Phonemes, Semantics, & Syntax

Phonemes, Phonology, and Phonics

• Phonemes are the smallest sound units distinguishing meaning in language; for instance, 'p' and 'b' differentiate 'pin' and 'bin'.
• Phonology is the study of a language's sound system, including sound organization, combination, and meaning creation rules.
• Phonics is a reading/spelling method relating sounds and letters (graphemes), aiding decoding via letter-sound understanding.

Semantics, Grammar, and Pragmatics

• Semantics involves word meanings, vocabulary, and word combinations representing concepts.
• Grammar is the order and appearance of words/phrases, encompassing syntax (sentence structure) and morphology (grammatical markers altering word meaning).
• Pragmatics is the effective, context-dependent language use, focusing on meaning conveyed beyond literal words, incorporating social rules, intentions, and situational factors.

Syntax

• Syntax defines the RULES for sentences, where word order matters.

Noam Chomsky's Nativist Perspective (LAD)

• Chomsky's Language Acquisition Device (LAD) posits an innate biological ability in children for rapid language acquisition, distinct from other processes.
• Children are genetically inclined to learn language rules, termed 'nativist' due to its inborn nature; the concept includes "universal grammar", though lacking empirical evidence.

Evidence for Biological Language Preparedness

• Evidence exists across animal language, brain structures, and sensitive periods for human language preparedness.
• Language appears unique to humans, but apes can learn sign language, showing they can learn non-natural communication with limitations.
• Brain structures have regions for language processing (Broca's and Wernicke's areas) in the left hemisphere for language production/comprehension.
• Sensitive periods during brain lateralization dedicate brain areas to specific tasks, with a decline around ages 5-6.

Broca's and Wernicke's Areas

• Brain structures contain regions prewired for language processing, critical for language acquisition and development in the left hemisphere.
• This supports Chomsky's idea of a distinct brain area for language, but these areas aren't the brain's only language-related locations.

Language Development in Deaf Children

• Deaf children develop language, albeit later than hearing children, even with minimal input due to an internal need to communicate.
• Homesign is a language development phenomenon observed in deaf children.

Limitations of the Nativist Perspective

• The lack of evidence for universal grammar rules contradicts the observation of development through experimentation and learning by error.
• Nativist perspective lacks comprehensiveness, disregarding the role of social experiences and the quality of language input.

Interactionist Perspectives on Language

• Two interactionist views exist: information-processing theory and social interactionist theory.
• Information-processing theory is a connectionist model focusing on working memory, processing speed, attention, and statistical learning to tie language patterns to meaning.
• Social interactionist theory considers family/environment relationships and suggests an innate ability to acquire language (native capacity).

Categorical Speech Perception

• Between 6-8 months, children distinguish phonemes of their language by recognizing language-specific stress patterns (strong-weak in English, weak-strong in French/Spanish).

Infant Directed Speech

• Infant-directed speech has short sentences, high pitch, exaggerated sounds, clear pronunciation, pauses, gestures, and repetition.

First Speech Sounds – Cooing, Babbling etc.

• Cooing (vowel sounds) occurs around 2 months.
• Babbling starts around 6 months, with universal timing, even among deaf children.
• Babbling involves combining vowel and consonant sounds.

Joint Attention

• Starting around 4-6 months, children seek shared experiences, babbling and waiting for responses.
• Joint Attention marks the onset of protodeclarative and protoimperative gestures.

Protodeclarative and Protoimperative Gestures

• Protodeclarative gestures are non-verbal cues, like pointing, to indicate desires or direct attention.
• Protoimperative gestures are requests such as: "give me that" or "I want that".

Deaf Children of Hearing Parents vs. Deaf Children of Deaf Parents Who Sign

• Language development and make-believe play are delayed in deaf children with hearing parents lacking sign language fluency.
• Deaf children with deaf parents or parents fluent in sign language do not experience such delays.

Phonological Development

• Early phonological development consists of using simple sounds (ba, ma, da).
• There is better infant comprehension than expressive ability, reflected by a 5-month lag between comprehension and production.
• Semantic development plays a part, parents decide meaning of words/sounds.
• Later, children refine syllable stress, which correlates to parental meaning.

Phonological Strategies

• Phonological strategies include adding ending consonants, adjusting vowel length, or adding unstressed syllables.
• Children produce the full word with the correct stress pattern and mostly complete by age 5.

