1 What is language and reading Are they the same or different Language is a set of symbols and rules that are used for the purpose of communication Specifically language refers to the spoken form It has sounds meaning structure and social rules A big aspect of language is that it can define a culture Reading on the other hand is the process of mapping out spoken form into written form It is a process of de coding and changing oral words to printed out words I think language and reading are the same because reading is a form of language and reading shares a lot of the same qualities In reading there is sound meaning and structure as well 2 What does the term psycholinguist mean A psycholinguist is a combination between a linguist and a psychologist Their purpose is to see if what linguists say refers to any psychological reality For example a linguist makes things plural kiss kisses A psycholinguist would say that this shows that speakers have a rule for the formation of plural They would ask why people did this and how do people acquire it 3 Give two examples of language and research methods a Equipment people are using things like audio records and small video cameras However along with this must come a written transcription that can be used for analysis This means that you must write down everything that happens on tape b CHILDES Children Language Data Exchange System A type of computerized children language database Contains CHAT different computerized programs and CHAT rules how on how to prepare transcripts of language c Longitudinal Cross Sectional studies d Observations 1 What are two major categories of our speech sounds and their features Give two examples of each What is a phoneme a Vowel sounds that are made with a unobstructed vocal tract Different vowel sounds depend on different articulators place of tongue how wide your jaw is etc Ex ee in Cheese makes a persons mouth form a smile A in about makes a persons mouth open b Consonant sounds that are made with a constricted vocal tract so that no air is released Classified by place of articulation manner of articulation and voicing a Ex Stop made with tightest vocal tract constriction p b b Nasal produced through nose m n What is a phoneme A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound It can be voiced or unvoiced and is known for contrasting sounds in a language Has no meaning by itself Ex Pet Bet phonemes p b if you change the phoneme you change the word 2 What is a syllable and its components Describe two examples A syllable is a phonetic unit larger than a phoneme It is composed of an onset and a rime The onset is the beginning consonant or group of consonants which the rime is the ending syllable Ex Clock Bat 3 Describe the relationship between letters and sounds phonemes in English using two examples There are 26 letters and over 40 sounds in the English language Letters are written symbols for sounds There is multiple spellings for the majority of our sounds EX f in fat or ff in cough gh No one to one correspondence between a letter and a sound EX the a in farm fat freak flap all sound different 4 What is phonotactics Can you think of two words that violate the English phontactics Phonotactics are the rules that govern how words combine to form sentences In the English language two stop consonants cannot begin a word ex rj We can have words like plot or true but not rtue or lpot There are no two words that violate the English phonotactics because if there were than they would not be real words 5 Describe infant s ability to perceive speech sounds what can they do 1 3 months an infant can discriminate between certain speech sounds Can recognize the difference between p and b in pah and bah After 3 days an infant can recognize and prefer to hear their mothers voice Before 6 8 months children can discriminate different sound pairs that are not in their native language After 6 months children begin to lose ability to differentiate sound pairs that are not in native language Suggests that experience is necessary 6 What are the characteristics when young children ages 1 2 learn to produce sound sequences Children begin to pronounce sound sequences similar to parents by imitating repetition and practice To make it easier children simply complex syllable structures by dropping certain sounds Water WaWa Children also substitute sounds They replace certain manners of articulation That Daet Little Wlto 1 Can we call sun another name like moon Why Yes Words are arbitrary signs that signify referents This means that a referent the thing is named by a personal prerference It is only social convention and people agreeing upon a name that gives something a name We know that red lights mean stop but blue lights could mean stop too 2 How do young children link words and their referents Children first words have a less than arbitrary relation to their referents Trains choo choos Dogs woof woofs They see words and their referents to be intrinsically related In the beginning to them objects have one name and one name only They also may only refer to their dog as being a dog but eventually realize that that word dog is universal 3 What is the receptive and productive vocabulary Receptive words that children can understand Productive words that children can pronounce Easier for children to understand words than pronounce them 4 What are the characteristics of early semantic development Provide one example for each 1 Fast mapping after only one exposure to a new word children can apply it to an underlying concept 4 legged furry thing rabbit 2 Overextention apply a new concept to more things than the adult meaning of the word applies to Applies word to a wider collection of objects and events Ex bye bye when greeting someone or a cotton ball is snow 3 Underextention apply use of new word too 4 narrowly Cat is only their cat Invented Words first graders preschoolers may invent words to serve as meaning What do you call a man that zibs for a living Does not really use derived words like adults but usually makes compound words zibman 5 What do we mean when we say a definition of a word How do children learn to define words A definition of a word is providing defining features Children start out with defining characteristics and usually apply definitions to their own concrete personal features Ex Define a Cat my cat is eventually they will apply more defining features 6 What are the features of a semantic network How do children develop their