3. Language Acquisition.docx

CRITICAL READING: CORNELL NOTES Language Acquisition Name: Date: 8 August 2023 Section: Lecture 3 Period: Questions/Main Ideas/Vocabulary Notes/Answers/Definitions/Examples/Sentences Language Bloom: A code whereby ideas about the world are represented through a conventional system of...

CRITICAL READING: CORNELL NOTES Language Acquisition Name: Date: 8 August 2023 Section: Lecture 3 Period: Questions/Main Ideas/Vocabulary Notes/Answers/Definitions/Examples/Sentences Language Bloom: A code whereby ideas about the world are represented through a conventional system of arbitrary signals. Language consists of various aspects which people believe are more or less important, for example, grammar, symbol usage, the ability to represent real-world situations and the ability to articulate something new. Communication Animals communicate. For example, vervet monkeys have specific cries to warn of specific dangers – snakes vs. eagles. Speech Neurological control of movement to create sounds. Not the same as language (e.g., sign language). Language Under Threat Every 14 days a language dies. By 2100, more than half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth – many of them not yet recorded – may disappear, taking with them a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment and the human brain. The Frame of Reference Problem Too many choices = uncertainty, difficulty matching objects to words. Can figure out if it’s a problem by observing children’s visual attention while playing with a parent. Do infants look at all the toys? Or just one or two? Infants almost always looked at a single toy, even if it was the wrong one, rather than looking across all toys. So what? Tells us that the frame of reference problem is easier for infants to solve than we expected. By focusing on a single object, they increase the likelihood that they will eventually be looking at the correct one when parents label it for them. Theories of Language Acquisition Learning account (nurture): Reinforcement Imitation – modelling, observation and copying an adult speech model Not sufficient to explain complexity or rapidity of language acquisition. Much of what children say is spontaneous. Disordered Input Boy called Johann by the nurses of an orphanage in Burundi, was found in 1974 at the age of four living with a group of chimps. He was naked, quite hairy and mainly walked on all four. He didn’t speak but communicated with facial expressions and gesticulation. He had trouble using his hands properly. Grew up to speak German. Genie (Curtiss, 1981) Born in 1957. “Discovered” in November 1970, aged 13.5. Alert and curious. Eager for human contact. Isolation and abuse caused many abnormalities. When found in 1970, her language abilities were equivalent to those of a 1-year-old. Leiter Internal Performance Scale (1971; 5 months after her discovery): Passed all 4-year items. Passed half 5-year items. Passed half 6-year items. So despite her deprivation, Genie has sufficient cognitive ability to acquire language, if language is just another form of learning. Word Order Rules vs. Morphological Rules Genie acquired word order rules but not morphological rules (involving grammatical function words and endings like -s, -ing, -ed). Genie’s disordered language acquisition is consistent with the sensitive period hypothesis, rather than a pure ‘nurture’ hypothesis. The Critical (or Sensitive) Period Hypothesis Biologists prefer the term sensitive period to critical period. Language acquisition must occur within a critical period, or it will be at best disordered. Strong form – language cannot be acquired outside of the critical period. Weak form – language will be disordered if acquired outside the critical period. Evidence for a sensitive period is consistent with a view of the human capacity for language acquisition as innate, but that can’t be all as hearing language is still necessary. Nativist Approach Language acquisition is a special sort of learning. Biologically based but experience expectant. Means it can vary with environment. Humans are adapted for language acquisition. But we still need to hear language to acquire it. Eimas et. Al (1971) High amplitude sucking: 1 and 4 month old infants listed to a series of synthetic speech syllables by sucking on a pacifier. Suggests that infants are born with the ability to discriminate sound contrasts. Is true even for sounds they aren’t exposed to. Vocabulary Spurt at 18 Months At around 18 months, infants’ vocabulary expands rapidly. Perhaps related to understanding that words are symbols, represent categories of objects. Overextension Early words are often overextended – applied to a wider range of referents than is correct in adult usage. Dog = dogs, lambs, cats, wolves, rabbit. Not imitation. No explicit reward. Vocabulary Development Conclusions Learning theory may explain early linking between words and concrete objects. But it isn’t sufficient to explain: Learning of abstract and complex words. The speed at which word learning occurs. Errors in word learning. Classic nature/nurture phenomenon: Word learning is the result of certain language-related predispositions unfolding in the content of other developmental skills and input from the environment. Holophrastic Speech Use of a single word to denote a relational meaning rather than a strictly referential meaning (e.g., doll for usual location of doll in crib). Seems like infants are trying to convey information about the relationship between the immediate referent and some absent person, object, property or state, rather than labelling the referent. Generally appears in the month before child begins combining words. Do Holophrastic Children Understand Basic Word-Order Rules? Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff (1996): 48 infants (16 – 19 months old); 26 not combining words; 9 beginning to combine words; 13 regularly combining words. Word order test: Cookie monster tickles big bird. Big bird tickles cookie monster. 