Language development, birth thr0ugh school-age: Let’s Review

1. Language development, birth thr0ugh school-age: Let’s Review Tina K. Veale, Ph.D. Minnesota state university moorhead

2. Language development: pragmatics

3. Gaze Behaviors • Deictic gaze—looking toward objects (6 weeks) • Mutual gaze—simultaneous looking at one another by conversational partners (6 weeks) • Gaze coupling—both conversational partners looking at the same object; foundation of joint attention (3 months) • Eye referencing—looking at object for prolonged period and back to adult; emerging intentionality; supported joint engagement (6 months) • Coordinated person-object engagement—looks at a person to gain attention, then to object, then back to person; indication of intentional communication (9 months)

4. Stages in Development of Intentionality • Perlocutionary—(0-6 mos.) Learns to keep the attention of conv partner. Cries, coos, uses facial expression nonspecifically. Begins to adjust comm beh to meet diff goals. Protesting and requesting emerge (env control functions). • Illocutionary—(8-12 mos.) Uses conventional gestures (pointing, reaching, showing, giving) and vocalizations to get a specific message across. Becomes persistent. Full range of communicative functions emerge; language becomes a social tool; communication becomes fully intentional. • Locutionary—(12-18 mos.) Words accompany gestures, or stand alone, to express ideas. Language becomes fully representative, or symbolic. (Bates et al., 1975)

5. Gestural Development Gestures alone Gestures + vocalizations Gestures + words Words alone • Pre-symbolic conventional gestures—used to communicate ideas for which child doesn’t have the words; emerge before first words; recognized by the speech community as meaningful (reaching, pointing, showing, giving) • Nonconventional gestures—used by an indiv child to communicate an idea; understood only by familiar partners (sounds/actions used regularly for a certain intent) • Symbolic gestures—stand for words (ex: car noise); emerge at same time as first words

6. Primitive Speech Acts • A vocal, verbal, or nonverbal gesture with specific communicative intent (Dore, 1974) • Universally demonstrated • Requesting actions • Requesting objects • Protesting • Labeling • Answering • Greeting • Repeating • Practicing • Calling

7. Development of Intentional communication in Preschool Years • 18 months--Exclamations, calling • 21 months—Naming • 24 months—Verbal requesting, simple statements • 30 months—Simple questions • 36 months—Yes-no questions, requesting clarification (contingent queries) • 45 months—Requesting permission • 48 months—Making suggestions • 60 months—Indirect requesting

8. Register • How are children using their voices to communicate a message? Involves the suprasegmental aspects of speech (voice quality, rate, intensity, rhythm, etc.) • By age 4, children assume various roles in play. Demonstrated in different styles of speaking. • Begins in assuming various family roles; progresses to being able to assume occupational roles (require technical language). Younger children prefer familiar roles. • Girls assume more roles, speak more, and modify their register more to fit the roles. • Politeness: achieved through politeness words, softer tone of voice, and more indirect requests (ex: May I have a cookie?)

9. Contingent Queries • Requests for clarification • 30 months—respond to requests for clarification • Preschoolers mostly request clarification for general information (ex: Huh? What?) • By age 8, can form a well-stated, specific request for more information

10. Topicalization • Topic—the content about which we speak; defined in an introductory statement. • Cohesion—the skill of keeping the conversation flowing, “hanging together”—on topic within boundaries. • Involves choice of topic, initiation, maintenance, shifting, and terminating.

11. Topicalization • 3 months—initiates topics by keeping people focused on himself, largely through body and facial expressions • 12 months—Initiates topic through series of glances, gestures, vocalizations, and words. Topic limited to here and now. • 24 months—Only half of utterances are typically on-topic. Maintain new topic for 1-2 turns; familiar topic within a routine for more turns. Often maintains topic within question-answer scaffold. • 36 months—child can maintain a coherent conversation about an established topic—initiate and stay on topic for 3-4 exchanges. Early strategies involve partial repetition of adult’s previous utterance. • 60 months—topic changes remain frequent. Five year old may discuss as many as 50 topics within 15 minutes. Continue to use frequent repetition to acknowledge, provide cohesion, and fill turns.

12. Presupposition: Adaptation to the Listener’s Knowledge • Making assumptions about the listener’s knowledge occurs on several levels: word meaning, social context, conversational topic. • Linguistic forms used as presuppositional tools include: articles, demonstratives, pronouns, proper nouns, some verbs, wh-questions, and forms of address. • If both the speaker and the listener share knowledge: use def article (the), pronouns, demonstratives (this, that, these, those). • Form of address depend upon social relationships (ex: dear, honey) • Choice of topic: based upon listener knowledge or interest.

