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Language

Language. Early Years Lecture 8. Outline. What is language? How is language acquired/learned? How does it develop? - Nativist theory of language - Social learning theory of language - Interactionist theory of language. What is language?. A system of representations

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Language

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  1. Language Early Years Lecture 8

  2. Outline • What is language? • How is language acquired/learned? • How does it develop? - Nativist theory of language - Social learning theory of language - Interactionist theory of language

  3. What is language? • A system of representations - a ‘code’ for understanding - a way of organizing the world • Not simply communication - communication = one aspect of language

  4. Language Perception “one blooming, buzzing confusion” (James, 1890: see Lecture 3) neonates: prefer human voice to other sounds (Cooper & Aslin, 1990) 2-3 days: prefer familiar to foreign language (Moon, Cooper & Fifer, 1993) 3 days: prefer own mother’s voice to another mother’s voice (DeCaspar & Fifer, 1980) before birth?: encode mother’s speech patterns (Spence & DeCaspar, 1982)

  5. When does language emerge? cooing (i.e., the ‘ooh’ sound) @ 2 months babbling (e.g., dadadadada) @ 4 months ‘jargon’ (intonation?) @ 7 months Joint attention & turn-taking point to objects social referencing @ 9 months ....beginning of shared understanding

  6. When does language emerge? Lexical development: (Lexicon = ‘store’ of words > vocabulary) • < 12 months = echolalia (babbling - jargon) • 12 months: 2-4 words • 18 months: 50 words • 24 months: >100 words • 30 months: > 2000 words

  7. What do first words mean? • Real words? - not easy to tell don’t refer to specific object/action (Barrett, Harris, Jones & Brookes, 1986) Consistent use of ‘word’ in particular context? • e.g., pointing at something and saying ‘da’ but..... ...‘I want that thing!’ ...‘Look at that thing!’ ...‘What’s that thing?’

  8. Combining words • 18 months = 2-words together • ‘telegraphic speech’ - as in telegram (i.e., bare minimum words > sense of meaning) e.g., “Lucy milk” (Lucy wants some milk) meaning > demands interpretation • flexible shift e.g., if demand not met • > “Want it!” (Wilcox & Webster, 1980)

  9. Combining words • > 2 years - 3 & 4 word ‘sentences’ - gradual decontextualization (Barrett, 1986) - emergence of grammar = rule-based utterances • > 3 years - lexicon > 1000 words - more complex sentences

  10. Word meaning? How to identify object of reference? That’s Mr. Snuggles That’s a rabbit That’s an ear That’s an animal That’s a bunny

  11. Theories of language development • Learning theory • Nativist or Biological theory

  12. (Social) Learning Theory follows Skinner (1957) Language result of conditioning (associations) Infants imitate Parents instruct & reinforce e.g., “Say ‘Mummy’ - There’s a good girl!” Example: the word ‘Chocolate’ Pair ‘Chocolate’ with experience look taste form > hard soft > melt

  13. Support for (Social) Learning theory Parents touch or move objects as they refer to them e.g., “Here is your bottle” (Gogate et al., 2000). Frequency of maternal responses... e.g., mother imitates child’s verbalization mother asks questions (What’s that?) mother uses language as a prompt for action ...predicts rate of language acquisition over span of months (Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2001)

  14. Limitations in (Social) Learning theory 1. Children say things they have never heard - novel utterances e.g., add ‘-ed’ to form past tense (‘I breaked that’) = over-regularization error (e.g., Marcus, 1996) - obviously not imitation.

  15. Limitations in (Social) Learning theory 2. Rate of lexical development - 1-year-old = < 10 words - 6-year-old ≈ 14,000 words - 10-year-old ≈ 40,000 words (Anglin, 1993) over span of 9 years = approx 10-12 words/day but ‘learning’ = slow, gradual, process....? Fast mapping of word to meaning

  16. Nativist Theory “Language learning is not really something that the child does; it is something that happens to the child placed in an appropriate environment, much as the child’s body grows and matures in a predetermined way when provided with the appropriate nutrition and environmental stimulation” [Chomsky (1981); quoted in Cole et al, 2005, p. 298)

  17. Nativist Theory E.g., Chomsky (1959); Pinker (1994) Language ability is innate - universal (x-culturally similar; same rate) - words = consonants/vowels/syllables - syntax = nouns/verbs + grammar

  18. Nativist Theory Surface vs Deep structure - ‘surface’ = structure of sentence - ‘deep’ = meaning (rules) Development = mapping surface structure on to deep structure to ‘extract’ meaning. (i.e., language = code .... development = ‘decoding’)

  19. Nativist Theory Surface vs Deep structure The dog bit the man The man was bitten by the dog They are drinking glasses They are drinking companions (from McNeill, 1970)

  20. LAD transformations E.g., Menyuk & Bernholz (1969) 1-year-old - “Door” Raters agreed (80%) on implied different meanings....but evidence of infant or adult grammar? also Brown & Bellugi (1964). Pluralization using ‘s’ - sheeps, deers, etc.

  21. Support for Nativist position • Deaf infants babble > sign language = hearing infants (Petitto, 1992; Schirmer, 2000) • Blind babies gesture (precursor to language) (Iverson et al., 2000) • Evidence of ‘critical period’ - lack of human contact = language deficits (Curtiss, 1989)

  22. Is there a ‘third way’? Interactionist theory (e.g., Miller, 1981, 1991) Language = cognitive + social factors = LASS (Language Acquisition Support System) - Bruner (1982) [1] Language has practical import - communication [2] Language has to be negotiated/agreed - how?

  23. Is there a ‘third way’? M - cultural meaning ‘Mediated’ learning From Cole (1990) O object of knowledge C- child ‘direct’learning

  24. Is there a ‘third way’? Understanding/knowledge is culturally mediated - early language = scaffolded (motherese) - early language = reformulated by adults - but what is important – necessary? - is the shared understanding (ie., the social, culturally accepted interpretation of the world)

  25. Is there a ‘third way’? Example: what is said vs what is meant “Can you close the window?” i.e., the linguistic ‘code’ is complex & contextually bound learning ≠ simple ‘decoding’ of word meanings + grammar... from development? (Gelman & Bloom, 1994) Naming task: [1] intentional vs [2] accidental e.g. newspaper in shape of hat Is it a hat? 3-yr-olds = 41 vs 16%; 5 = 58 vs 30%; adult = 72 vs 14% Naming ≠ appearance based; = intention based

  26. To summarize • Is language-learning special? • What is the basis for language development? • Why is it important [1] Yes - rapid, universal, unique to humans. [2] Mix of biological and social/cultural influences (LAD + LASS)....but [3] Not just communication > conceptualization......

  27. To summarize Need mediational triangle to appreciate how language is instrumental in learning about the world (not ‘simple’decoding’ through either biological or environmental mechanisms)

  28. Reading Recommended Siegler & Alibali (2005). Chapter 6 • Berk (1997) Chap. 9 • Bremner (1988). p. 204 – 209. • Slater & Muir (1999), Blackwell handbook of developmental psychology, Chap. 23 (Shwe & Markman) • Smith & Cowie (1991). Chapter 10.

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