Language Development

Language Development Lyssa & Susan

Early Communication • Communication begins with senses and motor skills • The most obvious sense for language is audition (listening) • Child-directed speech- the high pitched simplified and repeated way adults speak to infants

Early Communication Cont. • Babies communicate with cries, smiles, gurgles, and pouts • From 6-9 months they start babbling • At 1 year babies start imitating what they hear • Deaf children whose parents use sign language use hand gestures

First Words • 21 month olds talk twice as much as 18 month olds (Naming Explosion) • Naming Explosion: A sudden increase in an infants vocabulary, especially in the number of nouns, that begin about 18 months of age. • 12-18 month olds name each caregiver, usually mama, dada, nana, tata, usually by using 2 syllable words. • They also express needs in the same way by saying poo-poo, ka-ka, pee-pee, wee-wee

Cultural Differences in Language Use • Infants differ in the use of various parts of speech depending on the language they are learning • Chinese and Korean are called verb-friendly languages, which means the verb is placed in the beginning or end of a sentence. • In English the verbs occur in various positions and also their forms changes the sentence in illogical ways. (ex. go, went, gone)

Acquiring Grammar • At about 21 months old, word combination begins • ex. “More juice” and eventually “mommy read book” • Listening to two languages does not slow down a child’s ability to learn each language • They’ll learn faster hearing the word “milk” from 4 different people than “leche” from 2 different people

How is language learned so quickly? • #1 hypothesis- Infants need to be taught • #2 hypothesis- Infants teach themselves • #3 hypothesis- Social impulses foster infant language learning

#1 Hypothesis- Infants need to be taught • All learning is acquired, step by step, through association and reinforcement Ideas of this hypothesis about language learning: • Parents are expert teachers and other caregivers help them teach children to speak • Frequent repetition of words is instructive, especially when the words are linked to the pleasures of daily life • Well-taught infants become well-spoken children

#2 Hypothesis- Infants teach themselves • Language learning is innate; adults don’t need to teach it • Chomsky believes language is too complex to be mastered step-by-step • Language Acquisition Device (LAD)- Chomsky’s term for a hypothesized mental structure that enables humans to learn a language, including basic aspects of grammar, vocab, and intonation • LAD quickly and efficiently connects neurons and creates dendrites to support whichever particular language the infant hears • According to this hypothesis no trigger is needed because the developing brain is searching for a language

#3 Hypothesis- Social impulses foster infant language learning • According to this perspective infants communicate in every way they can because they are social beings, dependent on one another for survival, well-being and joy. • By 9 months a babies’ brain and heart rate indicate attention when people talk to them with awareness and pleasure that they are the center of attention • That emotional message of speech propels an infant to learn a language

Combining All 3 Approaches Researchers have tried to combine all 3 approcahes. They noted that children develop language for many reasons. • They interpreted their experiments as a suppoting idea that HOW language is learned depends on the age of the child as well as on the particular circumstances

Test Question • How do deaf and hearing babies compare in early language learning? Answer- by 9 months they start babbling, and by the end of 1 year they start imitating what they hear, but the deaf babies imitate sign distinctive hand gestures in a repetitive manner, similar to babbling. • Within the first 2 years, what are the stages of language development a child goes through? Answer- baby=cries 1yr=words before 2yrs=sentences

Language Development