Theories of Child Language Acquisition

*Imitation

*Reinforcement

*Innateness

*Active construction of a grammar

IMITATIONIMITATION• Children learn language by imitating

words/sentences spoken around them.• True, but only in part.• Cannot explain systematic errors children

make- departures from adult forms.• Cannot account for production (and

perception) of novel utterances• Cannot explain situation involving

disability affecting ability to speak, which, once overcome, results in realization of what has been learned.

Reinforcement

• Parents’ correction of errors-not as common as we think; usually don’t help.

Innateness Hypothesis

• Children are born with, at minimum, the ability to acquire any language and, possibly, the actual knowledge of linguistic universals.

• Critical age hypothesis: after an particular age is reached, acquisition of a language becomes much more difficult (if not impossible).

• Be familiar with support for / arguments against the Critical Age Hypothesis in its strongest form.

Active construction of a grammar

• Ability to develop rules is innate

• Children construct the rules based on exposure to input from the adult language.

• These rules are built on and modified as a result of new input.

PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL ACQUISTIONACQUISTION

(1) infant speech perception. Evidence from studies.

(2) early vocalizations: crying, cooing, etc.

(3) BABBLINGBABBLING begins at 4 -6 months. Both vowels and consonants are produced, often in short sequences. Canonical babbling (7-10 months) occurs when syllables are repeated in sequence. Variegated babbling (10-12 months) occurs when different syllables occur in sequence.

* functions* cross-linguistic tendencies

(4) 10-12 months: child is acquiring a variety of speech sounds, including but not limited to those occurring in the sound inventory of native language.

evidence that as first words begin to appear, knowledge of phonemic system is not yet intact.

(5) 1.5 - 2 years: becomes more necessary for phonemes to be acquired in order to be able to attribute meaning to random clustering of sounds.

Acquisition of phonology: common views / points of debate

• Perception and production• Usefulness of relational vs. independent

system accounts.• Phonological universals and emergence of

phonology.

Order in which speech sounds are mastered: general trends...

1 - vowels acquired before consonants

2- stops acquired first among consonants

3- labials often acquired first and interdentals last.

4- new phonemic contrasts manifest themselves first in word-initial position first.

COMMON PHONETICS PROCESSES IN CHILDREN’S SPEECH...

1 - deletion 1 - deletion

2- substitution2- substitution

3- assimilation3- assimilation

1. Deletion

1. stov tov; sml ml; dsk dk• [s] + consonant sequences - delete

[s]

2. tray tay; brum bum; slm sm• stop + liquid - delete liquid3. frm fm; slip sip• fricative + liquid: delete liquid4. bmp bp; dnt dt • nasal + voiceless stop - delete nasal

2. Substitution

1. lajn yajn; rejk wejk; lf yf • gliding

2. si ti; zibr dibr • continuant becomes stop3. bim bib; pajn pajd• denasalization

3. Assimilation

1. tl dl; pg bg; sup zup • voicing assimilation of initial

consonants

2. dagi gagi; slf flf ; bebi bibi • total assimilation (vowel/consonant)

Syllables• In earliest stages maximally simple syllables

tend to be produced (without codas, without clusters).

• Asymmetries between syllable-initial and syllable final position

• Unstressed syllable truncation is a common process.

PERCEPTION v. PRODUCTIONPERCEPTION v. PRODUCTION:

child's ability to perceive phonemic contrast precedes their ability to produce them.

Relationship between stages of acquisition in children and crosslinguistic grammars.

• Rules which present themselves in stages of child phonological development often resemble very closely those attested crosslinguistically in adult languages, even when absent from the adult language being learned.

• Do you find that this supports a particular theory of language acquisition?

ONE EXAMPLE

• UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR = SET OF UNIVERSAL CONSTRAINTS

• LANGUAGES DIFFER IN CONSTRAINT RANKINGS, RATHER THAN CONSTRAINTS THEMSELVES.

• LEARNING A PHONOLOGICAL GRAMMAR IS ALL ABOUT LEARNING THE RIGHT RANKING OF CONSTRAINTS.

MORPHOLOGICAL MORPHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT

Developmental sequence of

nonlexical morphemes

1. -ing

2. plural -s

3. possessive -s

4. the, a

5. past tense -ed

6. 3rd person sg. -s

7. auxiliary be

What determines this sequence?

• FREQUENCY?

• Relative frequency of morphemes in child-directed speech

• 1. the/a 4. be auxiliary 7. –ed (past)• 2. –ing 5. –s (possessive)• 3. –s (plural) 6. –s (3rd p. sg)

Other possibilities

1. Word-position2. Relationship b/t form and meaning3. Syllabicity4. Exceptions5. Allophonic invariance6. Identifiable functions/meanings

SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT

Stages of development

1. One word stage (=holophrases) (1-1.5)

2. Two word stage (1.5-2)

word order learned or not at this stage (see evidence in text)

3. Telegraphic speech (2-2.5)

Syntactic development: specific examples of gradual acquisition of adult constructions.

QUESTIONS: stages

inversion in yes/no questions vs. wh-questions.

SEE FURTHER DISCUSSION IN BOOK

Semantic development

Rapid vocabulary expansion

Largest category of words in child’s early vocabulary?

How do children “guess” meanings of unknown words?

Common semantic errors

ACQUISTION OF MEANING

common errors include undergeneralization, overgeneralization and complexive concepts.

After child acquires close to 100 words, the overgeneralized meanings narrow and the undergeneralized meanings extend.

Later acquired conceptsLater acquired concepts• Relational terms

• Deictic expressions

Types of Methods used in Language Acquisition Research

• Naturalistic Approach– Diary studies

• Experimental Studies– Cross sectional vs. longitudinal studies– Types of procedures used.

– KNOW THE ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES OF BOTH GENERAL APPROACHES