1. Linguistic Development Thomas G. Bowers, Ph.D. 2001

2. Linguistic Development Language development is one of the more significant cognitive abilities among humans Language is the primary means of transmitting and communicating knowledge

3. Linguistic Development Field of Linguistics Attempts to characterize the nature of language Chomsky (1959) Focused on productivity and regularity of language There is a nearly infinite range of vocal behaviors Utterances are systematic and organized Difficult to explain from a solely behavioral perspective

4. Linguistic Development Components of language Syntax – highly structural aspects of grammar, including the impact of word order and inflection Semantics – concerned with the meaningfulness and significance of language Phonology – concerned with the sound structure of language material

5. Linguistic Development Components of language There are intuitive aspects of language use and understanding Eg – “The boy was hit by the girl.” “The girl hit the boy.” Experienced individuals readily manage ambiguity of language

6. Syntactical Structure Linguistic analysis focuses on the orderly structure of languages Phase structure commonly noted Noun, verb, noun phrase Adjective and articles common

7. Syntactical Structure

8. Syntax People resolve ambiguity by subtle cues from time to time They are cooking apples – perhaps the act of making a pie They are cooking apples – perhaps the object used to make a pie May depend upon inflection, contextl

9. Syntax Phrase structure has some research history Pauses tend to occur in grammatical junctures, with shorter pauses within the clauses People manage meaningful stimulus transformations with little difficulty

10. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Behavioral versus Linguistic Views Watson (1930) maintained that thought was simply a pattern of sub vocal speech Recording of sub vocal speech appeared to be indicated during some thought process but not all examples

11. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Behavioral versus Linguistic Views Classic Experiment Smith, Brown, Toman and Goodman (1947) Applied a curare derivative Results in muscle paralysis, but respiration can be maintained by mechanical means Smith volunteered as subject Was to comprehend, report, remember and think about activity around him

12. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Behavioral versus Linguistic Views Classic Experiment Smith, Brown, Toman and Goodman (1947) It appears clear thinking can occur in the absence of muscular activity

13. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Linguistic Analysis Linguistic determination Language is thought to be “prepared” more readily acquired than other types of behaviors Whorf (1956) felt languages reflected different aspects of their world It is possible that language developed to express thought

14. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Linguistic Analysis Language acquisition appears to occur rapidly, and may be sensitive to critical periods Grammar appears to develop as an implicit process Some theorists claim we are prepared as a species to acquire linguistic behaviors

15. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Linguistic Analysis Chomsky (1970) explains language acquisition as a natural phenomenon Children appear to be able to learn language in the absence of any input Children acquire language even sub optimal circumstances Abilities to acquire second languages deteriorates with age

16. Theoretical Accounts for Language Development Linguistic Analysis Chomsky continues to argue there are language universals, and hence most languages are natural languages