Language development

Language development

1. Aspects of language

   • Phoneme/morpheme
   • Semantics/syntax
     • Syntactic bootstrapping
       • = the use of syntax to learn the meaning of new words (semantics)
     • Semantics bootstrapping
       • = use of conceptual categories to create grammatical categories
   • Pragmatics
     • = how we use language in social situations

2. Language of the brain

   • Wernicke's
     • - located next to the auditory area that control hearing
   • Broca's
     • - located near the motor centre
   • Receptive/expressive language
     • = we learn to understand language before we speak - understand words/sentences vs written/spoken language we use to convey our thoughts/needs
   • Language disorders
     • Communication disorders
       • - language disorder - speech sound disorder - childhood-onset fluency disorder/stuttering - social/pragmatic communication disorder
     • ASD
     • Dyslexia
       • - accurate & fluent word recognition, poor decoding % spelling abilities - brain difficult to process sounds - connection between broca wernicke smaller

3. Theories of language

   • Behaviorism & Social Cognitive Theory
     • - experiment child says reinforcement sentence or imitation what adult said
     • Social Cognitive
       • Imitation
         • - language learning through imitation - Bandura's social cognitive theory
       • Mother-infant conversation
         • - social interaction to learn language
     • Behaviorism
       • Skinner
         • - learn thorough conditioning - reinforcement & punishment - research more mother respond sooner learn
   • Nativism
     • = theory that thinks that the human brain's wired to learn language & the activation of universal grammar is triggered by hearing spoken language
     • Universal grammer
       • Chomsky - must be born with it - too complex to learn through environmental factors only
     • Unique
       • - children learn sentences they've never heared before->grammer incorrect meanings - responsiveness for rules/structure
       • Overregularization
         • = process of acting as if irregular words follow the regular rules -> children tend to do this
   • Interactionism
     • = behaviorism & nativism -> biological readiness to language & environmental factors
     • Socially
       • - socially created - modify language for children - interaction infant adult->fit cognitive/perceptual capabilities
       • Recast
         • - ''More cookies'' - ''Oh, do you want more cookies'' answer more complex advanced to teach
   • Cognitive processing theory
     • - data crunching-statistically - children are processing language even during the first year of life, before speech
     • The brain
       • - the computational ability of the human brain - motivated by social interaction but actual process relies on brain - not innate but learned
       • Transitional probability
         • - statistically calculation language - likelihood that one particular sound will follow another one to form a word - process of word segmentation

