Language Acquisition: Speech

Front 1

Name the 5 pre-verbal stages.

Back 1

Before birth, vegatitive, cooing, babbling and proto-words.

Front 2

Explain the 'before-birth' stage.

Back 2

It has been thought that it is possible to become accustomed to the native language in the womb. Research in France found that some French new borns sucked their thumbs more strongly when hearing French over another language.

Front 3

Explain the 'vegatitive' stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 3

The vegatitive stage includes sounds of discomfort and/or reflexative actions. It happens during 0 to 4 months.

Front 4

Explain the 'cooing' stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 4

The cooing stage includes comfort sounds and vocal play using open-mouthed vowel sounds. It happens during 4 to 7 months.

Front 5

Explain the 'babbling' stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 5

The babbling stage includes repetition of sounds and vocal play using open-mouthed vowel sounds. It happens during 6 to 12 months.

Front 6

Explain the 'proto-words' stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 6

The proto-words stage includes vocalisations not matching actual words, but are used consistently for the same meaning. It happens during 9 to 12 months.

Front 7

Name the 4 stages that occur after the first year/pre-verbal stages.

Back 7

Holophrastic, two-word, telegraphic and post-telegraphic.

Front 8

Explain the 'holophrastic' stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 8

The holophrastic stage displays very basic words which are often repeated. Single word sentences. Not all sounds are words but can be matched to words to create meaning. Repetition occurs a lot. The child has no concept of part and future or what isn't there. This happens during 12 to 18 months.

Front 9

Explain the 'two-word' stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 9

The two-word stage displays the use of more vocabulary. Words begin to be matched together. Intonation is needed to convey meaning. Please and thank you's occur. Sounds only used when a word is unknown. Two word sentences. Beginnings of grammar - understanding of word order and concept of questions. Joining words not really understood yet. Politeness is developing. This happens during 18 to 24 months.

Front 10

Explain the 'telegraphic' stage and the approximate age in occurs at.

Back 10

The telegraphic stage displays the start of stringing words together and the understanding of meanings. Words are now not replaced by sounds. Very basic three word sentences form. Conversations can happen as they begin to understand others. This happens during 24 to 36 months.

Front 11

Explain the 'post-telegraphic stage and the approximate age it occurs at.

Back 11

The post-telegraphic stage displays full sentences of three words or more. Some words are still unknown, but they are able to convey meaning to others. Sounds used very little or never. More complex grammar is developed and skills are refined and practiced. Speech is easy and proper conversation is available. This happens from 36 months (3 years) and onwards.

Front 12

What is phonemic expansion and phonemic contraction?

Back 12

Phonemic expansion = when a child develops the ability to make all the phonemes available to it.
Phonemic contraction = when a child decreases it's amount of regularly used phonemes to match those used in it's native language.

Front 13

When does phonemic expansion and phonemic contraction occur?

Back 13

During a child's first year of speech; normally around the babbling stage.

Front 14

When does a child begin to sound native?

Back 14

Normally between 9 and 10 months.

Front 15

Verb infections, auxiliary verbs, prepositions and determiners are developed in which stage?

Back 15

The post-telegraphic stage.

Front 16

Define plosive sounds.

Back 16

A consonant sound that is produced by stopping the air flow using the lips, teeth or palate, followed by a sudden release of air.

Examples: p/b/t/d/k/g

Front 17

Define fricative sounds.

Back 17

The airflow is only partially blocked and air flows steadily in through the mouth.

Examples: f/v/s/z

Front 18

Define affricative sounds.

Back 18

The airflow is only partially blocked and air flows steadily in through the mouth but air flow is stopped briefly.

Examples: ch/j

Front 19

Define nasal sounds.

Back 19

Air moves through the nose.

Examples: n/m

Front 20

Define lateral sounds.

Back 20

Placing the tongue on the ridge of the teeth and air moves down the side of the mouth.

Examples: l

Front 21

Name all 9 types of common speech mistakes a child makes.

Back 21

Deletion, substitution, addition, assimilation, reduplication, consonant cluster reduction, deletion of unstressed syllables, overextension and under extension.

Front 22

What is deletion?

Back 22

Omitting the final consonant in words.

Example: do(g)/cu(p)

Front 23

What is substitution?

Back 23

Substituting one sound for another.

Example: pig for ship

Front 24

What is addition?

Back 24

Adding an extra vowel sound to the ends of words.

Example: doggie

Front 25

What is assimilation?

