1. PSY 369: Psycholinguistics Language Acquisition

2. Announcements Homework #2 due today (please have it uploaded to the assignment link on our class ReggieNet page by 5PM tonight) Exam 2 moved to March 6 th (the Thursday before Spring Break). Some other due dates have shifted: Quiz 4, moved back a week (now Feb 28 th ) Hmwk 3, moved to (Feb 27 th ) Bonus videos: different method’s investigating infant perception Janet Werker’s Lab Janet Werker’s Lab Peter Jusczyk’s Lab Peter Jusczyk’s Lab http://www.routledge.com/cw/harley-9781848720893/s1/students/

3. Overview General patterns and observations Learning sounds Perception (last time) (e.g., categorical perception) Perception Production (today) Learning words Meaning Proposed Strategies Fast mapping Whole object Mutual exclusivity Learning Syntax Learning Morphology

4. The early days: speech production Vocal track differences Infants vocal tracts are smaller, and initially shaped differently The infant’s tongue fills the entire mouth, reducing the range of movement As the facial skeleton grows, the range for movement increases (which probably contributes to the increased variety of sounds infants start to produce) May be (in part) why production lags behind comprehension InfantAdult

5. 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. Babbling & other videos Pre 6 weeks – “vegetative” sounds Cry, burp, sucking noises Post 6 week – “cooing” and later “babbling”

6. 6 - 8 weeks: cooing 4 - 6 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” Speech production

7. 6 - 8 weeks: cooing 4 - 6 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 6 - 7 months: Reduplicated babbling “dada”, “gigi” Speech production

8. 6 - 8 weeks: cooing 4 - 6 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 6 - 7 months: Reduplicated babbling 8 - 9 months: CVC clusters may appear “bod”, “tat”

9. 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

10. The first words Of course he said “arf.” What else did you expect his first word to be? A humorous compilation

11. Lots of individual differences But there is also a consistent pattern Kids are “Language Sponges” Learning words (vocabulary development)vocabulary development

12. Kids are “Language Sponges” About 3,000 new words per year, especially in the primary grades As many as 8 new words per day Production typically lags behind comprehension Learning words (vocabulary development)vocabulary development 12 ms first words 2 yrs 200 words 3 yrs1,000 words 6 yrs 15,000 words

13. Vocabulary growth Methods used to study this Observational data (60s to present) Diary studies Parents record their kids language development Taped language samples (Roger Brown) Small numbers of children (Eve, Adam, Sarah) Went to home every month made tape recordings Extensive study needed Hard to kids to “say all the words you know” or “say a question” Early phonological production isn’t like adult production, often need to take great care deciding what the child meant Large database CHILDESCHILDES Many kids, many languages, including children with language difficulties (The manual: Tools for Analyzing Talk)The manual

14. Early word learning First words (Around 10-15 months) Emergence of systematic, repeated productions of phonologically consistent forms 1 word stage typically lasts around 10 months Have learned first 50 words by 15 – 24 months Typically focused on the “here and now”

15. Early word learning Developed in systematic ways Not simply imitation, rather are creative Learned importance of consistency of names First words (Around 10-15 months) Emergence of systematic, repeated productions of phonologically consistent forms Idiomorphs - personalized words “Adult words” - Typically context bound (relevant to the immediate environment) Important people, Objects that move, Objects that can be acted upon, Familiar actions Nouns typically appear before verbs

16. What kinds of words? 1-general names “dog” 2- specific names “mommy” 3-action words “bye-bye” 4-modifiers “red” 5-personal/social “yes, no, please” 6-functional “what”

17. Early speech production Transition to speech This is your fis? Your fis? Oh, your fish. No. … my fis. No. My fis! Yes, my fis.

18. Early speech production This is your fis? Transition to speech No, … my fis. Your fis.No, my fis. Oh, your fish.Yes, my fis. Can’t hear the difference? Rejects adult saying fis Can’t produce the correct sounds? Sometimes, but evidence suggests not always the case More general process of simplification “frees up” resources for concentrating on other aspects of language learning

19. Early speech production Common Phonological processes Reduction Delete sounds from words (“da” for dog) Coalescence Combine different syllables into one syllable (“paf” for pacifier) Assimilation Change one sound into a similar sound within the word (“fweet” for sweet) Reduplication One syllable from a multi-syllabic word is repeated (“baba” for bottle) Transition to speech individual diffs, but some common processes

