Transcript No Slide Title

Language
• Special form of communication in which
we learn complex rules to manipulate
symbols that can be used to generate an
endless number of meaningful sentences.
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Communication
Set of Symbols
Complex Rules
Endless Number of Meaningful Sentences
Communication
• Ability to use sounds, smells, or gestures to
exchange information.
Functional Properties
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Displaced Reference
Productivity
Prevarication
Pragmatics
Structural Properties
• Phonology
– phonemes
• Semantics
– morphemes
– syntax
Prelinguistic Stage
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Birth to 1 year
Crying
Cooing
Babbling
Language Comprehension
Ability to make discriminations not required
by native language gradually lost
Linguistic Stage
• 1 year and up
• Holophrases
– Infant-directed Speech
– Overextension
– Underextension
Vocabulary Development
Linguistic Stage
• Two-word combinations
• Telegraphic Speech
– errors of overgeneralization
Errors of Overgeneralization
Language Development
6 Months
• Vocalization with intonation
• Responds to human voices
without visual cues by turning
his head and eyes
12 Months
• Uses one or more words with
meaning
• Understands simple instructions
18 Months
• Has vocabulary of
approximately 5-20 words
Language Development
24 Months
• Can name a number of objects common
to his surroundings
• Approximately 2/3 of what child says
should be intelligible
• Vocabulary of approximately 150-300
words
• My and mine are beginning to emerge
36 Months
• Knows chief parts of body and should
be able to indicate these if not name
• Handles three word sentences easily
• Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000
words
• About 90% of what child says should
be intelligible
Language Development
4 Years
• Knows names of familiar animals
• Names common objects in picture books or magazines
• Knows one or more colors
• Often indulges in make-believe
5 Years
• Can count to ten
• Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems
• Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct
6 Years
• Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful
Language Development
7 Years
• Should be able to tell time to quarter
hour
• Should be able to do simple reading and
to write or print many words
8 Years
• All speech sounds, including consonant
blends should be established
• Should be reading with considerable
ease and now writing simple
compositions
• Can carry on conversation at rather
adult level
Language in Middle Childhood
• Vocabulary continues to increase; receptive
vocabulary is about 40,000 words by age 10
• Phonemes mastered and aspects of
intonation better understood
• Increases in mastery of grammar and
syntax, along with improvement in
pragmatic skills
• Development of metalinguistic awareness
• Increasing sophistication in language play
Theories of Language Acqusition
• Learning Theories
• Nativist Theories
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT:
Language as a Learned Skill
• Learning theory based on behaviorist
theories of learning - operant conditioning,
modeling
• Language viewed as behavior learned like
other skills
• Parents also provide models of advanced
language that child then imitates
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT:
Language As A Learned Skill
• Criticisms of theory:
- parents do not explicitly teach rule systems
- pace of language development difficult to explain
through learning principles
- ignores evidence that humans biologically predisposed to
detect language stimuli
The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk
• Noam Chomsky: language is innate human
capability
• Language acquisition device (LAD) –
brain mechanism specialized for detecting
and learning rules of language
• Contains innate knowledge of universal
grammar
The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk
• Specific physical structures in humans
specialized for producing/processing
language
• No single organ is LAD
• Constellation of several brain areas that are
specialized to process linguistic input and
their connections (Wernicke’s area, Broca’s
area)
How Language Works
• Left hemisphere – more verbal
side. We literally speak with
half a brain. The dominant
location of language for more
than 95% of people, including a
sizable majority of left-handers
• Right hemisphere – responsible
for the inflection and overall
musical quality that lend
important emphasis to verbal
communication
The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk
• Existence of sensitive periods for language
development supports nativist position
- children deprived of language have
poorer language skills
- older children and adults have greater
difficulty learning second language
- older children and adults show less
recovery from brain damage affecting
language areas
The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk
• Criticisms of nativist theory:
- parents provide corrective feedback as
learning theory predicts
- some exposure to language (i.e., TV) does not
produce normal language skills