DOC PREVIEW
Brandeis LING 100A - f09 Slides Acquisition

This preview shows page 1-2-3-4-5-6 out of 17 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 17 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

Why we should be impressed by first language acquisitionNature vs nurture: the great debateProgress backwards:The Critical PeriodStages of language learningThe one-word (holophrastic) stageGrammatical elements and corresponding structuresWhy we should be impressed by first language acquisitionDo you remember learning to...tie your shoes?ride a bicycle?read?talk?Resistance to correction:Child: Want other one spoon, Daddy.Father: You mean, you want THE OTHER SPOON.Child: Yes, I want other one spoon, please, Daddy.Father: Can you say "the other spoon"?Child: Other ... one ... spoon.Father: Say ... "other".Child: Other.Father: "Spoon".Child: Spoon.Father: "Other ... Spoon".Child: Other ... spoon. Now give me other one spoon?Nature vs nurture: the great debateWhat they know by age 4: Jill de Villiers experiments (at 6:32 in “Acquiring Human Language”)Competense vs Performance AND Production vs PerceptionMistakes: windows into minds Morphology – overgeneralization Progress backwards:walk / walkedopen / openedwant / wantedgo / wentthrow / threwhold / heldChildren, at first:walkopenwantgothrowholdChildren, a bit later:walkedopenedwantedwentthrewheldChildren, later still: goedthrowedholdedAlso: eated maked finded hitted falled doed speaked breaked goed runnedAnd: foots tooths childs mans mouses peoplesNegative evidence?Again, resistant to correction: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.Syntax – What do you think what's in here? (50:40)Human LanguageMistakes they never make (49.54 – 50:40 in “Acquiring Human Language”)I painted the barn red => I saw the barn redWhat did you eat your eggs and?I baked Mary a cake => I baked two hours a cakeSomething is innate = Universal GrammarEvidence for Universal Grammar• Children's errors & linguistic creativity• Stages of acquisition are universal e.g., deaf children babble, same milestones)• Language universals; no “primitive” languages• Creolization (e.g. Nicaraguan Sign Language) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/2/real/l_072_04.htmlchildren are incapable of learning non-UG-driven pidgin, so they impose extra grammar on itThe Critical Periodbefore the age of 7 - perfect command;between the ages of 8 and 15 - progressively less perfect command;at a greater age - no advantage for relative youth.Genie - isolated until 13 ½Mike paint.Applesauce buy store.Neal come happy; Neal not come sad.Genie have Momma have baby grow up.I like elephant eat peanut.Isabelle - isolated until 6 ½Why does the paste come out if one upsets the jar?Do you go to Miss Mason's school at the university?ducklings: ability to identify and follow the motherkittens: ability to perceive visual imagessparrows: ability to learn the father's songsStages of language learningProduction side: acquisition of lexical and syntactic knowledge. Stage Typical ageDescriptionBabbling 0;6 - 0;8 repetitive CV patternsOne-word 0;9 - 1;6 Single open-class words or word stemsTwo-word 1;6 - 2;0 "mini-sentences" with simple semantic relationsEarly multiword2;0 - 2;6 "telegraphic" sentence structures of lexical rather than functional or grammatical morphemesLater multiword2;6 on Grammatical or functional structures emerge It is safe to say that except for constructions that are rare, predominantly used in written language, or mentally taxing even to an adult (like The horse that the elephant tickled kissed the pig), all parts of all languages are acquired before the child turns four.(Dan Slobin, 1985, The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition; Steven Pinker, 1994, The Language Instinct)The one-word (holophrastic) stageAt about 10 months, first recognizable words appear (mostly in naming):Meanings too narrow or too broad:bottle - only plastic bottles teddy - only one particular beardog used for lambs, cats, and cows as well as dogskick used for pushing and for wing-flapping as well as for kicking.Perception vs. production (yet again):Adult: This is your fis? Child: No, my fis. (Rejects repeated imitations.)Adult: Oh, that is your fish. Child: Yes, my fis.Early combinations tend to have the correct word order:All dry. All messy. All wet.I sit. I shut. No bed.No pee. See baby. See pretty.More cereal. More hot. Hi Calico.Other pocket. Boot off. Siren by.Mail come. Airplane allgone. Byebye car.Our car. Papa away. Dry pants.At about 1.5, children in all languages produce two-unit sentences.German buch da "book there" bitte apfel "please apple" wo ball? "where ball?"Russian baba kreslo "grandma armchair" daj chasy "give watch" vady net"water no"=no waterFinnish ei susi "not wolf" torni iso "tower big" missd pallo? "where ball?"Samoan fia moe "want eat" mai pepe "give doll" tapale 'oe "hit you"Telegraphic speech : Omitting “grammatical” words:Original Repeated (child)I can see a cow See cow Eve, 25 monthsThe doggy will bite Doggy bite Adam, 28 monthsWhere does Daddy go? Daddy go? Daniel, 23 monthsWhere is the car going? Car going? Jem, 21 monthsMore adult structure is chopped down to its essential elements:AGENTMotherVERBgaveRECIPIENTJohnOBJECTlunchLOCATIONin the kitchenMommy fixMommy pumpkinBaby cryBaby tableGive doggiePut lightPut floorTractor go floorI ride horsieGive doggie paperPut truck windowAdam put it boxGrammatical elements and corresponding structuresAt about the age of 2, children start using grammatical elements• finite auxiliaries (is, was) • verbal tense and agreement affixes (-ed, -s) • nominative pronouns (I, she) • complementizers (that, where) • determiners (the, a). Telegraphic patterns alternate with adult or adult-like forms:She's gone.Her gone school.Domenico, 24 monthsI having this.I'm having 'nana. (banana)Olivia, 27 monthsI'm having this little one.Me'll have that.Betty, 30 monthsMummy haven't finished yet,has she?Olivia, 36 monthsAs grammar becomes more complex, the elements of the sentence develop internal complexity. Big doggie Give doggie paper Give big doggie paperChildren learn categories of morphemes in a consistent order:Possible influences on the relative ease of learning: • contribution to overall meaning (past tense vs. third person) • frequency of irregularity (past tense verb vs. plural noun) • variation in pronunciation (cf.


View Full Document

Brandeis LING 100A - f09 Slides Acquisition

Download f09 Slides Acquisition
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view f09 Slides Acquisition and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view f09 Slides Acquisition 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?