20. Learning word meanings Indeterminacy (Quine’s gavagai problem) The problem of reference: a word may refer to a number of referents (real world objects) a single object or event has many objects, parts and features that can be referred to Frog? Green? Ugly? Jumping? Applying the words to referents Frog

21. Extensions of meaning Extension Finding the appropriate limits of the meaning of words Underextension Applying a word too narrowly Overextension Applying a word too broadly Applying the words to referents

22. Extensions of meaning “tee”

23. Extensions of meaning “tee” 1:9,11

24. Extensions of meaning “tee” 1:9,11 1:10,18

25. Extensions of meaning “tee” “googie” 1:9,11 1:10,18 1:11,1

26. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie”

27. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24

28. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh”

29. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh”

30. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh” 1:11,27 “pushi”

31. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh” 1:11,27 “pushi” 2:0,10 “moo-ka” “hosh”

32. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh” 1:11,27 “pushi” 2:0,10 “moo-ka” “hosh” 2:0,20 “biggie googie”

33. Extensions of meaning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh” 1:11,27 “pushi” 2:0,10 “moo-ka” “hosh” 2:0,20 “biggie googie” One-word-per-referent heuristic If a new word comes in for a referent that is already named, replace it Exception to that was “horse,” but it only lasted a day here

34. Strategies for learning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh” 1:11,27 “pushi” 2:0,10 “moo-ka” “hosh” 2:0,20 “biggie googie” Expansion and contraction can occur at the same time

35. Strategies for learning 1:9,11 1:10,18 “tee” 1:11,1 1:11,2 “googie” 1:11,24 1:11,25 “tee/hosh” 1:11,26 “hosh” 1:11,27 “pushi” 2:0,10 “moo-ka” “hosh” 2:0,20 “biggie googie” Child tries different things, if a word doesn’t work then try something else e.g., hosh didn’t for for the large dog, switched to biggie doggie

36. Learning word meanings Fast mapping (Carey & Bartlett, 1978) Using the context to guess the meaning of a word Learning words Please give me the chromium tray. Not the blue one, the chromium one. All got the olive tray Several weeks later still had some of the meaning

37. Constraints on Word Learning Perhaps children are biased to entertain certain hypotheses about word meanings over others These first guesses save them from logical ambiguity Get them started out on the right track Object-scope (whole object) constraint Taxonomic constraint Mutual exclusivity constraint Learning words Cognitive Constraints (Markman, 1989)

38. Object-scope (whole object) constraint Words refer to whole objects rather than to parts of objects Strategies for learning Dog

39. ‘Show me another lux’ ‘Here is a lux’ Taxonomic constraint Words refer to categories of similar objects Taxonomies rather than thematically related obejcts Strategies for learning

40. But in ‘no-word’ conditions, they would be shown the first picture See this? Can you find another one? Strategies for learning

42. they choose the corkscrew because it is a less well known object for which they don’t have a label yet. ‘Show me a dax’: Mutual exclusivity constraint (Markam and Watchel 1988) Each object has one label & different words refer to separate, non-overlapping categories of objects An object can have only one label Strategies for learning

43. Problem with constraints Most of the constraints proposed apply only to object names. What about verbs? (Nelson 1988) There have been cases where children have been observed violating these constraints Using for example the word ‘car’ only to refer to ‘cars moving on the street from a certain location’ (Bloom 1973) The mutual exclusivity constraint would prevent children from learning subordinate and superordinate information (animal < dog < poodle)

44. The language explosion is not just the result of simple semantic development; the child is not just adding more words to his/her vocabulary. Child is mastering basic syntactic and morphological processes. Language explosion continues

45. Syntax Mean length of utterance (MLU) in morphemes Take 100 utterances and count the number of morphemes per utterance Language explosion continues Daddy coming. Hi, car. Daddy car comed. Two car outside. It getting dark. Allgone outside. Bye-bye outside. # morphemes: 3, 2, 4, 3, 4, 2, 2 ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ separate morphemes ‘allgone’ treated as a single word MLU = morphemes/utterances = 20/7 = 2.86

46. Syntax Mean length of utterance (MLU) in morphemes Language explosion continues

47. Proto-syntax (??) Holophrases (around 1-1.5 years) Single-word utterances may be used to express more than the meaning usually attributed to that single word by adults Language explosion continues “dog” might refer to the dog is drinking water Typically idiosyncratic, but some conventional/common (e.g., indicate the existence of an object, request recurrence of object or event) Often combined with intonation or gesture Controversial claim: May reflect a developing sense of syntax, but not yet knowing how to use it (e.g., see Bloom, 1973)

