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1.5 Problem 5 Tutorials and Literature Summary
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1.5 Problem 55 Components of Language:
o Phonology- basic units of sounds that are used in a language and
the rules for combining these sounds
No 2 languages have same
Children learn native language phonologies
o Morphology- specify how words are formed from sounds
o Semantics- meanings expressed in words and sentences
Morphemes- smallest meaningful units of language
Free morphemes- can stand alone as words (eg. dog)
Bound morphemes- can’t stand alone bug change
meaning when attached to free morpheme (eg. -s=
dogs)
o Syntax- rules that specify how words are to be combined to form
meaningful phrases or sentences
must understand syntax to become proficient at
speaking/understanding
o Pragmatics- knowledge of how language might be used to
communicate effectively eg. speak differently for a child to
understand us
Sociolinguistic knowledge- culturally specified rules that
dictate how language should be used in particular social
contexts
o + interpretation and use of nonverbal signals
Theories of Language Development
1. Learning (Empiricist) Perspective- imitation and reinforcement
o Skinner- children learn to speak because reinforced for
correct speech, adults reinforce sounds that most
resemble words, then sentence production
o Bandura- Parents speak and children imitate the sounds
and eventually imitate parents words/word
use/sentences
+ language is communication between people so makes
sense if it has social interaction
+ absence of social environment there’s no speech
x doesn’t account for syntax (grammar isn’t reinforced
much)
x why do children make grammar mistakes and use child
speech if they are imitating adults?
2. Nativist Perspective- humans are biologically programmed to
acquire language
o Language is far too complex to be taught by parents or
discovered by trial-and-error
o Chomsky- humans equipped with language
acquisition device- inborn linguistic processor,
activated by verbal input, containing universal grammar
, o Slobin- have inborn language making capacity- set of
cognitive and perceptual abilities that are highly
specialised for language learning
o LMC/LAD enable children to process linguistic input,
infer phonological regularities, semantic relations, rules
of syntax
+ language is species specific
+ makes sense as language centres in the brain
+ discrimination in phonetics arises in 1st few days
+ children produce their “own language”
x wild boy couldn’t talk
x descriptive rather than explanative
x ignores environmental factors
3. Interactionist Perspective- combination of learning and nativist
o Language develops from combination of biological
maturation, cognitive development, and linguist
environment that’s influenced by child’s attempt to
communicate with companions
Innate- sophisticated brain that develops slowly & is predisposed to
develop similar, universal ideas at the same time/age:
12 months- understand symbolism/deferred imitation, first words
24 months- object permanence
Environment and Language Development
o Joint activity- infants participate in conversations, even with laugh or
babble: adult communicates with infant, creating supportive
learning environment
o Child-directed speech- parents and siblings tend to address infants
and toddlers with short, simple sentences
Often high pitched, and repeated, emphasising key
words
o Negative evidence- parents respond to ungrammatical speech in
ways subtly communicating that an errors been made
o Actively conversing- child must be actively involved in using
language to speak
Brain Areas and Language
Broca’s Area- language production, in the left hemisphere around
temporal/frontal area
Damage= impaired speech production
Wernicke’s Area- language comprehension/grammar, left hemisphere,
around the temporal/parietal area
Damage= impaired speech comprehension
Sensitive-Period Hypothesis
Humans are most proficient at learning language before they reach
puberty
6-12 months: already becoming more sensitive to mother’s language
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