75% of infants watched the correct screen longer than the incorrect screen, showing comprehension of agent + action + object order. Was true even for infants who hadn’t yet produced word combinations in their own speech. Telegraphic Speech Child has mastered word-order rules, but not morphological rules involving inflections (-ed, -ing, -s, -s’) or grammatical function words (of, the, is, was, are, by, in, on, etc). Content words convey the most information and so the child’s speech is comprehensible. Over Regularisation Errors Happen/happened, jump/jumped, drop/dropped. Fall/falled? Have to recognise this is irregular for the language. Over-regularisation errors show grammar isn’t acquired solely through imitation or reinforcement. These irregular rules suggests that children learn grammatical patterns first, then figure out the irregularities. Grammatical Development Conclusions The acquisition of a highly sophisticated and intricate language system is accomplished with no formal instruction and very little guidance. Thus, nurture accounts aren’t sufficient to explain grammar and language development. Not only imitation and reinforcement. But the Nativist account may be too simplistic as well. Strict Nativist View Argued that speech from parents is full of mistakes, false starts and complexities. Chomsky suggested the LAD filters grammatical rules from inconsistent or ill-formed input, resulting in grammatical language. Challenging the Strict Nativist View Newport et. Al (1977): Analysed 15 mother-child interactions. Children 12-27 months of age. Sampled 100 utterances from each mother. Only one the 1500 maternal utterances contained a grammatical error. Child-Directed Speech But the fact remains – language is complex. Why isn’t this more of an issue for kids’ learning? Parents/adults engage in conversations with a child. Typically extend the topic introduced by the child. Recast the child’s utterances in simple, grammatical sentences. Supplies grammatical and conversational information. Child-Directed Speech Modifications Phonology (sounds, words). Higher pitch. Exaggerated intonation. Rising intonation. Slower speech. Clearer enunciation. Simplified word structure. Meaning: Here and now. One word per object. Limited complexity. Pragmatics: More questions. More attention-directing utterances. Grammar: Shorter sentences. Limited complexity. Well formed. Repetitive. Child-Directed Speech Hypothesis Strong form – CDS modifications are necessary for language acquisition. Word/phoneme parsing. Weak form – CDS modifications facilitate language acquisition. Which is true? Are they culturally universal? If not, then they’re not necessary for language acquisition (even if they’re helpful). Language Development Largely studied in first-born children in middle-class families by middle-class Western researchers. Cultural assumptions: Infant’s behaviour viewed as intentional from the outset. Infant treated as a conversational partner from the outset. Three Developmental Stories Three cultures: Mainstream Western culture. Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea. Traditional people of Western Samoa. Three aspects of communicative interactions: Social organisation of verbal environment. Are children expected to adapt to situations or vice versa? The negotiation of meaning. Mainstream Western Culture The negotiation of meaning. Consistent with adaptation of situations to the child – parent takes child’s perspective. Self-lowering strategy: Language adapted for the child (CDS). Child-raising strategy: Parent attempts to interpret child speech even when meaning isn’t clear. Expansions. Kaluli People of Papua New Guinea Live in highlands of Papua New Guinea. Egalitarian but assertive society of approximately 1200 people. Social organisation of verbal environment: (Assertive) language is culturally valued. Infant always with mother. Infant viewed as helpless – “soft” and “having no understanding”. Not viewed as conversational partner. Minimal language directly to infants. Mother usually with other people. Infant often a topic of conversation. Situations not adapted to the child: Socialisation as a “hardening” process. Learning how to talk and become independent are a key goal of socialisation. Language viewed as beginning at about 18 months when infant uses two critical words: mother and breast. Infant must now be “shown how to speak” – mother models utterance + elema (say like that). Taught social uses of socially appropriate assertive language (teasing, shaming, requesting, challenging, reporting). Language isn’t simplified for the child: No simplification of grammar or vocabulary. No labelling of objects. No baby talk. The child adapts to situations rather than vice versa. The negotiation of meaning: Cultural view that others’ intentions should not be discussed – you have to make yourself understood. Don’t discuss others’ intentions or internal states, especially if there is no external evidence. Language doesn’t allow indirect quotation. Rather than interpret unclear utterances, clarification requests “what?” or “huh?”. No expansion (often depends on interpreting unclear speech). Common Threads Acquiring language is influenced by the process of becoming a competent member of society. Caregivers ensure children understand and display appropriate behaviour. In all cultures, infants and young children are exposed to speech that is appropriate for their culture, whether or not speech is simplified for them. Suggests that CDS is helpful, but not necessary. Role of Child-Directed Speech Quantity vs quality: Mothers’ use of pretend utterances during play with 3-year-olds is positively related to children’s vocabulary comprehension in kindergarten. Rowe (2012): Quantity and quality measures of parental input examined in the same 50 families at 18, 30 and 42 months. Children’s vocabulary comprehension assessed at 30, 42 and 54 months. Videotaped 90-minute interaction. Looked at total number of words, total number of different words, rare words, decontextualised words. Assessed children’s vocabulary comprehension using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Conclusions: contextually comprehensible language input language acquisition device child’s grammatical language. Why Teach Language to Apes? May shed light on the nature of language, cognitive and intellectual capacities. Are human unique in this ability? May shed light on the development of language in early humans. May provide a means of discovering better methods for helping developmentally delayed children communicate. A Very Brief History of the Apes & Language Question Whiting about a baboon: “I do believe it already understands much English; and I am of the mind it might be taught to speak or make signs”. In 1748, Julien Offray de la Mettrie published a document which speculated that apes could be taught to speak. During the first half of the 20th century, the first experimental forays into the area of ape language were, in fact, attempts to teach apes to speak. Robert Yerkes experimented with chimpanzees in the 1920’s and concluded that they could not learn speech. Why Apes Cannot Speak Robert Yerkes believed that apes cannot speak because they lack the tendency to reinstate auditory stimuli – in other words to imitate sounds. Perhaps apes’ vocal chords (or some other part of their anatomy) aren’t built for speaking. Perhaps the vocal habits of apes prevent them from speaking. In apes, as in human infants, the larynx is positioned very high in the neck, which would prevent it from producing all the sounds of human language. Is it Really Language? “In my mind, this kind of research is more analogous to the bears in the Moscow circus who are trained to ride unicycles”. The critical point: Syntax usage.