48. Syntax Roger Brown (1973) proposed 5 stages Stage 1: Telegraphic speech (MLU ~ 1.75; around 24 months) Children begin to combine words into utterances Limited to a small set of semantic relations (e.g., nomination, recurrence, attribution, possession [see table 10.3 for examples]) Debate: learning semantic relations or syntactic (position rules) “baby sleep” agent+action or Noun Verb Language explosion continues Children in telegraphic speech stage are said to leave out the ‘little words’ and inflections: e.g. Mummy shoe NOT Mummy’s shoe Two cat NOT two cats

49. More than two words Stages 2 through 5 Stage 2 (MLU ~2.25) begin to modulate meaning using word order (syntax) Modulations for number, time, aspect Gradual acquisition of grammatical morphemes (“-ing”, “-s” Later stages reflect generally more complex use of syntax (e.g., questions, negatives) Language explosion continues Syntax Roger Brown (1973) proposed 5 stages

50. Innateness accounts Semantic bootstrapping Learned accounts Acquired from the linguistic input from the environment It is in the stimulus How do kids learn the syntax?

51. Innateness account Pinker (1984, 1989) Semantic bootstrapping How do kids learn the syntax? Child has innate knowledge of syntactic categories and linking rules Child learns the meanings of some content words Child constructs some semantic representations of simple sentences Child makes guesses about syntactic structure based on surface form and semantic meaning

52. “It is in the stimulus” accounts (e.g. Bates, 1979) Speech to children is not impoverished (Snow, 1977) Children learn grammar by mapping semantic roles (agent, action, patient) onto grammatical categories (subject, verb, object) In all languages there are multiple potential cues indicating semantic/syntactic relations (e.g., word order, case marking) Similar words occur in similar linguistic contexts Acoustic information (e.g., prosody) may provide syntactic cues Children do not need innate knowledge to learn grammar How do kids learn the syntax?

53. Morphology Typically things like inflections and prepositions start around MLU of 2.5 (usually in 2 yr olds) Remember the Wug experiment (Berko-Gleason, 1958) Acquiring Morphology

54. Morphology Acquiring Morphology This person knows how to rick. She did the same thing yesterday. Yesterday she ________. Typically children say that she “ricked.”

55. Acquiring Morphology Age (yrs)MorphemeExample(s) 2Present progressiveI driving 2ArticlesA dog, the doctor 2PluralBalls 2Uncontractible CopulaHe is asleep, am, are 3Third person singularHe wants an apple 3Full progressiveBe + ing, I am singing 3Regular past tenseShe walked Morphology: order of acquisition

56. Acquiring Morphology Children sometimes make mistakes. My teacher holded the baby rabbits. Yes She holded the baby rabbits. Did you say your teacher held the baby rabbit? What did you say she did? No, she holded them loosely. Did you say held them tightly?

57. Acquiring Morphology This is ungrammatical in the adult language Shows that children are not simply imitating In this case, what they produce something that is not in their input. Children sometimes make mistakes. My teacher holded the baby rabbits.

58. Why do they make errors like these? In the case at hand, we have what is called overregularization The verb hold has an irregular past tense form, held Because this form is used, the regular past tense-- that with - ed-- is not found (*hold-ed) Acquiring Morphology Children sometimes make mistakes. My teacher holded the baby rabbits.

59. Acquiring Morphology Examples: Horton heared a Who I finded Renée The alligator goed kerplunk The case of verb past tense: Regular verb forms require no stored knowledge of the past tense form (wug test) Past tense is accomplished by applying a past tense rule (e.g., add -ed) to the verb stem With irregular verbs something must be memorized

60. Stages in the acquisition of irregular inflections Acquiring Morphology With regular verbs, the default form -ed is used With irregulars, lists associating the verb with a particular form of the past tense have to be memorized: Past tense is -t when attached to leave, keep, etc. Is -> was Dig -> dug Has -> had The case of verb past tense:

61. Acquiring Morphology Stages in the acquisition of irregular inflections time On the face of it, learning these morphological quirks follows a peculiar pattern: Early: correct irregular forms are used Middle: incorrect regular forms are used Late: correct forms are used again

