Podcast
Questions and Answers
What concept explains the ability of infants to distinguish between similar sounds such as 'Fly' and 'Fry' before they learn to speak?
What concept explains the ability of infants to distinguish between similar sounds such as 'Fly' and 'Fry' before they learn to speak?
Which milestone in language acquisition is characterized by the production of basic sounds by infants?
Which milestone in language acquisition is characterized by the production of basic sounds by infants?
In Chomsky’s perspective on language acquisition, what is primarily responsible for guiding infants’ understanding of grammar?
In Chomsky’s perspective on language acquisition, what is primarily responsible for guiding infants’ understanding of grammar?
What happens to infants’ ability to distinguish non-native language sounds around the age of 8–10 months?
What happens to infants’ ability to distinguish non-native language sounds around the age of 8–10 months?
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During which stage do infants typically experience a vocabulary explosion, rapidly expanding their knowledge of words?
During which stage do infants typically experience a vocabulary explosion, rapidly expanding their knowledge of words?
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What process is used to measure infants' phonological discrimination through a reward system?
What process is used to measure infants' phonological discrimination through a reward system?
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What does the term 'morpheme' refer to in the context of language development?
What does the term 'morpheme' refer to in the context of language development?
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Which of the following elements is not typically analyzed in understanding language as discussed in language studies?
Which of the following elements is not typically analyzed in understanding language as discussed in language studies?
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Study Notes
Language Acquisition
- Language is an arbitrary system, associating sounds with meanings.
- Language analysis involves acoustic, lexical, syntactic, phonological, and semantic components.
- Languages are contrastive, differing in sounds, structure, and meanings.
- Morphology involves creating complex words from morphemes.
- Syntax involves building complex sentences from words.
Time-Course of Language Development
- Language development follows similar timelines across cultures, including sign languages.
- Children's language skills develop robustly, regardless of language type.
- Birth: Infants produce basic sounds.
- 3 months: Infants begin producing vowels.
- 6–7 months: Infants produce "canonical babbling" (e.g., repeated CV syllables).
- 8–10 months: Babbling becomes more complex (e.g., CVC syllables).
- 12 months: First words (one-word stage).
- ≈18 months: Two-word stage (imitative and active speech).
- >24 months: Increased sentence length, use of inflections and articles.
Vocabulary Development
- A vocabulary explosion occurs around 12 months, leading to rapid word knowledge growth.
Explaining Infant Language Learning: Innate vs. General Purpose Learning
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Innate Core Knowledge: Supported by universal grammar (Chomsky's theory).
- Infants possess innate universal grammar for language.
- Understanding of grammar and language sounds occurs before spoken language.
- General Purpose Learning: Infants are adept learners beyond language, with learning reinforced by caregiver responses.
Phonological Discrimination
- Infants can discriminate between different sounds (e.g., "fly" vs. "fry," "till" vs. "dill").
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Conditioned Head Turn Procedure: A method to evaluate infant sound discrimination.
- Infants wear headphones, and they turn their head in response to a change in sound, which is rewarded.
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Perceptual Narrowing:
- Infants can distinguish native and non-native sounds early (6-8 months).
- By 8-10 months, a decline in the ability to distinguish non-native sounds occurs.
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Description
This quiz covers key concepts in language acquisition, including the arbitrary nature of language and the components involved in language analysis. It also explores the time-course of language development across various stages from birth to beyond two years, highlighting milestones like babbling and the emergence of first words.
