Chapter 9: Language Development

Question 1

What are the 5 basic components that underlie all languages?

Answer 1

phonology
morphology
semantics
syntax
pragmatics

Question 2

What is phonology?

Answer 2

knowledge of sounds used in a given language

• learning how to detect, discriminate and produce speech sounds
• humans are capable of generating many more sounds than any one language uses
• languages have different phonologies

Question 3

What is morphology?

Answer 3

understanding the ways that sounds can be combined to form words

• infants learn that sounds can be combined in meaningful ways
• taking consonants and vowels, and sticking the sounds together

Question 4

What is semantics?

Answer 4

meaning or content of words and sentences

• growing vocabulary signals an increase in semantic knowledge

Question 5

What is syntax?

Answer 5

knowledge of the structure of sentences

• rules by which words are to be combined to form sentences

Question 6

What is pragmatics?

Answer 6

understanding how to use language to communicate effectively

ie. speaking differently with adults, peers, and children
ie. intonation at the end of a sentence when asking a question

Question 7

Prelinguistic Communication

When does phonological development begin?

Answer 7

may begin before birth

• infants recognize familiar sounds (mother’s voice) before birth

Question 8

What are the 3 types of prelinguistic communication?

Answer 8

crying, cooing, babbling

Question 9

What is cooing?

Answer 9

making deliberate vowel sounds (begins 2-3 months of age)

Question 10

What is babbling?

Answer 10

repeating strings of consonants and vowels (morphology)

• begins around 6 months
• universal but becomes more similar to native language over time
• socially interactive process

Question 11

What is linguistic turn-taking?

Answer 11

taking turns talking

Question 12

What are holophrases?

Answer 12

one-word expressions to express complete thoughts

words that the infant hears often, and therefore learns—combination of morphology

ie. milk, juice, up

Question 13

What is receptive language?

Answer 13

what the toddler can understand

Question 14

What is productive language?

Answer 14

what the toddler can produce or say themselves

Question 15

What is the relationship between receptive language and productive language?

Answer 15

receptive language is much far advanced than productive language in infants (understand way more than they can say)

has to do with dexterity of their tongues (mouth isn’t developed enough to produce sounds that require the tongue and lips)

Question 16

What is fast mapping?

Answer 16

process of quickly acquiring and retaining a word after hearing it applied a few times, and gets better with age

Question 17

What is naming explosion or vocabulary spurt?

Answer 17

period of rapid vocabulary learning between 16 and 24 months

• not universal; speed of acquisition may be faster or slower for certain children

Question 18

What is telegraphic speech?

Answer 18

toddler speech is like a telegram, child’s speech only includes a few essential words

Question 19

Early Childhood (Age 2-5) Language Advances

Describe vocabulary.

Answer 19

• learn a new word every 1-2 hrs
• continue to use fast mapping
• learn best in interactive contexts—learn way more words by interacting with people than by watching television, taking turns, scaffolding

Question 20

Early Childhood (Age 2-5) Language Advances

Describe syntax.

Answer 20

• learn to combine words into sentences in sophisticated ways
• parental conversation and support for language (ie. asking questions) is linked with faster and more correct language use

ie. learning plurals, tenses

Question 21

Early Childhood (Age 2-5) Language Advances

What developmental functions are associated with private speech?

Answer 21

• allows toddler to scaffold themselves (walking themselves through the process of something they are doing)
• fosters new ideas
• guides their behaviours

Question 22

Early Childhood (Age 2-5) Language Advances

What is private speech?

Answer 22

self-talk with no apparent intent to communicate with others (talking out loud to yourself)

Question 23

Early Childhood (Age 2-5) Language Advances

What is self-regulation?

Answer 23

ability to control one’s impulses and appropriately direct one’s behavior

Question 24

School-Age Children and Adolescents Language Advances

Describe the advances in vocabulary.

Answer 24

• already have a good handle on language acquisition

vocabulary expansion and greater understanding of meanings of words

• by the end of elementary school, their vocabulary has expanded 4x from when they entered school
• by the end of high school, their vocabulary has expanded 6-8x

Question 25

What is infant-direct speech ("parentese")?

Answer 25

type of speech that uses repetition, short words and sentences, high and varied pitch, and long pauses - often thought of as ‘baby talk’

Question 26

Why do infants prefer infant-direct speech ("parentese")?

Answer 26

gives them the opportunity to learn the basic rules of the language

Question 27

What are the cross-cultural patterns of infant-direct speech ("parentese")?

Answer 27

- see it across cultures, but different patterns in different cultures - Asian cultures stress interpersonal harmony, and collectivism culture approach—first words for toddlers tend to be verbs and social words (getting along and interacting with other people) - Western cultures are more likely to have infants and toddlers who learn nouns first

Question 28

How does poverty influence language development and interactions?

Answer 28

- less developed language skills - less exposure to speech - lower quality parent-child interactions (more likely to hear verbal directives—told what to do, parents in high SES homes are more likely to interact, have conservations, and ask questions) - increased household instability and disorder (move houses more often, have many caregivers that come and go, divorce is more common)

Question 29

What is simultaneous bilingualism?

Answer 29

exposure to two languages from birth build distinct language systems (learn early on, and are able to separate the morphology and phonology of the different languages)

Question 30

How is bilingualism associated with many cognitive skills?

Answer 30

simultaneous bilingual speakers will score higher on memory, selective attention, and analytical reasoning tests, have better cognitive flexibility, and executive function when they get into school

Question 31

What is immersion?

Answer 31

foreign-language-speaking children are placed into english-speaking classes

Question 32

Why can immersion be problematic?

Answer 32

requires them to not only learn English, but also course content at the same time

Question 33

What is Dual Language Learning (Two-Way Immersion)?

Answer 33

English-speaking and non-English-speaking students learn together in both languages and both languages are valued equally

Question 34

What are the benefits of Dual Language Learning (Two-Way Immersion)?

Answer 34

- bilingualism - strengthens identity and self-esteem (doing better in school because they are learning some of the content in their language) of non-English-speaking students