4. Stages of development

   • Critical period?
     • - big question-> rather sensitive period - example Genie deprived 13 discovered - words ok unable grammar - could learn some more complex grammar later - learn words but no proper grammar
     • Delays rather than disorders
       • - but early is better for development - cochlear implants deaf ppl better auditory system that supports langiage
       • Brain
         • - use the same parts of brain second language - thought neural connections only some parts left when older
   • Prenatal development
     • - can hear mother's voice - prenatal exposure affects infant's preferences for language - 3-5 days old sounds like language when cry- preference rhythms/sounds they hear prenatally - exp
     • Infants verbal communication
     • Pre-verbal perception
       • - crying-> parents intensity/severity not reason - cooing-> 2-4 months-soft vowel sounds/begin laugh-conversation
       • How adults foster
         • - shared attention, gestures & sign language->point put label - more gestures parents more gestures infant higher socioeconomic status - cultural differences - geastures predictive development
         • Child directed speech
           • - evidence is that we naturally do in this way actually foster language development
           • !
             • - higher educated families leads to bigger vocabulary - quality/complex, amount & responsiveness - interactions-> higher more encouragement less stop it not more initiate
         • Responsivness
           • - language developes more quickly if parent talk, respond to their interests (name point) - engage in a dynamic way - follow eachothers leads from one focus of attention to the next
           • !
             • - predics more than socioeciónomic status
       • Prelanguage
         • - identifying specific sounds that make up that language, the later ability the later language development - better at discriminating sounds in nonnative = delayed language development
         • Crying
           • - crying-> parents intensity/severity not reason - need of relief
         • Cooing
           •  cooing-> 2-4 months -soft vowel sounds/begin laugh- prelangauge conversation interaction
         • Babbling
           • - one syllable sounds - 4-6 months - word daddy similiar in different language->reinforcement meaning from parents - combine sounds at 6-8 months
     • Words + sentences
       • - starts understand words at 6-9 months/say at 13 months - babbling to words - symbols-nouns before verbs
       • Vocabulary
         • - at 1 year a few words - at 2 years 200-500 learn more quickly-> burst others more gradual
         • Vocabulary burst
           • = rapid growth of a child's vocabulary that often occurs in the second year
         • Constraints
           • - allow children to form initial hypotheses which can be tested in future situations that provide a basis for rapid acquisation of words
           • Whole object bias
             • - assumption that a word describes an entire object rather than just some portion of it
           • Taxonomic constraint
             • - assumption that two object that have features in common can have the same name in common but also individual name
           • Mutual exclusivity constraint
             • - assumption that there's only one name for an object
           • Fast mapping
             • - process by which children apply constrains & their knowledge of grammar to learn new words very quickly, often after a single exposure
       • Word order
       • Sentences
         • - at about 1.5 years start combine - meaning of words & use of more grammar - most basic used structure- begins to use grammar->include most important info
         • Telegraphic speech
           • - children speak like they pay for every word - only necessary words
           • !
             • - cultural differences - americans harder passive sentences - southern africa hear passive sentences often->understand several forms
             • Egocentric speech
               • - doesn't understand that other's cannot read your mind
               • Prelanguage -> egocentric -> socialized speech
                 • - Piaget - not born social beings, must learn to understand interaction - schemas
                 • Communicative speech -> Private/egocentric speech
                   • - Vygotsky born social being - Divides into two camps - private speech becomes silence - children always intend to communicate
   • Middle school
     • - refining & expanding vocabulary/grammer - inferences - impairment & humor - logical understanding put together stories
     • Discourse skills
     • Metalinguistic abilities
     • Abstract
       • - more complex abstract understanding - beyobd literal meaning - irony sarcasm exp 7-9 olds understood
       • Teenagers
         • - longer sentences - more complex grammar - slang & made up words - social identity - swearing

5. Written language

   • Reading
     • - research in school phonetics - learn reading writing & print material threough information processes such as parents read - regular basis first 3 years of life better language cognitive development
     • Emergent literacy
       • = set of skills that develop before children begin formal reading instruction that provide the foundation for later academic skills
     • Dialogic reading
       • - parent reading to child & ask questions about the story - actively engages her in the process & lays groundwork for emergent literacy skills
       • Prompts
         • - completion prompts - recall prompts - open ended prompts - w prompts - distancing prompts
     • Best way to teach
       • Phonemic approach
         • - basic skills approach - focus on letter sound relationship
       • Whole language instruction
         • - focus on reading material that are inherently interesting to a child - understanding words from the context they appear - top down approach
       • Authentic literature
         • - children traditionally learned reading the bible or literary classics - in 30s american schools started using basal readers that relied on word recognition, adding slowly more words with repetition
         • Phonics
           • - basal readers fell out of favor in 70s - bottom up approach-> phonemes letters to words to a whole - phonological skills best predictor 
           • Balanced reading approach
             • - both whole language & phonics approach - early instruction - interesting books that spark motivation
             • Phonological awareness
               • - words are made up from individual sounds - contributes to reading fluecy & comprehension
   • Writing
     • - fine motor skills - conventional spelling rules
     • Knowledge telling
       • - goal of telling as much as she can about the subject - tying together statements that describe facts
       • Knowledge transforming
         • - writing style which the goal is to convey a deeper meaning by transforming information into ideas that can be shared with a reader - reader understands/learns 

6. Billingualism

   • Not hurtful
     • - to the cognitive development - reach language milestones at the same time - vocabulary same
   • Advantages
     • - more creative - flexible - executive functions - ignore irrelevant info - better problem solving
   • Political, social issue
     • Programs
       • - immersion programs - English as a second language pull out programs - Transitional bilingual education programs - Developmental bilingual programs - Two way immersion programs
     • Cultural identity