English 311: Final || with Complete Solutions.

Extension correct answers In language change, a diachronic semantic change by which the set of appropriate contexts or referents for a word increases. Reduction correct answers Semantic Change by which the set of appropriate contexts or referents for a word decreases. Elevation correct answers Semantic change by which words take on a grander or more positive connotation over time. Degradation correct answers Semantic change by which a word acquires a more pejorative meaning over time. Imitation Theory correct answers claims that children learn language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear. Reinforcement Theory correct answers asserts that children learn to speak like adults because they are praised, rewarded, or otherwise reinforced when they use the right forms and are corrected when they use wrong forms. Active Construction of a Grammar Theory: correct answers "most influential theory of language acquisition", children invent the rules of grammar based on the speech they hear around them. - They refine these rules and eventually their grammar will match that of the adults around them. ACGT: Universal Grammar/Innatism correct answers Children are born with innate knowledge of universal properties of language and use input to learn specific features of their language. Social Interaction Theory correct answers assumes that children acquire language through social interaction, with older children and adults in particular. - The Child Directed Speech: frequent repetitions, questions, modifiers, and few subordinate clauses. Novel Utterances correct answers Children combine words into sentences they've never heard before and apply rules as they understand them. Overgeneralization correct answers is the application of a grammatical rule in cases where it does not apply. - For example, a young child may say "foots" instead of "feet," overgeneralizing the morphological rule for making plural nouns. What theory explains overgeneralization best? correct answers Active Construction of a Grammar Theory because errors children make see to reflect overgeneralization of grammatical rules. They apply regular rules where adults use irregular forms. correct answers In language change, a diachronic semantic change by which the set of appropriate contexts or referents for a word increases. Reduction correct answers Semantic Change by which the set of appropriate contexts or referents for a word decreases. Elevation correct answers Semantic change by which words take on a grander or more positive connotation over time. Degradation correct answers Semantic change by which a word acquires a more pejorative meaning over time. Imitation Theory correct answers claims that children learn language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear. Reinforcement Theory correct answers asserts that children learn to speak like adults because they are praised, rewarded, or otherwise reinforced when they use the right forms and are corrected when they use wrong forms. Active Construction of a Grammar Theory: correct answers "most influential theory of language acquisition", children invent the rules of grammar based on the speech they hear around them. - They refine these rules and eventually their grammar will match that of the adults around them. ACGT: Universal Grammar/Innatism correct answers Children are born with innate knowledge of universal properties of language and use input to learn specific features of their language. Social Interaction Theory correct answers assumes that children acquire language through social interaction, with older children and adults in particular. - The Child Directed Speech: frequent repetitions, questions, modifiers, and few subordinate clauses. Novel Utterances correct answers Children combine words into sentences they've never heard before and apply rules as they understand them. Overgeneralization correct answers is the application of a grammatical rule in cases where it does not apply. - For example, a young child may say "foots" instead of "feet," overgeneralizing the morphological rule for making plural nouns. What theory explains overgeneralization best? correct answers Active Construction of a Grammar Theory because errors children make see to reflect overgeneralization of grammatical rules. They apply regular rules where adults use irregular forms.