Child Language Acquistion

Child Language Acquistion

1. Key Theories

   • Nativist Theory Noam Chomsky (Innate ability to learn language)
   • Behavioural Theory B.F Skinner (language learnt through reinforcement and immation
   • Cognitive Theory Jean Piaget (Language learnt as oart of wider skill development)
   • Social Interactionlist Theory Jerome Bruner (interacting with others and communicating with adults

2. Other Key Theories

   • The WUG test (Berko and Brown)
   • The FIS experiment (Berko)
   • Two word theory (Brown)
   • Stages of Negation (Bellugi)
     • Stage 1= use 'no' at start/end of the sentence Stage 2= 'no/not' inside the sentence. Stage 3= achieves correct form.
   • Sociodramatic play (Garvey and Vygotsky)
   • Nelson's first words are objects

3. Verbal stages

   • Holophrastic (1-1.5)
   • Two word stage ( 1.5-2)
   • Telegraphic (2-3)
   • Post-telegraphic (3+)

4. Halliday's Functions

   • Instrumental- obtain goods and services
   • Regalatory- control behaviour of others
   • Personal- express self
   • Interactional- relate to others, interact
   • Heuristic- explore and gain knowledge of enviroment
   • Imaginative- using language imaginatively
   • Representational- facts and information about things

5. Phonological Patterns

   • Deletion- delete the last sound and swap for other sounds , "ca"
   • Reduplication- repeating the whole syllable, "choo,choo"
   • Addition- repetition of a particular sound, adding extra vowel sound to create a CVCV structure. "doggie"
   • Substitution- sound swapped for another easier sound, "sing to ting"
   • CCR- groups of consonants will reduce them to smaller sounds as difficult to produce, "spider" to "ider"
   • Deletion of unstressed syllables- whole syllable can go missing as arent stressed, "nana" instead of banana

6. Other errors

   • Under -extensions
   • Over-extensions

7. Context

   • Child Play
     • Parallel Play (2-4)
     • Sociodramatic Play (4+)
     • Monologues
   • Enviroment
   • Care Taker speech
     • simple vocab, simple sentences, speaking slowly, widen pitch, conversational, use child's name

8. Key Terms

   • Hyperym= generic words
   • Hyponym= specific words within a group
   • Homophone= pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning and often spelling.
   • Language acquisition device= Chomsky, trigered when child hears language. Input, trial and error, then the output produced.

9. Birdsongs

   • Cuckoo= song fully developed song even if it never hears another cuckoo
   • Chaffinch= acquires song in several stages, does not learn after 10months
   • Bullfinch= will learn any song it is exposed to