Chapter 1 Summary of How Children Learn Language PDF

Chapter 1. How children learn language 1.1 The Development of Speech Production 1.1.1 From Vocalization to Babbling to Speech 1.1.1.1 Vocalization to Babbling 1. **Early Vocalizations:** - Before producing speech sounds, infants make a variety of non-speech sounds such as **cryin...

Chapter 1. How children learn language 1.1 The Development of Speech Production 1.1.1 From Vocalization to Babbling to Speech 1.1.1.1 Vocalization to Babbling 1. **Early Vocalizations:** - Before producing speech sounds, infants make a variety of non-speech sounds such as **crying**, **cooing** and **gurgling**. - These early vocalizations are **unlearned** and occur universally, even in deaf infants (Lenneberg et al., 1965). This highlights their **innate** nature. - These sounds are not specific to any language and provide the foundation for later speech development. 2. **Babbling:** - Begins around **7 months** and is characterized by **syllabic reduplication**: - Repeated syllables: e.g., \"baba,\" \"momo,\" \"panpan.\" - The structure of babbling includes: - **Consonant + Vowel (CV):** e.g., \"mama.\" - **Consonant + Vowel + Consonant (CVC):** e.g., \"panpan.\" **Universal and Language-Specific Aspects of Babbling:** - Initially, babbling is universal across all languages, with infants producing a wide range of sounds. - However, not all speech sounds are included in babbling: - **Rare sounds:** English \"th\" in \"thin\" and \"though.\" - **Absent sounds:** Clicks commonly found in African languages (e.g., Zulu). - From as early as **6 months**, the babbling begins to reflect the **intonation patterns** of the language the infant hears (Nakazima, 1962; Lieberman, 1967). - **Example**: A Japanese infant's babbling reflects Japanese intonation patterns, while an English-learning infant's babbling reflects English stress patterns. **Research Evidence:** - Native speakers can distinguish the babbling of infants learning their language from those learning other languages (de Boysson-Bardies et al., 1984). 3. **Babbling in Deaf Infants:** - Deaf infants deprived of hearing speech vocalize and cry like hearing infants but do not progress to speech-like babbling. - However, infants exposed to **sign language** from birth engage in **manual babbling** (Petitto and Marentette, 1991). - This involves repetitive hand movements that mimic the rhythm and repetition of vocal babbling, showing that babbling is a **modality-independent process**. 1.1.1.2 Babbling to Speech 1. **Transition to First Words:** - The transition from babbling to meaningful speech typically occurs around **1 year of age**, but can occur earlier or later, depending on individual and environmental factors. - Surprisingly, some sounds used during babbling disappear and must be **reacquired** during the speech phase, suggesting that babbling is not entirely continuous with speech but serves as a **practice phase**. 2. **Order of Sound Acquisition:** - **Early Acquired Sounds:** /p/, /t/, /m/, /a/, /o/. - These sounds are simpler to produce and are associated with visible articulators (e.g., lips for /p/ and /m/). - **Later Acquired Sounds:** /k/, /x/, /l/. - These sounds require more complex articulatory movements and fine motor control. 3. **Phoneme Example:** - A phoneme represents a **class of sounds** in a language. - **Example**: In the word \"pep,\" the /p/ sound at the beginning and the end are considered the same phoneme, even though the final /p/ has more aspiration (puff of air) than the initial /p/. 4. **Continuity vs. Discontinuity:** - **Continuity Theory:** - Some researchers (e.g., Vihman et al., 1985) argue that there is a direct link between the sounds produced during babbling and early speech. - **Evidence:** Certain syllable patterns in babbling resemble those in early words. - **Discontinuity Theory:** - Other studies (e.g., Oller and Eilers, 1982) suggest that babbling and speech are distinct processes, with babbling being **non-intentional** and speech being **intentional**. **Key Insight:** - While babbling provides essential practice for using the speech articulators (lips, tongue, vocal cords, etc.), the transition to speech involves learning to associate specific sounds with meanings and to control their production intentionally. 