Language & Communication Part 1 Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Language & Communication Part 1 Deck (28)
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1
Q

What are Hockett’s 4 design features of language?

A

Arbitrariness - no necessary connection between the sounds used and the message being sent
Displacement - the ability to communicate about things that are not currently present
Productivity - the ability to create new utterances from previously existing utterances and sounds
Dual of Patterning - meaningless phonemes are combines to make meaningful words which in turn are combined again to make sentences.

2
Q

What is Syntax/Morphology?

A

The rules that control sentence formation and word endings

3
Q

What is Phonology?

A

The sounds of langauge

4
Q

What are Pragmatics?

A

The social use of language in context

5
Q

What are Semantics?

A

The meaning of individual words and words in context

6
Q

What are Phones?

A

The different sounds in language, languages differ in the sounds they use and how they combine them

7
Q

What are Phonemes?

A

If different phones change the meanings of words they’re called phonemes
Not all languages have the same phonemes
Phonemes are the smallest segmental units of sound employed in a language to form meaningful contrasts between words

8
Q

Outline infant’s phonological development from being born

A

They are born being able to perceive all the sounds used in the worlds languages
Experience with a language over the first year of life allows them to tune into the phonemic contrast that are used in their language and tune out those that are not

9
Q

What is language production like at birth?

A

Crying and involuntary sounds of bodily functions

10
Q

What is language production like at 2-4 months?

A

Cooing and at around 16 weeks, laughter

11
Q

What is language production like at 4-7 months?

A

Squeals, yells, raspberries, vowels and marginal babbling

12
Q

What is language production like at around 7 months?

A

Sudden onset of reduplicated or canonical babbling e.g. dada, guh guh

13
Q

What is language production like at around 10 months?

A

Babbling comes to reflect frequent sounds in the ambient language

14
Q

What is language production like around 1st birthday?

A

Increase in the rate of variegated babbling e.g. bagoo and production of longer strings of sounds with varied intonation and stress patterns

15
Q

What does the age at which children begin to produce canonical babble predict?

A
  • When they will begin to produce words
  • How many words they will be able to produce at 18 months
  • Caregiver’s responses to infant’s babble also predict word learning
16
Q

Why is the range of infant vocalisations limited?

A

The size and placement of the tongue in relation to vocal cavity
Neuromuscular limits on the movements of the tongue which is adapted for sucking and swallowing but not so able to produce fine articulatory movements

17
Q

Outline gaze following in infancy?

A
  • Early in infancy, infants begin to follow other people’s line of regard
  • From 18 months, children can use gaze following to check where someone is looking in order to figure out the meaning of a new word
18
Q

What is Joint Attention?

A

Can engage in joint attention at around 9 months
Occurs when two or more people are attending to something and they are mutually aware that they are attending to it together
Time spent in joint attention predicts later word learning

19
Q

Outline the role of pointing in infancy

A

Between 9-14 months, infants begin to point imperatively and declaratively
Index finger pointing is a predictor of later vocabulary learning along with other gestures including showing

20
Q

Outline the advances in learning words during infancy

A

Most children start producing first words within a few months of their first birthday
Word learning is typically slow until 50-100 words
By the age of 6, children have about 10-14,000 words in their lexicon
The learning rate continues to accelerate until about 8-10 years when they learn about 12 new words a day

21
Q

Outline errors children may make in phonology

A

‘efelant’ ‘hiccupotamus’ also adult spoonerisms and malapropisms
Children may be able to perceive but not produce certain speech sounds

22
Q

Outline errors children make in semantics

A

They tend to make ‘errors of scope’ that can shed light on the obstacles and the process of learning
Underextensions e.g. ‘car’ only to mean the family car
Overextensions e.g. ‘daddy’ to mean any adult male, which may be due to lack of an alernative

23
Q

What is the gavagai problem?

A

The argument that word learning needs to be constrained so that children don’t run into the indeterminacy of translation problem

24
Q

What is the indeterminacy of translation problem?

A

The problem of determining which of a large number of possible meanings a word is used to convey

25
Q

What are solutions to the gavagai problem?

A

Children have constraints on what words will refer to
Children use associative learning across contexts
Children use social cues and linguistic cues to meaning

26
Q

Outline the role of SES in word learning

A

Lower SES children tend to start school with weaker language skills and this disadvantage predicts later school outcomes

27
Q

What is one option to support language development in low SES

A

Help caregivers talk with infants in a way that promotes language

28
Q

What is contingent talk?

A

Child directed speech that is contingent on the infant’s focus of attention
Semantically (about what the infant is attending to)
Temporally (in response to infant vocalisation)