Introduction Overview 1 What is language and reading Are they same or different a Language a system of symbols and rules used for the purpose of communications i Has sounds phonology ii Meaning semantics iii Structures morphology syntax iv Social Rules Culture pragmatics Can define a culture Different cultures have different languages and ways of expressing things Spoken written language Language refers to the spoken form of language oral auditory communication Symbols need to be abstract our words sounds are sets of symbols Without a clear set of rules a system cannot be considered a language Requires a high level of abstract thinking b Reading the process of mapping spoken form to written form visual form of the language Oral words to printed out words de coding sounding out letters to form a word Shares many language properties sounds meanings structures Reading is a learned behavior 2 What does the term psycholinguistics mean Linguists and psychologists combined to study language or reading Investigate whether the systems described by the linguist had psychological reality in mind of speakers o Linguistic people make plural words kiss kisses o Psycholinguistic people show that speakers have a rule for formation of plural adults Think like how do children acquire this How do 3 Examples of language and reading research methods only choose two a Equipment i Cassette audio recorders ii Small video cameras iii Transcription of the data for analysis 1 Writing down as exactly as possible everything that is b Cross sectional said on the tape i Use two or more groups of participants ii Study simultaneously many children in each of different age groups c Longitudinal iii Make it possible to obtain a great deal of data about a large number of participants in a short time i Follow individual participants over time ii Expensive and time consuming iii Can provide fine and accurate data about what happens to individuals during course of language development d CHILDES i Child Language Data Exchange System ii Web based and available without cost to researchers iii Allows data sharing among researchers iv Computerized child language database v Major resource for language development researchers everywhere Contains 1 Rules for Transcription CHAT 2 Computer programs for analyzing language CLAN 3 A database of language transcripts i Part of CHILDES ii Child Language Analysis iii Can operate on any or all speaker s output and can automatically derive the mean length of utterance iv COMPUTERIZED PROGRAMS e CLAN f CHAT i Codes for Human Analysis of Transcripts ii Part of CHILDES iii Contains rules for how to prepare transcripts of language that can be analyzed by computer programs g Observations settings i Observe children s language and reading activities in natural Phonological Development Phonology the study of the sound system of language That sounds that language uses as well as the rules for their combination English has over 40 sounds 1 What are two major categories of our speech sounds and their features Give two examples of each Vowel sounds are made with an unobstructed vocal tract different vowel sounds come from different positions of different articulators how wide jaw is open whether lips are pursed or relaxed CHEESE the ee makes people smile a About opens mouth Consonant sounds made with constricted vocal tract Further classified by 1 Place of articulation which articulators are involved made with lips bilabial sounds made with the tongue in contact with the alveolar ridge Tongue on or near side of gum between teeth alveolar sounds articulated with lower lip labiodental sounds made with the tongue lightly touching upper teeth interdental Tongue near or contacting the hard palate palatal Back of tongue touches the velum velar 2 Manner of articulation f s v z 1 Fricatives produced by airstream friction in the mouth 2 Stops made with tightest vocal tract constriction Produced with upper and lower articulators pressed together so no air can escape from the mouth p b t d k g 3 Nasals produced through nose m n 4 Glides more constriction than vowel often called semivowels j w 5 Liquids made with a little more constiction than glides but still not enough to cause friction r l 3 Voicing voiced produced though vocal cord vibrations OR o can be sung or hummed voiceless p b t d f v s z 2 What is a phoneme A speech sound that can signal a difference of meaning Contrasting sounds in a language The smallest sound unit Has no meaning by itself two similar speech sounds p and b represent different phonemes in English because there are pairs of words with different meanings that have the same phonetic form ex pet and bet p b separate phonemes changing a phoneme will turn one word into another 3 What is a syllable and its components Describe two examples a phonetic unit larger and more stable than a phoneme Consists of an ONSET and a RIME and a rime in turn consists of a vowel and final consonant ONSET RIME o The initial consonant or group of consonants in a syllable o B o CL o The remainder of the syllable o AT o OCK 4 Describe the relationship between letters and sounds phonemes in English using two examples Letters are the written symbols for sounds English has 26 letters and over 40 sounds o Can be no one to one correspondence between letter and sound a fat fate farm flat freak a pronounced different Mulitple ways of spelling almost any given sound f in fat can also be spelled ff ph and gh cough Linguistics refer to spoken words are composed of speech sounds phones or segments rather than letters IPA is a means of representing the 200 sounds found in languages 5 What is phonotactics Can you think of two words that violate the English phonotactics Phonotactics the rules that govern permissible sound combinations learning the rules of phonotactic arrangement is very important in phonological development o True and Plot not rtue and lpot o No two stop consonants at the beginning of a word rj o Can begin with tr or pl but cannot end with them 6 Describe infant s ability to perceive speech sounds what can they do a 1 4 months infants can discriminate distinctions between speech sounds i Ex b and p in bah pah b 3 days can identify and prefer listening to own mothers voice c Before 6 8 months Can discriminate sound pairs not used in their native language learn very fast i Suggests infants are born with this sound distinction ability or d After 6 months infants gradually lose their ability to detect sound