13. Presupposition • By 36 months: • Child can determine approximately how much information the listener needs. • Child will state most informative words first in their utterances. • Child can adjust information given based upon the listener. • Child understands “a” and “the;” uses them 85% accurately. • Child uses verbs such as “know, remember, think”—indicating presupposition of truth value and listener knowledge • Child begins to use pronouns as indicators of shared knowledge • Child begins to use ellipsis—omitting redundant information when answering questions

14. Directives and Requests • 24 months—child uses attention getting words with gestures and rising intonation; frequently unsuccessful at gaining attention. (Ex: Hey) • 24 months—uses need statements (ex: I want a …) and imperatives (ex: Give me a…..). • 24 months—few indirect requests are used. • 30 months—make politeness distinctions based on age or size, familiarity, role, territory, or rights of listener. Often starts with use of “please” with older, bigger people. • 36 months—beginning of indirect requests, with politeness terms and modal aux verbs (ex: Can you give me a drink, please?)

15. Directives and Requests • 48 months—more sophisticated indirect requests; used only about 5% of the time. • 48 months—still largely unsuccessful at gaining attention of listener (50%). • 48 months—offers more explanations/justifications for requests. • 60 months—lots of indirect requests, often couched in politeness language. Sophisticated persuasion. • 60 months—still not very good at giving directions to others; tries, but not effective.

16. Deixis • “Pointing;” terms used to direct attention, make spatial contrasts, denote times or participants in a conversation from a participants point of view. • Ex: here/there; this/that; personal pronouns • Reflects growing pragmatic and semantic skills. • Three problems in acquiring deictic terms: 1) Point of reference--speaker principle (speaker is the point of reference) and distance principle (proximal terms should be easier to learn) 2) Shifting reference--as speaker shifts, so does the point of reference 3) Shifting boundaries--as speaker moves, boundaries shift; boundaries are inferred (here and this are proximal to the speaker; there and that may be anywhere else).

17. Deixis • Comprehension of pronouns and early deictic terms begins around 30 months of age. • 30 months--Use of pronouns begins. • 36 months—Use of articles (a, the), demonstratives (this/that) • 5-7 year olds—still sorting out many deictic terms with relative reference.

18. Narratives • Can be oral or written. Culturally influenced. • Include self-generated stories, familiar tales, retelling about stories, and recounting personal experiences. • Common in conversations of preschoolers. • Share elements of conversation, such as a sense of purpose, relevant info, clear and orderly exchange of info, repair, and the ability to assume perspective of listener. • Differ in that conversations are dialogues; whereas narratives are decontextualized monologues. • Differ in that narratives must present info explicitly, with clear reference to topic, event sequences, and relationships between events.

19. Narratives • 24 months—understand event sequences, or scripts. • 24-36 months—describe events that have happened to themselves; emotionally charged events most prominent. Known as proto-narratives. Include lots of evaluative language (ex: I liked that.) • 24-36 months—begin telling self-generated, fictional narratives. Organized by “centering”—keeping to a central theme. Little adaptation to the audience. • 36 months—use chaining—trying to describe events in order; begin to identify participants in the story and the setting more frequently. • 48 months—begin to describe event sequences with accuracy. • 48 months—time is marked in the stories.

20. Language development: semantics

21. Initial Lexicons • CV, CVCV words • 18 months--50 words (65% nouns; 20% verbs; 10% modifiers; 10% social words) (Bloom, 1973) • 18-24 months--large vocab spurt--to 200 words • (Increase mostly in nouns up through 1st 100 words) • Over-extensions and under-extensions--common in the first 75-100 words (about 35% of the time)

22. Early Word Categories • Substantive words—nouns • Naming words—proper nouns • Relational words—reflexive words (existence, nonexistence, disappearance, reoccurrence), actions, locations, possession, attributes

23. One Word Analyses • Bloom’s One Word Utterance Types (substantive/naming vs. relational/function words) • Nelson’s One Word Utterance Types (Nominals, Action words, Modifiers, Personal-Social words, Function words)

24. Early Two Word Combinations: Expected Semantic relationships • N+V Agent + Action Ex: The boy ran. • V+N Action + Object Ex: Eat a banana. • Possessor + Possession Ex: My doll. • Attribute + Entity Ex: Pretty doll. • Recurrence + Object Ex: More bubbles. • Negative + Object (nonexistence, rejection, denial) Ex: No cheese! (*see notes) • Object + Location EX: Banana table. • Agent + Object Ex: Daddy car. • Demonstrative + Entity Ex: There bubbles.