62. Memory & Rules Why do we find this type of pattern? Memory and rules The use of overregularized forms starts at around the same that that the child is beginning to apply the default -ed rule successfully Early: All forms-- whether regular or irregular-- are memorized Middle: The regular rule is learned, and in some cases overapplied Late: Irregulars are used based on memory, regulars use the rule (the idea is that if the word can provide its own past tense from memory, then the past tense rule is blocked)

63. Memory & Rules Why do we find this type of pattern? Memory and rules Other accounts Maratsos (2000) – frequency explanation It is possible to predict which verbs will be subject to overregularization The more often an irregular form occurs in the input, the less likely the child is to use it as an overregularization This is evidence that some part of overregularization occurs because of memory failures Something about irregulars is unpredictable, hence has to be memorized

64. What kind of “teaching” do kids get? If language is learned (and not innate), how do kids do it? What kind of feedback do they get? Claim: Positive evidence is not sufficient for learning a language.Positive evidence is not sufficient for learning a language

65. What kind of “teaching” do kids get? Are the kids even aware of mistakes? The children are apparently aware of the fact that their forms are strange: Parent: Where’s Mommy? Child: Mommy goed to the store Parent: Mommy goed to the store? Child: NO! Daddy, I say it that way, not you

66. Positive and negative evidence Positive evidence: Kids hear grammatical sentences Negative evidence: information that a given sentence is ungrammatical Kids are not told which sentences are ungrammatical (no negative evidence) Let’s consider no negative evidence further… What kind of feedback is available for learning?

67. What kind of “teaching” do kids get? How much Positive Evidence is there? Estimated 5000 – 7000 utterances a day Between ¼ and 1/3 are questions Over 20% are not “full” adult sentences (typically Noun or prepositional phrases) Only about 15% have typical English SVO form Roughly 45% of all maternal utterances began with one of 17 words (e.g., “what”, “that”, “it”, “you”) Cameron-Faulkner, et al (2003) So what kids do hear may be somewhat limited.

68. Negative evidence Negative evidence could come in various conceivable forms. “The sentence Bill a cookie ate is not a sentence in English, Timmy. No sentence with SOV word order is.” Upon hearing Bill a cookie ate, an adult might Not understand Look pained Rephrase the ungrammatical sentence grammatically

69. Kids resist instruction… McNeill (1966) Child: Nobody don’t like me. Adult: No, say ‘nobody likes me.’ Child: Nobody don’t like me. [repeats eight times] Adult: No, now listen carefully; say ‘nobody likes me.’ Child: Oh! Nobody don’t likes me.

70. Kids resist instruction… Cazden (1972) (observation attributed to Jean Berko Gleason) Child: My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we patted them. Adult: Did you say your teacher held the baby rabbits? Child: Yes. Adult: What did you say she did? Child: She holded the baby rabbits and we patted them. Adult: Did you say she held them tightly? Child: No, she holded them loosely. So there doesn’t seem to be a lot of explicit negative evidence, and what there is the kids often resist

71. Negative evidence via feedback? Do kids get “implicit” negative evidence? Do adults understand grammatical sentences and not understand ungrammatical ones? Do adults respond positively to grammatical sentences and negatively to ungrammatical ones?

72. Brown & Hanlon (1970): Case study of “Adam” - looked at things that were said to him by adults, and what he said to them Adults understood 42% of the grammatical sentences. Adults understood 47% of the ungrammatical ones. Adults expressed approval after 45% of the grammatical sentences. Adults expressed approval after 45% of the ungrammatical sentences. Suggests that there isn’t a lot of good negative evidence. Negative evidence via feedback?

73. In a way, it’s moot anyway… One of the striking things about child language is how few errors they actually make. For negative feedback to work, the kids have to make the errors (so that it can get the negative response). But they don’t make enough relevant kinds of errors to determine the complex grammar. Pinker, Marcus and others, conclude that much of this stuff must be innate. But this isn’t the only view. There is an ongoing debate about whether there are rules, or whether these patterns of behavior can be learned based on the language evidence that is available to the kids

74. Critical (sensitive) periods

75. Certain behavior is developed more quickly within a critical period than outside of it. This period is biologically determined. Examples: Imprinting in ducks (Lorenz, ; Hess, 1973) Ducklings will follow the first moving thing they see Only happens if they see something moving within the first few hours (after 32 hours it won’t happen) of hatching Binocular cells in humans Cells in visual system that respond only to input from both eyes. If these cells don’t get input from both eyes within first year of life, they don’t develop

76. Critical (sensitive) periods Some environmental input is necessary for normal development, but biology determines when the organism is responsive to that input. That “when” is the critical period Certain behavior is developed more quickly within a critical period than outside of it. This period is biologically determined.

