Chapter 10 - Language

4 Components of Language

1. Phonology• Understanding & producing speech sounds• Phoneme - smallest sound unit• Number of phonemes varies by language• Morphology = rules for combining• Rules for combining phonemes vary by language

2. Semantics = Meaning of words & sentences

• Morpheme - smallest meaningful unit

• Differ by language

• Arbitrary

• Lexical development = learning meaning of new words

3. Syntax

• Form/structure of language

• Rules for how words are combined

• Meaning = words + sentence structure

semantics + syntax

• Rules vary by language

4. Pragmatics

• Principles for language use in different contexts & situations

• Principles vary by language/culture

Prelinguistic Period

• Birth to 1 year (10-13 months)

• Nonmeaningful utterance

• Responsive to language from birth• Attend to speech• Recognize & prefer mom’s voice• Lateralization - speech produces more left

hemisphere activity• Fine discriminations among phonemes• Receptive language by 1• Before productive

Sound production

1. Crying • Distress• Fake crying by 3 weeks

2. Cooing• Repeated vowel sounds• 3 months

3. Babbling

• Vowel/consonant combinations

• Vocable = consistent use of same babble for an object

Deaf vs. Hearing babies• Up to 6 months - development is the same• ~ 8 months - hearing babies match intonation of

their mother language• Deaf infants fall behind• Advanced babbling is delayed• But, deaf infants babble in sign

& they are left-brain lateralized

Holophrastic Period(age 1-2)

One word utterances

• One word represents an entire phrase

• Same word can represent different phrases

Lexical growth

• 10 words in 3-4 months

• 50 words by 20 months

Word types1. Nominals (names of things)

• 66%

• Classes of objects & unique objects

2. Action words = 13%

• Describe action or demand attention

3. Modifiers = 9%• Properties/quantities of things

4. Personal/social words = 8%• Express feelings/social comments

5. Function words = 4%• Grammatical functions

Common errors

• Overextension

- use of a specific word to refer to larger class than adults do

- BUT might overextend because lack better words

• Underextension

- use of a general term to refer only to a specific example

3 Rules for learning words

1.Fast mapping

• Linking word with concept after hearing the word a few times

2.Form class hypothesis

• Use context to determine type of word (noun, verb, etc.)

3. Lexical contrast theory (mutual exclusion)

• New word cannot mean the same as an old word

• Contrast new word with ones already known

Telegraphic Period (~2+)

Two-word utterances

• Essential content words

Production capabilities limit utterances

• Reception > production

Similar across languages

• Universal child speech

Grammatical morphemes

• Refinements that make language grammatically correct & give meaning

• Mastery occurs at different ages, but in same order

• Error = overregularization

Common morpheme for irregular cases

Developmental stages:

• Correct first, then incorrect, then correct

• Imitate, learn rule, learn exceptions

Transformational grammar

• Use syntax to change meaning

1. Transform declarative sentence to question

• Invert subject/verb (& add wh-)

2. Negative clauses

• Add a negative in appropriate place

3.Imperatives/giving a command

• Omit the subject & put the verb first

Language Acquisition

B. F. Skinner - learning theorist -> Nurture

• Children imitate adult speech & are reinforced

• Children’s speech improves

• Reinforced for improvements = shaping

Evidence

• Components differ by language

• Babbling in own language’s intonation

• Children imitate adults

• Adults reinforce/give feedback

• Speech improves with feedback

• Motherese

Noam Chomsky – linguist -- Nature

• Innate mechanisms -> language development

• Lenneberg: Language Acquisition Device= an inborn model of language structure

Evidence• Children construct novel utterances• Do not imitate adult grammar• Universal telegraphic speech• Adults praise poor grammar• Brain lateralized for language processing• Only humans acquire syntax/grammar• Critical period

Current:

• May well be an inborn structure of language

+ sensitive period shows effects of maturation

• BUT- sensitive period also shows need for experience/learning by puberty

• An interaction of nature & nurture