what are the three key features of language?
- arbitrariness (sounds dont resemble what they stand for)
- displacement (signs convey meaning in absence of their referent, talk abt smth that isnt present)
- generatively (potential to create infinite number of sentences)
7 key components of language
- phonemes
- morphemes
- semantics
- syntax
- grammer
- pragmatics
- meta-linguistic knowledge
how many phonemes are thee in english
abt 200
what are required for language
- human brain
- human enviro
what hemisphere are lang capabilities usually localized to
left
________ area is associated with speech production, whereas __________ area is associated with language comprehension.
Broca’s, Wernicke’s
what are the main areas of the brain associated w lang
- Wernicke’s area
- broca’s area
- insular cortex
- angular gyrus
- basal ganglia
categorical speech perception
- hearing diff sounds than native speakers of a lang do
- ex L and R sounds are hard to differentiate
In early development, infants can discern differences among ______ phonemes of the world’s languages. But this ability sharply declines between ________
all, 6-12 months
- aka perceptual narrowing
the ability to learn where divisions between words exist in the speech stream.
word segmentation
what helps infants learn word segmantation
- statistical detection mechanism
- transitional probabilities
morphemes
breaking words down, ex undivided = un, divid, ed
semantics
meaning system of lang
pragmatics
context of lang
when do babies begin to bable
around 7 months
Brief overview of steps of lang development
- communication before lang. (asl)
- turn taking
- babbling
- baby’s first words
when do babies usually begin speaking first words
10-13 months
Around 18m, infants typically experience a vocabulary spurt where they learn ____ new words/day.
~9
common mistakes babies make when learning to speak
- overextension: use of word in broad context
- underextension: not extending word that is a valid example
- holophrase: using single word to convey meaning
- non-words: derived/compund words
fast mapping
- form initial hypothesis abt word meaning quickly after hearing it only once
- following gaze
three contributing factors to fast mapping
- constraints: approach learning situations w biases/constraints
- syntactic bootstrapping: use grammar cues
- pragmatic cues: social cues, joint attention
wug test
- grammer test
- see if they know it w out just memorizing
enviro factors of learning speech
- imitation and reinforcement
- infant/child directed speech
- response to child speech
what is evidence of humans being wired to develop language
- universality
- sensitive periods
