Language Acquisition Overview
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Questions and Answers

At what age do children typically onset communication through gestures?

  • 18 months
  • 12 months
  • 9 months (correct)
  • 6 months
  • What is a key characteristic of early words produced by children around 12 months of age?

  • They vary significantly in meaning.
  • They are approximations of adult words. (correct)
  • They closely resemble adult words.
  • They are always grammatically correct.
  • What typically happens to the rate of vocabulary acquisition between 16 and 18 months?

  • It levels off completely.
  • It remains unchanged.
  • It declines significantly.
  • It begins to accelerate. (correct)
  • Which of the following categories constitutes over half the words children use in the one-word stage?

    <p>General nominals (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Around what age do children typically produce their first two-word sentences?

    <p>18 months (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does 'Mean Length of Utterance' (MLU) measure in children?

    <p>The average number of words in their sentences. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a holophrase?

    <p>A single word conveying multiple meanings. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How many words is it estimated that children have in their vocabulary by around 18 months?

    <p>50 words (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of word describes actions, such as 'look'?

    <p>Action words (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the average vocabulary size of a 6-year-old child?

    <p>13000 words (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is cross-sectional research focused on?

    <p>Studying children of different ages (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary means of communication for infants until about 2 months old?

    <p>Crying (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    At what age does cooing typically begin?

    <p>2 months (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement is true about the variability in language acquisition?

    <p>There are biological, social, and cultural factors involved. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What primarily occurs during the babbling stage?

    <p>Combination of vowel and consonant sounds (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which stage shows an infant's ability to mimic intonational patterns?

    <p>Echolalia stage (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement accurately describes receptive language in infants?

    <p>Exceeds expressive language ability (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does maturation play in babbling?

    <p>It unfolds a biologically pre-specified developmental trajectory. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What can deaf infants experience in terms of babbling?

    <p>They stop babbling altogether. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What characterizes the transitions between language acquisition stages?

    <p>They are gradual and predictable. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the Reference Principle suggest about how children interpret words?

    <p>Words refer to specific objects and not other features. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the Extendability Principle imply about children's understanding of words?

    <p>Words refer to classes of objects rather than a single instance. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which principle indicates that children initially believe a word refers to the whole object?

    <p>Whole-object Principle (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    At what age do children typically start to exhibit turn-taking in communication?

    <p>18 months (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is suggested about the way children learn the meaning of words?

    <p>They actively make associations between words and objects. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT part of the Reference Principle?

    <p>Words should correspond to actions. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following concepts refers to the relationship between language and its use for communication?

    <p>Pragmatics (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When do children start using shifting gaze to indicate the start and end of utterances?

    <p>By 18 months (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following best describes children's development of word meanings?

    <p>They sometimes learn words before understanding concepts. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What aspect of language do children engage with in terms of categorization according to the content?

    <p>They develop concepts about categories as they learn corresponding words. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary feature of sentences in early language development?

    <p>They consist of critical words. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Around what age does the grammar explosion typically begin in children?

    <p>30 months (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What term describes the incorrect application of regular grammatical rules to irregular forms?

    <p>Overregularisation (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of sentence structure do preschool children begin to use more frequently?

    <p>Conjunctions for combining ideas (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is least likely to be used by a child aged 5 years?

    <p>Passive sentences (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What age approximately signifies when most grammar learned will be used as an adult?

    <p>5 years (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do children develop an understanding of word meanings?

    <p>Through combined sounds referring to actions or categories. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to sentence length as children progress in their language development?

    <p>It increases over time. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which feature of adult speech is mostly not used in early language development?

    <p>Inflections (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is an example of overregularisation?

    <p>Saying 'sheeps' for plural of 'sheep' (B), Using 'hitted' instead of 'hit' (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Flashcards

    Cross-sectional research

    Comparing groups of children of different ages to study language development.

    Longitudinal research

    Studying children over a long time to track language development.

    Pre-linguistic stage

    The period before a child starts speaking words.

    Cooing

    Vowel sounds like 'ooooo' (associated with pleasure), typically starting around 2 months old.

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    Babbling

    Combining vowels and consonants ('ba', 'pa'), a major part of infant vocalization (6 months+).

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    Echolalia

    Repeating babbling sounds with speech-like intonation (around 10 months).

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    Receptive language

    Understanding spoken language.

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    Expressive language

    Producing spoken language.

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    Language Acquisition Stages

    Predictable stages all children go through in learning language, regardless of language or culture.

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    Variability in Language Acquisition

    Differences in how quickly or how children learn language influenced by biological, social and cultural factors.

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    Communication Development (Infancy)

    Development of communication skills in infants.

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    One-Word Stage

    Children use single words, often approximations. Consistency is key.

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    Vocabulary Explosion

    Rapid increase in the number of words learned, typically between 16-18 months.

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    General Nominals

    Common names of objects; most frequent in children's early vocabularies.

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    Specific Nominals

    Specific names of people or animals, like pet names.

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    Action Words

    Words describing actions, like 'look' or 'eat'.

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    Holophrases

    Using single words to express multiple meanings in different contexts.

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    Two-Word Stage

    Children start combining words into two-word sentences. Syntax (grammar) development begins.

