differ a lot. Physical tension is usually involved. The causes of stuttering are not known. What is known is that stuttering is not caused by emotional problems. Let’s look at a video that illustrates the problem and one approach to therapy. National Stuttering Association web site: www.nsastutter.org

29. Slide 29 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Stuttering

30. Slide 30 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Autism Autism is characterized by three general impairments: Deviant social development. Delayed and unusual language development. Repetitive and ritualistic behaviour. The specific symptoms of autism vary a lot and the impairment is often difficult to diagnose. Autism is a lifelong condition. The causes of autism are not well understood. Autism Society of Ontario: www.autismsociety.on.ca

31. Slide 31 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Autism

32. Slide 32 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Asperger Syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS) is characterised by: Poor social skills. Very poor at reading nonverbal cues. Preoccupation with a particular subject of interest. Over sensitivity to textures, sounds, tastes, smells etc. Vocabulary can be extremely rich. Those with AS have a normal or above average IQ and many individuals exhibit exceptional skills in a specific area. The causes of AS are not well understood, though the disorder appears to be hereditary.

33. Slide 33 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Asperger Syndrome

34. Slide 34 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Tourette’s Syndrome Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by tics -- involuntary and uncontrollable sudden movements or vocalizations. Cursing, uttering obscenities and ethnic slurs are manifested in about 15% of cases. The onset of TS is usually before the age of 18. The causes of TS are not fully understood, but it is thought that abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine (and perhaps others like serotonin) are involved. Medication can help control symptoms: (e.g. Haldol, Catapres, Orap, Prolixin, Permitil and Klonopin). Therapy helps patient and family cope with social impact.

35. Slide 35 U T S C Chapter 10 - Language Video on Tourette’s Syndrome