25. Lexical Learning in Preschool Years • Rapid lexical and relational concept learning • Adds approximately 5 words per day from age 18 mos-6 yrs. • Fast-mapping strategy--allows child to infer a connection between a word and its referent after only one exposure (Pinker). Words learned first receptively, then expressively. Only a small portion of the meaning will be mapped into the child’s memory, depending upon the knowledge of the child. First, child forms a tentative definition of the word; then, he refines the definition.

26. Preschool Word Knowledge • Nouns--definitions include physical properties such as size, color, shape; functions; and locations. • Verbs--definitions include who or what does the action; to what or whom it is done; and where, when, and with what it is done. Do not include how or why. • Vocabularies are built through exposure to adult storytelling or story reading. • Invented words--modeled after some kind of language convention (ex: fishermancookerman; housesmouses).

27. Relational Terms • Location and time words • 24 months--Locations “in” and “on” • 36 months--Location “under” • 40 months--Location “next to” • 48 months--Locations “behind,” “in back of,” “in front of”; kinship terms “mother,” “father,” “sister,” “brother” • 60 months--temporal terms “before” and “after” • +60 months--advanced loc and time expressions (ex: in a day or two); most major kinship terms by age 10 years; locational terms “left” and “right” by age 8 years

28. Physical Relationships • Kids learn pairs of physical relationship terms with opposite meanings one at a time--the most positively valent term first • Order of acquisition: hard/soft--big/little; heavy/light; tall/short--long/short; large/small; high/low; thick/thin; wide/narrow; deep/shallow.

29. Pronouns • 12-26 months--I, it • 27-30 months--My, me, mine, you • 31-34 months--Your, she, he, yours, we • 35-40 months--They, us, hers, his, them, her • 41-46 months--Is, our, him, myself, yourself, ours, their, theirs • 47+ months--Herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

30. Multi-Word Semantic Analyses • Coding semantic roles (actions, locations, agents, objects, quantifiers, etc.) • Type-Token Ratio (TTR) (number of different words divided by the total number of words; should be around .35-.5—or about a third or more of all words should be novel)

31. Semantic Roles and Relationships • Noun: agent, object, entity, entity equivalent, beneficiary, possessor, possessed, recipient, experiencer, instrument • Verb: action, state, experiential • Adjective: attribute • Adverb: adverbial (time, manner, intensity, duration, frequency), locative • Negation: negatives • Used to mark meaningful slots in the construction of meaning within sentences (R.Brown, 1973) • Roughly comparable to the grammatical construction of sentences

32. Type-Token Ratio (TTR) • A ratio of the total number of different words in a sample to the total number of words overall. • Appropriate for children functioning up to the 8 year old level. • A TTR value of .40-.50 is typical for children ages 3-8 yrs. • In other words, children frequently repeat about half of the words they use. Other words are novel within their lexicon. • Templin (1957). See rules for how to count the words in the sample, and for the normative data: Mean number of words in a sample for age; mean number of different words in sample for age, and TTR for age.

33. Semantics: The One Year Old • Recognize basic attributes for common objects in environment • Recognize basic words for common objects, action • Conveys meaning by combination of gestures, vocalizations, tone of voice, and words • Words accompany or replace gestures to label items • Knows some toys by name • Begin to use words to label objects and events • Turns head to own name, family members’ names • Understands recurrence words: more, again, another • Understands negation words: no, allgone • Waves bye-bye

34. Semantics: The One Year Old • Points to indicated referents and says, “this, that, here” • Begins to ask, “What’s that?” • Shakes head to respond to simple yes-no questions • Responds to simple what/where questions by pointing or gesturing • Understanding can be monitored by eye referencing behaviors • Has expressive vocabulary of 1-10 words

35. Semantics: 12-24 Months • Identifies 1-3 body parts by 18 mo; 5 body parts by 24 mo. • Identifies familiar items (ex: clothing), a few colors • Names familiar objects and pictures • Follows 1-2 step commands • Understands and uses action words • Uses possessive pronouns (me, mine) • Uses pronouns (I, it, my,mine, me, you) • Recurrence: more, again, another • Demonstrates object permanence and object constancy • Understands locative prepositions: in, on

