Chapter 1. How children learn language

Sounds infants make before speech, like crying, cooing, and gurgling. These sounds are innate and universal, occurring even in deaf infants.

Repetitive syllables produced by infants around 7 months, examples include "baba", "momo", "panpan".

The structure of babbling that includes consonant + vowel (CV) and consonant + vowel + consonant (CVC) sounds.

The ability of infants to produce a wide range of sounds initially, regardless of their native language.

Sounds not included in babbling, such as the English 'th' sound or click sounds in African languages.

The influence of a language's intonation patterns on infant babbling, starting as early as 6 months. For example, Japanese infants' babbling reflects Japanese intonation, while English-learning infants' babbling reflects English stress patterns.

The ability of native speakers to distinguish the babbling of infants learning their language from those learning other languages.

The transition from babbling to producing meaningful words, usually around 1 year old.

Sounds that are easy to produce and involve visible articulators like lips, as in /p/, /t/, /m/ for "mama" and "papa".

Sounds requiring more complex articulatory movements and fine motor control, e.g., /k/ for "cat", /x/ for "Bach", and /l/ for "love".

A class of sounds in a language. The /p/ sound at the beginning and end of "pep" is considered the same phoneme, even though the final /p/ is more aspirated.

The theory that there's a direct link between babbling sounds and early speech, supported by similar syllable patterns.

The theory that babbling and speech are distinct processes, with babbling being non-intentional and speech being intentional.

The order of consonant acquisition is typically based on their place of articulation, starting with front sounds like /m/, /p/, /b/, /t/ and ending with back sounds like /k/, /x/.

Front consonants are easier because they involve visible lip movements and require less precise control compared to back sounds.

Vowels are acquired in a back-to-front order, starting with back vowels like /a/ and /o/ and ending with front vowels like /i/ and /ʌ/.

Back vowels are easier to produce because they require the articulators to remain close to their resting position.

The theory proposing that children acquire sounds in a predictable sequence based on distinctive features of phonemes.

The order of acquisition is influenced by visible articulators (e.g., lips for /m/) and the ease of articulation.

Children discover articulator-sound connections by chance during experimentation with speech.

Speech production becomes meaningful when children connect sounds to their sources by observing articulators and engaging in trial and error.

A single-word utterance used to convey a complete thought or idea. Example: "Mama" referring to the mother.

A type of speech consisting of two or more words used to convey a complete thought or idea, often lacking grammatical function words. Example: "want cookie".

A type of reasoning where a conclusion is drawn from an observation of a pattern in specific examples (e.g., learning the plural rule by seeing multiple instances of it)

A type of reasoning where a conclusion is reached using a general rule and applying it to a specific case (e.g., knowing that all cookies should be shared equally and then deducing that someone needs to share their cookies)

The ability to understand and use language includes the capacity to draw logical conclusions, even in very young children, challenging traditional views about the development of logic.

Piaget's theory suggests that deductive logic develops later in childhood, but research shows that children use deductive logic earlier than previously thought.

Intelligence and language development do not solely depend on physical interactions with objects. Individuals with limited physical interactions can still develop high intelligence and language skills.

Children use single words to convey a range of meanings, including requests, possessions, descriptions, actions, and memories.

Children may combine a series of holophrastic words to describe complex situations, using pauses and intonation to signal sentence completion.

The meaning of a holophrastic utterance often depends on the child's past experiences and the immediate context.

Telegraphic utterances serve various purposes, including requesting, refusing, describing, questioning, and informing.

Telegraphic speech demonstrates an early understanding of semantic relationships between objects, actions, and states.

Function words like articles, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs are rarely used in telegraphic speech, as children prioritize content words.

Despite the lack of grammatical completeness, children's word order often mirrors that of mature speakers, showing an early understanding of syntax.

Telegraphic Speech allows children to express more nuanced and specific thoughts, indicating relationships between objects, actions, and states.

Telegraphic utterances, though short, convey a range of semantic complexity, including possession, actions, and negation.

Over time, children begin adding articles, auxiliary verbs, and prepositions, transitioning from telegraphic speech to grammatically complete sentences.

A morpheme is the smallest unit of language that carries meaning, such as 'cat' or the plural marker '-s'.

Morphemes can be free (standing alone) or bound (must attach to another morpheme).

Brown conducted a longitudinal study of children to determine the order in which English function words and inflectional morphemes are learned.

The ability to understand and interpret spoken or written language.

The ability to produce spoken or written language.

The idea that children can understand language before they can produce it.

The gap between the complexity of language a child can understand and the complexity of language they can produce.

A study by Huttenlocher (1974) that found children could understand possessive distinctions (e.g., "baby's bottle") even though they couldn't produce them.

A study by Sachs and Truswell (1978) that found children could understand multi-word imperatives (e.g., "kiss ball") even though they were only in the one-word production stage.

A study by Steinberg and Steinberg (1975) that found a child could understand written language before they could produce the same words orally.

The ability to understand and process grammatical rules and structures.

The process by which children learn the rules and structures of language.

A type of research that examines how children understand language.

The process by which children learn to produce spoken or written language.

The ability to understand and interpret language is essential for meaningful speech production.

Exposure to language within meaningful contexts is crucial for language acquisition.

Simple exposure to language sounds without context is not enough for language acquisition.

Repeating words or phrases does not indicate true language learning unless used appropriately in context.

Children need to associate sounds with their experiences and assign meaning to them before they can reproduce those sounds.

Concepts and meanings in language stem from experiences, not just words themselves.