1.1.1.3 Explaining the Acquisition Order of Consonants and Vowels 1. **Order of Consonant Acquisition:** - Consonants are typically acquired in a sequence based on their place of articulation: - **Front Sounds:** /m/, /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/. - **Back Sounds:** /k/, /x/. - **Example**: /m/ (a front nasal sound) is acquired earlier than /k/ (a back velar stop sound). - **Visibility of Articulators:** - Front consonants involve visible movements of the lips and are easier for infants to observe and imitate. - Example: /m/ (\"mama\") and /p/ (\"papa\") involve clear lip movements. - **Ease of Articulation:** - Front sounds require less precise motor control compared to back sounds. 2. **Order of Vowel Acquisition:** - Vowels are generally acquired in the following sequence: - **Back Vowels:** /a/ (as in \"ball\"), /o/ (as in \"tall\"). - **Front Vowels:** /i/ (as in \"meet\"), /ʌ/ (as in \"mud\"). - Example: - /a/ is acquired earlier than /i/, as it requires less articulatory precision. - Back vowels like /a/ require the articulators to remain close to their resting position, making them simpler to produce. - Front vowels like /i/ involve more precise tongue placement and are thus learned later. 3. **Theories on Acquisition Order:** - **Distinction Theory (Jacobson, 1968):** - **Steinberg's Variables (1982):** 4. **Role of Chance:** - Children often discover articulator-sound connections by **chance** during experimentation with speech. - **Example**: A child might pronounce \"pretty\" with precision initially but struggle to consistently reproduce similar sounds in other words (Leopold, 1953). 5. **Intentional Connections:** - Speech production becomes meaningful when children: - Observe **visible articulators** (e.g., lips, mouth movements) to connect sounds to their sources. - Engage in **trial and error** to master unseen articulators used for vowels. **Examples:** - Early consonants like /m/ (\"mama\") are easier to produce because of visible lip movements. - Vowels like /a/ (\"ball\") are acquired earlier because they involve the resting articulator position, while front vowels like /i/ (\"feet\") require more motor control and are learned later. 1.1.2 Early Speech Stages: Naming, Holophrastic, Telegraphic, Morphemic 1. **Naming: One-Word Utterances** **When Do Children Start to Say Their First Words?** - There is no conclusive answer because: - Individual differences among children are very wide. - Determining when a child has \"learned\" a word is not standardized. - First words have been reported as early as **4 months** and as late as **18 months** or older, with the average being around **10--12 months**. **Criteria for a First Word** A speech sound can be considered a first word when: 1. The child utters a **recognizable speech form**, even if imperfect (e.g., *"da"* for *daddy*). 2. The utterance is **associated with an object or event** in the environment. - Example: *"Mama"* consistently referring to the mother. **Factors Influencing the Onset of First Words** 1. **Physical Development**: - Development of the mouth musculature is necessary for articulating sounds. 2. **Brain Development**: - Control of speech sounds depends on the development of **speech areas in the cerebral cortex** (Bates et al., 1992). **Nature of First Words** 1. **Use of Nouns as Proper Nouns**: - Children initially use nouns to refer to specific objects (Moskowitz, 1978). - Example: *"Dada"* for one particular person. 2. **Overextension and Incorrect Usage**: - Words may be incorrectly generalized to unrelated objects or events. - Example: *"Wow-wow"* for all animals, slippers, or fur coats. - Over time, children refine their understanding to apply words more accurately (Clark, 1973). 