36. 12-24 Months (con’t) • Uses negation words: no, not • Realizes that an object is not present (says no, gone) • Understands disappearance (says all gone, bye-bye) • Understands big/little • Understands and respond to What? and Where? • Responds to many yes-no questions • Expressive vocabulary of 10-25 words by 18 months; 50-200 words by 24 months. • Two word productions (20-24 months)

37. 24-36 Months • Names 10-12 body parts • Requests items and actions by name • Readily identifies pictures in books • Begins to use present progressive (-ing), past tense (-ed), copular verbs (to-be forms) • Refers to self by name • Names doers of actions (agents) • Uses I and me • Understands most other pronouns • Understands and begins to use more spatial locations • Understands in., on, off, under, next to

38. Semantics: 24-36 Months • Uses negation in two word phrases (no want) • Uses don’t • Understands simple time concepts (say/night/last night/tomorrow) • Begins to answers Who? How many? Whose? Why? • Asks simple wh-questions • Understands up to 800 words • Uses more than 200 words • Combines 3-5 words into utterances • Uses basic sentence structures

39. Semantics: 36-48 Months • Recognizes circle and square • Counts up to 3 objects using one-to-one correspondence • Uses auxiliary verbs • Begins to mark future tense • Understands possessive pronouns (mine, yours) • Uses subject and object position pronouns • Understands and uses spatial concepts: on, in, under, in back of, in front of, beside, next to, over • Understands complex negatives • Understands and uses adjectives tall/short • Answers How? • Asks How? When? Why? What?

40. Semantics: 36-48 Months • Receptive vocabulary estimated at 500-1000 words • Expressive vocabulary of 250-500 words • Uses 4-5 word sentences • Uses fact and fantasy in storytelling • Uses neologisms (made-up words) because of insufficient vocabulary

41. Semantics: 48-60 Months • Asks for clarification of word meaning • Counts up to 10 objects • Points to primary colors when named • Identifies circle, square, triangle, cross • Comprehends most spatial terms such as between, beside, below, top, and bottom • Comprehends most temporal concepts such as before and after • Asks Who? Why? • Asks and answers 2 part questions

42. Semantics: 48-60 Months • Receptive vocabulary of 3000 words or more • Expressive vocabulary of 1000-2000 words • Uses complex sentences • Uses 4-8 words in a sentence • Accurately tells simple story from recent past

43. Semantics: 60 Months and Beyond • Begins to use more reflexive pronouns • Understands and uses more dimensional adjectives (high/low, thick/thin, wide/narrow) • Understands and uses more temporal expressions • Understands and uses more spatial relationships (left/right) • Begins to interpret psychological states of others • Can answer questions requiring recall or inference • Produces complex narratives • Begins to understand implied meaning, including idiomatic expressions and other forms of figurative language • Plays with words in riddles, jokes, and rhymes

44. Language Development: syntax

45. Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) • Used for analyzing transcripts of children beyond the one-word stage of language development • Using Brown’s MLU formula (1973), analysis is based upon the development of morphemes • Based on specific rules for assigning morphemes • Count morphemes for each of 100 utterances (to be able to compare to norms); divide total number of morphemes in all utterances by the number of utterances to arrive at MLU • Compare to normative values to determine if utterances are of sufficient complexity

46. Utterance Length • Upper bound length (UBL) • Lower bound length (LBL) • Determines the amount of variation around the MLU (mean) • UBL may be substantially higher than the MLU • Brown (1973)

47. Grammatical Morpheme Usage • Based upon Brown’s conception of the first 14 morphemes to emerge in the child’s language system (e.g., plurals, possessives, verb tensing) • Analysis determines the percentage of opportunities when a morpheme is used (based upon the number of times it could have been used) • Children exhibit the first 14 morphemes in their utterances by the time they are 3 years of age.

48. Structural Analyses • Evaluate the development of: • Negation • Yes-no questions • Wh-questions • Noun phrase elaboration • Verb phrase elaboration • Complex sentences • Embedded adjectives • Coordination • Subordination (relative clauses) • Adverb phrases (Brown, 1973; Chapman et al., 1981)

49. Transformational Grammar Analysis (Chomsky) • Basic Sentence Patterns • N + V • N + V + N • N + to-be V + N • N + to-be V + Adj • N + to-be V + Adv • Elaboration • Adverbial phrases • Embedded adjectives • Relative clauses • Coordination

50. Rules of Thumb: Syntactic Development • By age 3: Produces all BSPs • By age 5: Produces all complexity operations • Beyond age 5: Produces longer, more complex utterances