77. Critical period for language It assumes that language acquisition must occur before the end of the critical period Estimates range from 5 years up to onset of puberty Lenneberg (1967) proposed that there is a critical period for human language

78. Evidence for critical period for language Feral Children Children raised in the wild or with reduced exposure to human language What is the effect of this lack of exposure on language acquisition? Two classic cases Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron Genie

79. VictorVictor, The Wild Boy of Aveyron Found in 1800 near the outskirts of Aveyron, France Estimated to be about 7-years-old Considered by some to be the first documented case of autism Neither spoke or responded to speech Taken to and studied by Dr. Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, and educator of deaf-mute and retarded children Never learned to speak and his receptive language ability was limited to a few simple commands. Described by Itard as “an almost normal boy who could not speak”

80. Genie Found in Arcadia, California in 1970, was not exposed to human language until age 13.5. Raised in isolation a situation of extreme abuse Genie could barely walk and could not talk when found Dr. Susan Curtiss made great efforts to teach her language, and she did learn how to talk, but her grammar never fully developed. Only capable of producing telegraphic utterances (e.g. Mike paint or Applesauce buy store) Used few closed-class morphemes and function words Speech sounded like that of a 2-year-old

81. Genie By age of 17 (after 4 years of extensive training) Vocabulary of a 5 year old Poor syntax (telegraphic speech mostly) Examples Mama wash hair in sink At school scratch face I want Curtiss play piano Like go ride yellow school bus Father take piece wood. Hit. Cry.

82. What Do These Cases Tell Us? Suggestive of the position that there is a critical period for first language learning (in particular for syntax and phonological development) If child is not exposed to language during early childhood (prior to the age of 6 or 7), then the ability to learn syntax will be impaired while other abilities are less strongly affected Not uncontroversial: Victor and Genie and children like them were deprived in many ways other than not being exposed to language Genie stopped talking after age 30 and was institutionalized shortly afterward (Rymer, 1993)

83. What Do These Cases Tell Us? Suggestive of the position that there is a critical period for first language learning (in particular for syntax and phonological development) Why? Nativist explanation (see pg 79 of text) Maturational explanation: “less is more”

84. Second language learning Learning a new language What if we already know one language, but want to learn another? Adults learning another language typically have a persistent foreign accent – perhaps a critical period for phonology (Flege & Hillenbrand, 1984) Adults typically do better initially at learning a new language compared to kids, but kids typically do better over the long term (Krashen, Long, & Scarcella, 1982)

85. Second language learning Johnson and Newport (1989) Native Chinese/Korean speakers moving to US Task: Listen to sentences and judge whether grammatically correct Test score Age of arrival 217 R = -.87 Test score Age of arrival 1740 R = -.16

86. Second language learning Johnson and Newport (1989) Native Chinese/Korean speakers moving to US Task: Listen to sentences and judge whether grammatically correct Concluded that around the age of 16 something happens Different factors operate on language acquisition before and after the age of 16 Birdsong and Molis (2001) Replicated the Johnson and Newport study in Spanish/English speakers. Did not find a discontinuity around the age of 16

87. Effects of the Critical Period Learning a language: Under 7 years: perfect command of the language possible Ages 8- c.15: Perfect command less possible progressively Age 15-: Imperfect command possible But these claims are far from universally accepted

88. Bilinguals & Polyglots Many people speak more than one language Tucker (1999) - multilinguals outnumber monolinguals Tucker (1999) What is the impact of knowing/using more than one language? Factors affecting second language acquisition? What does the lexicon look like? Interesting effects in bilinguals Interference Code switching Cognitive advantages

89. Second language acquisition Contexts of childhood bilingualism Simultaneous Both languages are acquired at the same time Vocabulary growth of bilinguals is similar to that of monolinguals Some aspects of acquisition may be slowed, but by age of 4 typically caught up Doesn’t seem to matter whether languages are “related” or not (e.g., English - French versus English Japanese) Can achieve “fluency” in both languages Sequential acquisition The second language is learned after a first language When the second language (L2) is acquired is important Early versus late learning (e.g., see the Johnson and Newport study)