1.1.2.2 Holophrastic Function: One-Word Utterances **Definition** - Holophrastic speech refers to a stage in language development where children use single words to express complex thoughts or ideas. - The term **holophrastic** is derived from \"holo\" (whole) and \"phrase,\" indicating that a single word can function as a whole sentence or phrase in mature language. **Characteristics** 1. **Single Words for Complex Thoughts**: - Children do not limit single-word use to naming objects but also use them to express relationships, emotions, and actions involving those objects. - **Examples**: - A child crying out *"Mama"* in a store may mean *"I want mama."* - A child pointing to a shoe and saying *"Mama"* could mean *"The shoe belongs to mama."* 2. **Semantic Variety**: - Research (Bloom, 1973; Greenfield and Smith, 1976; Scollon, 1976) has shown that children use single words to convey a range of **semantic functions**, such as: - **Requesting**: *"Milk"* meaning *"I want milk."* - **Possession**: *"Dada"* meaning *"This belongs to Daddy."* - **Description**: *"Hot"* meaning *"This is hot."* - **Action/Memory**: *"Car"* meaning *"I saw a car yesterday."* 3. **Creativity with Holophrases**: - Children can combine a series of holophrastic words to describe complex situations. - **Examples**: - *"Peach, Daddy, spoon"*: Describes a scenario where Daddy cut a peach in a spoon (Bloom, 1973). - *"Car, go, bus"*: Describes hearing a car, which reminded the child of a bus ride from the day before (Scollon, 1976). 4. **Pauses and Intonation**: - While chaining words, children pause slightly after each word and use a **falling intonation** that signals sentence completion. This makes these strings of words resemble full sentences, though they are not grammatically complete. **Challenges in Interpretation** 1. **Dependence on Context**: - The meaning of a holophrastic utterance often relies on: - The child's previous experiences. - The immediate situational context. - Even the most attentive caregivers may struggle to interpret these utterances accurately. 2. **Preference for the Term \"Utterance\"**: - The term **utterance** is preferred over **sentence** to avoid debates about grammaticality or whether the child's speech qualifies as a proper sentence. 1.1.2.3 Telegraphic Speech: Two- and Three-Word Utterances **Definition:** - Around **18--24 months**, children begin producing two- and three-word combinations known as **telegraphic speech**. - These utterances resemble telegrams in that they omit **function words** (e.g., articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs) and focus on **content words** like nouns, verbs, and adjectives. **Examples**: - *"Want cookie"* instead of *"I want a cookie"*. - *"More milk"* instead of *"I want more milk"*. - *"Daddy run"* instead of *"Daddy is running."* **Variety of Purposes and Semantic Relations** Telegraphic utterances serve a wide range of communicative purposes and demonstrate an early understanding of semantic relationships: 1. **Purposes**: - **Requesting**: *"Want cookie"* (I want a cookie). - **Refusing**: *"No sleep"* (I don't want to sleep). - **Describing/Attributing**: *"Big boy"* (I am a big boy). - **Questioning**: *"Where doll?"* (Where is the doll?). - **Informing**: *"Truck table"* (The truck is on the table). 2. **Semantic Relations**: - **Agent--Action**: *"Daddy run"* (Daddy is running). - **Experiencer--State**: *"Not tired"* (I am not tired). - **Possession**: *"Mommy chair"* (This is Mommy's chair). - **Location**: *"Truck table"* (The truck is on the table). - **Negation**: *"No sleep"* (I don't want to sleep). - **Quantification**: *"More milk"* (I want more milk). **Low Incidence of Function Words** Function words like articles (*a, the*), prepositions (*in, on*), and auxiliary verbs (*is, are*) are rarely used in telegraphic speech. Instead, children prioritize content words that are more meaningful and easier to learn. For example: - *"Want cookie"* includes the verb (*want*) and noun (*cookie*) but omits the article (*a*). **Close Approximation of the Language's Word Order** Despite the lack of grammatical completeness, children's word order often mirrors that of mature speakers in their native language: - **Examples**: - *"My cup"* instead of *"Cup my"*. - *"Not tired"* instead of *"Tired not"*. This adherence to correct word order reflects an early understanding of the syntax of their language. **Key Features of Telegraphic Speech** 1. **Rapid Expansion of Communicative Ability**: - Moving from single words to combinations allows children to express more nuanced and specific thoughts. - They can now indicate relationships between objects, actions, and states. 