Language Acquisition Stages and Caregiver Speech

Study Notes

Children are "active experimenters" in language acquisition. They don't just repeat what adults say; they experiment with language structure to create sentences and discover correct conclusions.

Caregiver speech is a specialized speech style used by adults with infants and young children.
It's characterized by short simple sentences, simplified grammar.
It contains obvious questions the caregiver already knows the answers to.
It uses a limited vocabulary.
Speech is slow and repetitive.
Example: "Where's Teddy? Oh look - there's teddy. He's on the chair."

Cooing (4 months): Single vowel sounds like "ooh" and "aah".
Babbling (6-10 months): Consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant sounds like "ma", "da", "um". Often interpreted as early communication attempts by parents.
Holophrastic Stage (12-18 months): Simple words used to communicate needs. ("Juice" might mean "I want juice").
Two-Word Stage (18-20 months): Two-word combinations to express simple thoughts and needs. ("Mommy up," "More juice").
Telegraphic Speech (2-2.5 years): Simple sentences with essential words and correct word order, but missing grammatical elements. ("This shoe wet").

Cultural transmission is a vital process for language acquisition.
It involves passing attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavioral scripts to individuals and groups. Language is acquired within a specific language-using environment, not inherited genetically.

Acquisition: Intuitive, subconscious use of language with less focus on grammatical rules. Native speakers use this process.
Learning: Conscious understanding of the language structure, allowing comprehension and use of complex language.

Overextension is when a child uses a single word to refer to multiple objects or concepts.
Example: Using "dog" for all four-legged animals, "daddy" for all men, or "apple" for any round object.