Back 25

Changing one consonant or vowel for another.

Example: Gog for dog

Front 26

What is reduplication?

Back 26

Repetition of a whole syllable.

Example: dada/mama

Front 27

What is consonant cluster reduction?

Back 27

Consonant clusters can be difficult for a child to pronounce so they reduce them.

Example: pider for spider

Front 28

What is the deletion of unstressed syllables?

Back 28

Deleting the opening syllable in a polysyllabic word.

Example: nana for banana

Front 29

What is under extension?

Back 29

Where a word is used in a limited context.

Example: child refers only his shoes as shoes

Front 30

What are the 3 types of overextension?

Back 30

Categorical, analogical and mismatch.

Front 31

What is categorical overextension?

Back 31

The name of one member of the category is extended to all. Makes up 60% of overextension mistakes.

Example: Apples used for all round fruit.

Front 32

What is analogical overextension?

Back 32

A word for one object extended to another usually through physical or functional similarity. This makes up for 15% of all overextension mistakes.

Example: Ball used for round fruit.

Front 33

What is mismatch overextension?

Back 33

An abstract link, but usually some sort of relationship between the two objects is present. This makes up for 25% of all overextension mistakes.

Example: saying "duck" when the pond is empty.

Front 34

What is the difference between a hypernym and hyponym?

Back 34

Hypernym = a word that is more generic or general and can have more specific words under it.

Hyponym = a more specific word within a category or under a hypernym.

Front 35

What does Skinner believe about language acquisition?

Back 35

Skinner is a behaviourist and believes language in learnt. Children babble and speak nonsense at an early age which is not rewarded by parents, but when they begin to speak they are rewarded with praise. The child forgets the babble and remembers the words. He also believes that for a child to learn they need a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).

Front 36

What does Chomsky believe about language acquisition?

Back 36

Chomsky believes that the ability to learn language is innate. People are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which provides a starting point from which children begin to learn language. He believes that there is a critical period to learn language which was placed between 2 and 7 years.

Front 37

What does Piaget believe about language acquisition?

Back 37

Piaget is a social interactionalist and therefore believes that conversation and talking is how children learn to talk. He developed 4 stages of language acquisition.

Front 38

Name and describe Piaget's 4 stages of language acquisition.

Back 38

Sensorimotor. Occurs up to 2 years. Child experiences world through senses. Lexical choices are more concrete rather than abstract.
Pre-operational. Occurs 2 to 7 years. Language is ego-centric: based around the child. Language and motor skills develop.
Concrete operational. Occurs 7 to 11 years. Children begin to think logically on concrete events.
Formal operational. Occurs 11 years plus. Abstract reasoning skills develop.

Front 39

What did Bellugi believe about language acquisition?

Back 39

Bellugi believes in the cognitive approach to language acquisition. He believes that negatives (use of no) requires syntactic awareness.He developed 3 stages:

1. Child uses "no" at the beginning or end of sentences. Example: "No wear shoes."
2. Child moves "no" into the sentence. Example: "I no want it."
3. Child puts negative with the auxillary verbs and uses the copula verb. Example: "No, I don't want to go to nursery."

Bellugi also observed how a child develops from using their own name to identify themselves to using "I" and "me".

Front 40

What did Jean Berko Gleason and the WUG test show about language acquisition?

Back 40

The WUG test asked children questions designed to test their understanding of language rules using imaginary creatures. For example: What do you call a group of more than one wug? The answer the children provided: wugs. This showed that children acquire a grammatical understanding and knowledge of language rules without being taught the specific rule for each word.

Front 41

What does Vygostky believe about language acquisition?

Back 41

He thought that children and adults work together with the aim of independence for the child. He developed the Zone of Proximal Development which refers to the fact that the acquisition of new knowledge is dependant on previous knowledge as well as the availability of instruction.

Front 42

What does Bruner believe about language acquisition?

Back 42

He believed in the social interactional approach, similar to Vygotsky. Children learn language for the purpose of communication. Meaningful language is remembered and works as a form of "scaffolding" or as part of the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS).

Front 43

What does Halliday believe about language acquisition?

Back 43

He focusses on the development of pragmatics. Learning language is synonymous with learning meaning. Children are motivated to learn language as it provides a function for them.

Halliday developed 7 functions of language. The first four help the child to satisfy physical, emotional and social needs. These are instrumental, regulatory, interactional and personal. The other three are there to help the child come to terms with their surroundings. These are heuristic, imaginative and representational.