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    Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

    Average number of words in a child's spoken sentences.

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    Early Grammar (Stage 1)

    Initial stage of learning grammatical rules for combining words.

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    Early Language Stage

    Characterized by short, simple sentences (2-3 words) using essential words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives; lasts approximately 18-30 months.

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    Telegraphic Speech

    Using only essential words in a sentence, omitting less crucial words.

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    Grammar Explosion

    A period of rapid grammatical development around age 30 months, with increased sentence length by adding inflections and function words.

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    Overregularization

    Applying grammatical rules to irregular words, seen in early grammar development.

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    Inflections

    Changes in the form of a word to indicate grammatical aspects like tense, number or case

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    Meaning Development

    The process by which children learn how combinations of sounds refer to objects or actions.

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    Sentence Length increase

    Children use more words in sentences when they reach preschool age.

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    Preschool Grammar

    Children use conjunctions ('and', 'but') and more complex sentence forms by preschool age.

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    Passive Sentences

    Sentence structures where the object of the action is emphasized, rather than the actor.

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    Reference Principle

    Words refer to things, not other aspects of the scene or context. This principle is closely linked to the initial assumption that a word refers to only one class of objects.

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    Extendability Principle

    Words represent a class of objects rather than a single, specific instance. It means 'dog' refers to all dogs, not just one.

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    Whole-Object Principle

    Words refer to the entire object, not just its parts. For example, 'dog' refers to the whole animal, not just its tail.

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    Mutual Exclusivity Assumption

    Children initially believe that each word applies to only one class of objects. For example, they assume 'dog' refers only to the animal, not to a stick.

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    Turn-taking

    A communication skill children develop around 18 months of age, where they learn to take turns speaking and listen to others.

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    Pragmatics

    The study of how language is used in real-world contexts to communicate effectively.

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    How do children learn word meanings?

    Children actively associate words with objects and make assumptions about their meanings, rather than passively learning through mere exposure.

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    Concept First or Word First?

    There's evidence that children either develop a concept about a category first and then learn its word, or learn the word and then apply it to a category.

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    What does a child do when they learn a new object label?

    A child tries to make sense of the new label by associating it with the whole object and assuming it only refers to that class of objects, not parts or other things in the scene.

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    Study Notes

    Language Acquisition Recap

    • Cross-sectional research studies different age groups simultaneously.
    • Longitudinal research follows the same children over time.

    Stages of Language Acquisition

    • Language acquisition is influenced by biological, social, and cultural factors.
    • Children universally follow predictable stages, though timing varies.
    • Transitions between stages are gradual.

    Pre-linguistic Stage

    • This stage precedes the use of first words (ages 0-12 months).
    • Infants are highly sensitive to speech sounds from birth, differentiating similar sounds.
    • Crying is the primary form of communication in early infancy.
    • Cooing, vowel sounds, begins around 2 months.
    • Babbling, combining vowels and consonants (e.g., "ba," "pa"), starts around 6 months.
    • Babbling is consistent across cultures, and likely a maturational process; infants stop babbling if they can't hear.

    One-Word Stage

    • Children begin using words amid babbling, around age 12 months.
    • Early words are approximations, but consistent use signals a word.
    • Vocabulary expands rapidly (50 words at 18 months, 300 words by 24 months).
    • One-word stage vocabulary often includes general nominals (e.g., bottle), specific nominals (e.g., Fido), and action words (e.g., look).
    • Words are often context-dependent.
    • Holophrases: single words carrying various meanings based on context, tone, and additional cues.

    Two-Word Stage (Grammar Development)

    • Children begin generating two-word sentences, marking syntax development.
    • This stage typically begins around 18 months.
    • Grammatical rules rapidly develop as the sentence length increases.
    • Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) quantifies average sentence length.
    • Vocabulary size significantly increases in this stage: around 300 words at age 2 years. Vocabulary continues to grow; it typically reaches an average of 13,000 words by age 6.

    Later Grammar Development

    • Grammar explosion (around 30 months).
    • Sentence length and complexity increase, adding plurals, function words, and various sentence constructions.
    • Overregularization is common: applying regular rules to irregular exceptions (e.g., adding "-ed" to irregular verbs).
    • Children show that they are actually creating grammatical rules, not just replicating adult speech.
    • By age 5, most grammatical structures are usually in place.
    • Passive sentences are frequently misunderstood early on.

    Word Meaning

    • Children make assumptions about word meanings.
    • Basic principles include: • Reference principle: Words refer to the object, not the context. • Extendability principle: Words apply to categories of objects. • Whole-object principle: Words refer to the whole object, not parts.
    • Active engagement in combining word and objects during learning.

    Pragmatics

    • Pragmatics refers to the social use of language.
    • Turn-taking emerges around 18 months.
    • Audience design: Adjusting language for different listeners (e.g., "motherese").
    • Most pragmatic skills are developed by approximately 5 years old.

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    Description

    Explore the stages of language acquisition from infancy to early childhood. This quiz covers key concepts such as pre-linguistic and one-word stages, along with essential research methodologies in language development. Test your understanding of how biological, social, and cultural factors influence language learning.

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