Individual Differences in Language Development

• Language development varies across gender, temperament, language environment, and language style.
• Gender affects language development as females are spoken to more than males.
• Temperament, whether a child is negative or timid, influences language skills.
• Language environment is critical and enriched in stimulus, with a key period closing around 5-6 years old.
• Language style varies culturally; referential styles (naming objects) common in European cultures, expressive styles (social phrases) in Asian cultures.

Referential vs. Expressive Language Styles in the Home

• Cultural influences determine whether children learn a referential style (object naming) or an expressive style (social phrases).

Types of Early Words – Object, Action, and State

• Early words categorize into object words (people, animals), action words ("doing" words like biking), and state words (describing states of being like "sick").

Vocabulary Spurt

• Vocabulary spurts occur between 18-24 months, involving rapid word acquisition also known as fast-mapping.
• Through fast-mapping, infants learn words after a single exposure, with preschoolers being even quicker.
• Children create concept networks to link words and meanings.

Fast-Mapping

• After a single exposure, infants quickly learn new words, and preschoolers learn even faster.

Underextensions

• Underextension occurs around 12-18 months, limiting a word to one meaning or item.

Overextensions

• Overextension happens around 1-2.5 years old, using a word for multiple unrelated things based on shared characteristics.

Word Coinages

• Around age 2, children create new words (coinages) for unknown things using known words and meanings.

Semantic Development (Between 5-10)

• Between 5-10 years old, early semantic development involves vocabulary increase (20 new words daily) due to fast-mapping.
• By grade 5, children know about 40,000 words and start understanding metaphors/puns.

Adolescent Semantic Development

• Abstract language use appears, including sarcasm/irony.
• Use and comprehension of figurative language grows, appreciating literature.

Lexical Contrast

• Lexical contrast facilitates semantic growth by understanding word difference to already known words.
• Learning opposites is difficult, as children can only recognize "is it A or B".

Shape Bias

• After learning 75+ words, children categorize by shape over other object features.

Telegraphic Speech

• Using two-word phrases to communicate clearly.

High Content Words

• Utilizing high content words from 1.5-2.5 years delivers clear messages with no need for extra words.

Grammatical Markers

• Grammatical markers like 'ed','s' and 'ing' change the meaning of the word.

Overregularization

• Overregularization is misapplication of grammatical rules like "two foots”.

Complex Grammatical Forms

• Complex grammatical forms have negatives, questions, and complex constructions.
• Negatives are nonexistence, rejections, and denials.
• Questions employ rising intonations, subject-verb order, and wh- words.
• Other complex constructions use connective words, embedded sentences, tag questions, and passive sentences.

Adults Reformulations

• Adults correct children through indirect reformulations, such as requesting clarification, recasting statements, and prompting expansion.

Pragmatic Development

• Pragmatic development involves learning language use in social situations, understanding conversational norms, turn-taking, and implicit meanings.
• Two-year-olds engage in basic conversations involving turn-taking, responding/expressing needs, but with limited complexity.
• Around age 3, children develop turnabout, which means responding and encouraging conversation.
• Between ages 5-9, conversational skills refine via gradually changing topic (shading). Instead of sudden topic shifts, children learn illocutionary intent: understanding implied meanings, leading to indirect requests/suggestions.

Turnabout and Shading

• Turnabout is responding and encouraging conversation, preventing one-sided dialogue.
• Shading is gradual conversation topic transition, not abrupt changes.

Referential Communication Skills

• Referential communication skills allow clearly conveying and understanding information, improved through clear messages, understanding listener's needs, seeking clarification, and addressing miscommunication.

Leapfrog, Chronological and Classical Narratives

• Leapfrog narratives (age 4) are disorganized, skipping details and order.
• Chronological narratives (age 4.5-5) follow timelines, building points, but may lack conclusions.
• Classical narratives (around 6) are complete with beginning, middle, high point, and resolution.

Narrative Styles Learned From Adults

• Topic-focused narratives are mainly used in Western cultures, it focuses on a main event.
• Topic-Associating narratives are mainly used in African, Latino, and Indigenous cultures, they connect experiences and events.

Formal and Informal Speech Registers

• Speech registers are ways to adjust speech based on situation, listener, and social expectations.
• Formal speech or Informal speech registers depend on the people you are speaking to.
• Children adjust speech (ages 4-7) depending on the listener

Metalinguistic Awareness

• Is the ability to think about language as a system, in order to manipulate language following the rules.
• Phonological awareness: the ability to manipulate sounds in spoken words.
• Morphological awareness: the ability to recognize prefixes, suffixes and root words.

Syntactic Bootstrapping

• Involves existing knowledge to learn a word means understanding inferences.