90. Second language acquisition Frequency of usage of both languages How often and in what contexts do you use the two languages “Use it or lose it” - language attrition Mode of acquisition Native bilingualism - growing up in a two language environment Immersion - schooling provided in a non-native language Submersion - one learner surrounded by non-native speakers Language dominance effects Relative fluency of L1 and L2 may impact processing

91. How do we represent linguistic information in a bilingual lexicon? Probably depends on many of the factors just discussed Let’s look at some models and research focusing on the situation where L1 is dominant relative to L2 Bilingual Representations

92. Models of the bilingual lexicons L1=First Language L2=Second Language Potter et al (1984): Separate Stores Models – separate lexicons for each language L1L2 CONCEPTS Word Association Model L1L2 CONCEPTS Concept Mediation Model

93. Models of the bilingual lexicons L1=First Language L2=Second Language Paivio, Clark, & Lambert (1988): Common Stores Models – words from both languages in same store L1 & L2 CONCEPTS

94. Revised Hierarchical Model L1 L2 concepts lexical links conceptual links conceptual links Kroll & Stewart (1994) Proposed that the fluency of L2 needs to be considered in the processing model The results are mixed, supporting more complex models May be different in different bilinguals depending on things like age of acquisition, relative proficiency, etc.

95. Interesting effects in bilinguals Interference Code switching Cognitive advantages

96. Interference Does knowing two languages lead to interference? When found, interference is at multiple levels Phonological - least amount of interference Lexical - mixing words from different languages Initially, appear to use a one word per thing strategy But as they realize there that they’re speaking two language, then they’ll use words from both languages simultaneously Syntactic Until year two, may use only one syntactic system which is common to both languages Then a brief period with two sets of lexical items, but still a common syntax Finally, two lexicons and two sets of syntax Interesting effects in bilinguals

97. Determine who or what is the one performing the action. The waitress pushes the cowboys. The telephones pushes the cowboys. Kisses the table the apple. The baskets the teacher kicks. As a native speaker of English we can use many cues: Word order Animacy Verb agreement Not all languages use the same cues to the same extent e.g., German doesn’t rely as much on word order, but relies more on agreement processes

98. Interesting effects in bilinguals Determine who or what is the one performing the action. The waitress pushes the cowboys. The telephones pushes the cowboys. Kisses the table the apple. The baskets the teacher kicks. Kilborn (1989, 1994) Found that bilinguals (English as second language) typically carry over the dominant processing strategies from their native languages. This interacts with their level of fluency in the second language

99. Code switching When bilinguals substitute a word or phrase from one language with a phrase or word from another language “I want a motorcycle VERDE” Switching is systematic, not random

100. When bilinguals substitute a word or phrase from one language with a phrase or word from another language “I want a motorcycle VERDE” Code switching The Spanish adjective “verde” follows a grammatical rule that is observed by most bilingual speakers that code-switch “I want a VERDE motorcycle” Would be incorrect because language switching can occur only if the adjective is placed according to the rules of the language of the adjective In this case, the adjective is in Spanish; therefore, the adjective must follow the Spanish grammatical rule that states that the noun must precede the adjective

101. When bilinguals substitute a word or phrase from one language with a phrase or word from another language “I want a motorcycle VERDE” Code switching Generally, bilinguals take longer to read and comprehend sentences containing code-switched words May be due to a “mental switch mechanism” that determines which of the bilingual’s two mental dictionaries are “on” or “off” during language comprehension. This mental switch is responsible for selecting the appropriate mental dictionary to be employed during the comprehension of a sentence. E.g., if reading an English, a Spanish code-switched word is encountered, the mental switch must disable the English linguistic system, and enable the Spanish linguistic system.

102. When bilinguals substitute a word or phrase from one language with a phrase or word from another language “I want a motorcycle VERDE” Code switching Generally, bilinguals take longer to read and comprehend sentences containing code-switched words This time difference depends on similarity of the languages Chinese-English bilinguals take longer to recognize English code- switched words in Chinese sentences only if the English words contain initial consonant-consonant (e.g., flight) clusters, simply because the Chinese language lacks this phonotactic structure. Another current view suggests that language dominance (i.e., which language is used more frequently) plays an important role in code-switching

103. Some evidence suggest that being bilingual can have an impact on cognition outside of language Bialystok and colleagues Bilinguals are very proficient at switching between languages Bilinguals also have to be good at suppressing the contextually inappropriate language Cognitive advantages