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Language and its Development Language What defines language? What properties does language have? How does language allow for communicative power? Why does language exist? What does it gain us? When does language develop? Properties of Language Symbolic Cat = Thor = Arbitrary Productive Discrete Language is based on discrete units; each unit is unique Properties of Language /bog/ /pog/ Properties of Language Properties of Language Symbolic Cat = Arbitrary Discrete Thor = Language is based on discrete units; each unit is unique Productive Properties of Language- Productivity We can say sentences we’ve never heard before “I hate you, Mommy!” We have a limited set of words and structures that can be recombined. Generativity: “He said that she told them that he thought that we heard that they reported that…” Ambiguity in Speech Resolving Ambiguity Social agreement, context, intention Grice (1975): Maxims of Conversation 1. 2. 3. 4. Quality: Tell the truth! (Avoid falsehoods *and* statements for which you have no evidence) Quantity: Include what is necessary to express information, and nothing extraneous. Utterances will be related to the topic at hand Manner: Avoid ambiguity, use common ground (Clark) Ambiguity in Speech Humor: Last night I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. What he was doing in my pyjamas, I’ll never know”- Groucho Marx Garden Path Sentences The horse raced past the barn fell. The prime number few. Properties of Language Is language unique to humans? Or does animal communication meet these criteria? Symbolic? Arbitrary? For some animals,YES; others, NO Discrete call systems used by animals only in presence of predators; NO NO Productive Productivity dependent upon discreteness; NO Language and Thought What does language allow us in terms of our ability to think? Whorfian hypothesis Eskimos and “snow” Interlanguage differences Colors Spatial position/direction Grammatical gender The Innateness of Language Behaviorism: Language is learned like everything else We say something, we receive feedback, which encourages us to say it again BUT: We can say things we’ve never heard; we can produce new structures. Chomsky: Language is innate to humans Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Universal Grammar Poverty of the Stimulus The Nature of Feedback (Poverty of the Stimulus) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Children get little or no direct instruction. Children get little feedback and don’t listen to what they get -- so why do they ever correct their errors? Children hear many ungrammatical structures not identified as such -- how do they come to learn these are wrong? In some cultures adults don’t speak to children. Children will make up a language if they are not given one -- deaf children of hearing parents. Feedback Child: Nobody don’t like me. Mother: No, say “Nobody likes me.” Child: Nobody don’t like me. Mother: No, say “Nobody likes me.” Child: Nobody don’t like me. [dialogue repeated eight times] Mother: Now listen carefully, say “Nobody likes me.” Child: Oh! Nobody don’t likeS me. The Nature of Feedback (Poverty of the Stimulus) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Children get little or no direct instruction. Children get little feedback and don’t listen to what they get -- so why do they ever correct their errors? Children hear many ungrammatical structures not identified as such -- how do they come to learn these are wrong? In some cultures adults don’t speak to children. Children will make up a language if they are not given one -- deaf children of hearing parents. The Language Gene SLI: Specific Language Impairment: Language is impaired without signs of impairment in other areas (motor, cognitive, etc.) The FOXP2 gene Members of the KE family with a corruption of this gene had SLI; the others didn’t. The Language Gene? The Language Gene The Language Gene Is it really specific to humans? Is language the only area affected by the gene? NO NO FOXP2 affects rapid-motor sequencing (which is imperative for language), but not language itself. Statistical Word Learning Saffran, Aslin, and Newport (1996) 8-month-olds presented with a series of syllables (2 mins) Bidakupadotigolabubidaku Transitional probabilities Within-word: 1.0 (bida) Between-word: 0.33 (kupa) Then, they play repetitions of the “words” and “nonwords” If babies have learned the words, they should prefer the nonwords. And they do! Language Development In utero: Can distinguish between vowels (/a/ vs. /o/) Infants: Can distinguish phonologically similar sounds at 2 months (they lose this ability by 8-12 months) Can pick up on cues to word segmentation Can distinguish their native language from other languages Language Development How do we tell what babies know? Preferential looking Sucking Heart rate Language Development Babies prefer looking at/hearing new things When something is interesting: Heart rate slows Sucking rate slows Child Language Development How do children get from being completely non-verbal to being expert speakers? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Can distinguish between vowel sounds (/a/ vs. /o/)- in utero Can distinguish between all contrasts- from birth Categorical perception of speech sounds (8-12 months) Babbling: 6 months One word stage: ~1 year Two word stage: ~2 years (vocab is about 50 words) Multiword utterances; gradually increase in complexity Verb Learning Two types of past tense verbs: Regular: talked, liked, hated Irregular: ate, went, was U-shaped curve of language learning Early: correct usage Middle: overgeneralization Late: correct usage The Critical Period If language learning doesn’t occur before a certain time, language will be impaired Johnson & Newport (1989) Age of Acquisition affects ability to learn second language Genie Pinker (NR) Nicaraguan sign language Deaf children