Children learn about the world through experiences, and those experiences provide context for understanding language.

Thought is the fundamental element of language acquisition; language serves to express these thoughts.

Language serves to express and communicate thoughts through physical sounds.

Understanding sentence structure requires more than just knowing individual words; children need to see events unfold to grasp meaning.

Hearing sentences alongside real-world events helps children learn the relationships between words and their meanings.

Parentese is a specialized form of speech used by adults when communicating with young children, making it easier for them to learn language. This is also known as 'Child-Directed Speech' (CDS).

Parentese features specific linguistic features and is used by various caregivers, including parents, siblings, and relatives.

Parentese focuses on immediate, observable events rather than abstract concepts, making it easier for children to understand.

Speech directed at children is generally highly grammatical and simplified, aiding children in learning sentence structures.

Parentese often uses short, simple sentences instead of complex structures, making it easier for children to process.

Adults use simple and restricted vocabulary when speaking to children, making it easier for them to grasp the meaning of words.

Baby Talk is a form of Parentese characterized by overly simplified vocabulary and syntax. It uses simple, often repeated words, and it mimics the sounds associated with the objects it refers to.

The consistent order in which children acquire morphemes in English, regardless of individual learning speed.

A grammatical unit that adds meaning to a word or phrase (e.g., plural -s, past tense -ed).

The ongoing action morpheme, typically indicated by adding '-ing' to the verb.

Words like 'in', 'on', and 'under', which express spatial relationships between objects and locations.

A grammatical marker indicating 'more than one' added to nouns (e.g., 'cats', 'dogs').

Irregular forms of past tense verbs (e.g., 'went', 'came', 'broke').

A grammatical form indicating ownership or association, often shown by adding '-s (e.g., 'Mommy's car').

The form of the verb 'be' used as a linking verb, but not contracted (e.g., 'What is it?').

Words like 'a' and 'the' which specify if a noun is indefinite or definite.

The regular past tense morpheme added to verbs to indicate past actions (e.g., 'played', 'jumped').

The grammatical marker added to verbs to indicate third-person singular present tense (e.g., 'He runs', 'She plays').

Irregular verbs in their third-person singular form (e.g., 'She does', 'He has').

The form of the verb 'be' used as a helper verb, not contracted (e.g., 'Is Mary happy?').

The linking verb 'be' in its contracted form (e.g., 'Mary's happy').

A helping verb 'be' in its contracted form (e.g., 'Mary's playing').

The idea that kids learn language by simply copying what they hear, like parrots.

Imitation only works for speaking, not understanding. Kids can understand language before they speak it.

Imitation can't explain how kids make new sentences. They need to learn rules, not just copy words.

Kids often make up new words or sentences that they couldn't have heard before. This shows they're learning rules.

Kids figure out patterns in language and apply them, even to irregular words. This leads to errors.

Kids apply rules even when they know the right word, which causes mistakes. (e.g. saying 'wented' instead of 'went')

Kids figure out exceptions to rules after making mistakes, showing they're learning.

Correcting a child's grammar doesn't always work, because parents focus on other things like truthfulness.

Corrections are rare compared to the number of mistakes, so they likely play a small role in learning.

Kids are often more aware of their own errors than parents are and fix them themselves.

Repeating a child's mistake in a corrected form might not help. Kids need to understand the error.

Parents care more about honesty and meaning than perfect grammar.

Kids learn social rules more than grammatical rules, showing that correction is more about behavior.

Kids start by learning concrete words like 'mama' or 'dog', then move to abstract ideas like 'truth' or 'hope'.

Abstract words need more than just association. Kids need to use context and their own experiences.

The initial stage of negation development where children simply place "no" or "not" at the beginning of sentences, without considering grammatical rules.

A pattern of negation where the negative marker appears inside the sentence, closer to its correct grammatical position. Children start using auxiliary verbs like "do" and "can," often in contracted forms.

The final stage of negation where children master the use of auxiliary verbs, modals, and the copula "be" in negative sentences. They correctly form negative imperatives and understand when to use "do" and when to omit it.

A type of sentence construction that adds a negative element to an existing sentence. For example, "Kim is happy" becomes "Kim is not happy."

A verb used to help another verb in a sentence, often to form different tenses. Examples include "do," "have," and "be."

The simple form of a verb that can change to show different tenses. It's the core part of the verb phrase.

The verb "to be" in its various forms, such as "am," "is," "are," "was," and "were."

Words like "can," "could," "will," "would," "should," and "may" that express possibility, ability, or permission.

A study that examined the three stages of negation development in children, providing a framework for understanding how children progress in their ability to use negative sentences.

The process of changing a verb's tense by shifting the tense from the main verb to the auxiliary verb. For example, "Kim do not want candy" becomes "Kim did not want candy."

The adjustments needed in other parts of a sentence to ensure grammatical correctness when forming a negative sentence. This includes changing words like "some" to "any."

The ability to understand spoken language despite not being able to produce speech. This demonstrates that speech comprehension can develop independently of speech production.

A research study investigating whether fetuses are able to perceive and learn speech sounds while in the uterus.

A study that exposed pregnant women to specific sound sequences and measured changes in fetal heart rates, suggesting that fetuses can learn and recognize sound patterns before birth.

A study that investigated newborn infants' ability to distinguish their mother's voice from another woman's voice, suggesting an early preference for familiar auditory stimuli.

A theory challenging the interpretation of earlier studies on fetal speech perception, proposing that recognition of the mother's voice develops postnatally within the first 12 hours after birth.