FSHD 32310/29 – 10/31Language DevelopmentI. Key Terms1. Phonology –speech sounds of a language 2. Phoneme- smallest distinct sound in a particular language that signals differences between words3. Semantics- word meanings and combinations 4. Morpheme – smallest unit in a language that has meaning5. Syntax – grammatical rules of a language6. Pragmatics – rules that guide how we use language in social situations II. Behaviorism & Social Cognitive Learning TheoryA. In general, language acquisition is guided by behaviorist principles (imitation, reinforcement, generalization) and is a product of environmental influences, especially modeling1. Children imitate language of more experienced speakers2. Parents selectively reinforce attempts at language use in a progression from babbling to word usage3. Language acquisition- learning native languageB. Limitations1. Language is really complicated2. Parents do very little direct teaching, and are more likely to respondto meaning than grammar3. Universal aspects of language development4. We create novel sentences all the time- it’s hard to explain that novelty to people. 5. Language is inherently creative6.C. Strengths1. Useful approach to treating children with language disorders 2. Useful approach to school based learning instruction3. Can apply to formal learning of a second languageIII. NativismA. Human brains are innately wired to learn language, and hearing spoken languages triggers activation of a universal grammar.1. Children are biologically pre-wired to acquire languageB. Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD) – mental structure in brain that incorporates an innate concept of languagea. Once children have sufficient vocabulary, they can combine words into grammatically consistent, novel utterances and understand sentencesFSHD 32310/29 – 10/31b. Universal grammar – innate rules for grammar that apply to all languagesc. Not actual brain structure2. Sensitive period/critical period for language acquisition: infancy-pubertyC. Strengths1. Universal features and principles of all languages (subj, verb, obj.)–2. Universal language features- until 5 to 6 moths infants can hear all language phonemes3. Language is an abstract set of rules that can’t be acquired by learning theory principles4. Universal early language development phases5. Language is an abstract set of rules that can’t be acquired by learning theory principles 6. Language is too complicated to be explained by reinforcement alone, especially given the pace of development in the early years7. Explains common mistakesa. Over regularization – mistaken application of a language ruleto words that don’t follow that rule or pattern; applying rules where they shouldn’t be applied- example: “sticked” D. Limitations1. Fails to account for the diversity of languages around the world – can the “pre-wiring “ be flexible and general enough?2. Lack of agreement on scope of universal rules3. Language acquisition is a more gradual process than this perspective implies – grammatical rules are applied inconsistently4. Fails to explain cultural diversity in the development of pragmatics (how language is used)IV. InteractionismA. Children’s biological readiness to learn language interacts with experiences with language in the environment to bring about language development1. Bi-directional interplay of biological and environmental factors.2. Child is an active constructer of language3. Language learning takes place in natural settings through social InteractionsChildren love faces- the triangle- the eyes and the mouth B. Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) - collection of strategies and tactics that environmental influences (initially parents) provide the childFSHD 32310/29 – 10/311. Parents’ natural efforts 2. Children are ready to take advantage of these environmental opportunitiesFacilitating Language Development Adults adjust according to the child’s ability, but there are no universal characteristics or prenatal language interactions, as the consistency may be more important than the actual content. 1. Non-verbal games2. Child-directed speech (motherese) – speech that is tailored to fit the sensory and cognitive capabilities of infants and children so thatit holds their attention; simplified speech made up of short sentences with high-pitched, exaggerated intonation, sing song rhythm, distinct pauses, clear gestures, repetitive, ends in a rising tone3. Simplified speech made up of short sentences with high-pitched, exaggerated intonation, sing song rhythm, distinct pauses, clear gestures, repetitive ends in a rising tone. V. Cognitive Processing TheoryA. Language is a process of “data crunching,” in which the actual process of learning words and their meanings relies on the computational ability of the brain1. Social interaction isn’t enough to explain language development2. Language is learned- not innateB. Constantly taking in language – quantity of language predicts vocabulary development; innate preference for novelty C. Categorical speech perception – ability to pick out words from streams of speechVI. Pre-Linguistic DevelopmentA. Across all phases of language development, people can hear and understand more than they are able to express, and language development in various domains may not occur simultaneously1. Receptive language – ability to understand words or language2. Expressive language – written or spoken language we use to convey our thoughts, emotions, or needsB. Remember that infants are tuned to human voices from birth and have clear preferences1. rhythms of their own languages i. mother’s voices and infant-directed speechFSHD 32310/29 – 10/31ii. prenatally or at birth they show preference for rhythms of their own languageiii. prefer mother’s voices and infant-directed speechb. Joint attention – child attends to the same object or event as the caregivera. May be combined with pointing by either partnerb. Dynamic (consistent back and forth) with parent related to betterlanguage developmentc. Video with father and baby with the puppet; both interacting withpuppet c. Gesturing enhances language development (more gestures at 14 months predicted larger vocabs at 4.5 years)i. Gesturing provokes adult labeling of the environmentii. Representation of word through gestures might enhance word meaningd. Baby sign languagei. Babies can learn simple symbols before they can verbally