2. **Semantic Complexity**: - Although short, telegraphic utterances convey a range of relationships, such as: - Ownership (*"Mommy chair"*). - Actions (*"Daddy run"*). - Negation (*"No sleep"*). 3. **Gradual Incorporation of Function Words**: - Over time, children begin adding articles, auxiliary verbs, and prepositions, transitioning from telegraphic speech to grammatically complete sentences. 1.1.2.4 Morpheme Acquisition **What is a Morpheme?** - **Definition**: A morpheme is the smallest unit of language that carries meaning. - **Examples**: - *Elephants*: Contains two morphemes (*elephant* for the noun and *-s* for plural). - *Ran*: Contains two morphemes (*run* for the verb root and a past tense indicator). - Morphemes can either be: - **Free morphemes**: Can stand alone as words (e.g., *cat*, *run*). - **Bound morphemes**: Must attach to another morpheme (e.g., plural *-s*, past tense *-ed*). **Roger Brown\'s Study on Morpheme Acquisition** - Brown conducted a longitudinal study of three children to determine the order in which English function words and inflectional morphemes are learned. - **Key Finding**: Children acquire morphemes in a relatively consistent sequence across individuals, even though the rate of learning may vary. **Brown's Order of Morpheme Acquisition** Brown identified a universal order for the acquisition of 14 key morphemes in English. Below is a detailed explanation of these morphemes, their role in language, and why they are acquired at specific stages: order: **Order** **Morpheme** **Function** **Examples** **Why Acquired When?** ----------- --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 **Present Progressive (-ing)** Indicates ongoing action *Mary is playing* Highly observable (ongoing actions), meaningful (common activities), phonetically distinct. 2 **Prepositions (\"in,\" \"on\")** Express spatial relationships *The toy is in the box* Observable and meaningful (relates to tangible objects and locations). 3 **Plural (-s)** Indicates \"more than one\" *Two cats* Easy to observe (difference between singular and plural), meaningful in daily interactions. 4 **Past Irregular** Marks past tense with irregular verbs *Came, went, broke* Phonetically distinct (e.g., *go → went*), tied to common, meaningful actions. 5 **Possessive (-'s)** Indicates ownership or association *Mommy's car* Possession is meaningful and observable (children often discuss ownership of objects). 6 **Uncontractible Copula (\"be\")** Links subject and complement *What is it?* Abstract grammatical function; less meaningful and less observable initially. 7 **Articles (\"a,\" \"the\")** Specify nouns (definite or indefinite) *A dog, the book* Abstract and less meaningful for early communication; requires grammar understanding. 8 **Past Regular (-ed)** Marks past tense for regular verbs *Played, jumped* Harder to distinguish phonetically (e.g., *jumped* sounds like /jumt/). 9 **Third Person Regular (-s)** Marks third-person singular present tense *He runs, she plays* Abstract concept requiring differentiation of grammatical roles (e.g., third person). 10 **Third Person Irregular** Irregular verbs in third-person singular *She does, he has* Requires learning exceptions; lower frequency and abstract. 11 **Uncontractible Auxiliary (\"be\")** Helping verb without contraction *Is Mary happy?* Requires understanding auxiliary functions; less meaningful early on. 12 **Contractible Copula (\"be\")** Linking verb with contraction *Mary's happy* Less phonetically distinct due to contraction; abstract grammatical role. 13 **Contractible Auxiliary (\"be\")** Helping verb with contraction *Mary's playing* Phonetically indistinct and grammatically abstract; requires advanced language skills. **Why This Order?** The order of morpheme acquisition is influenced by three main factors: 1. **Ease of Observability of Referent**: - **Definition**: How easily the child can perceive the morpheme's referent (object, event, or state). - **Examples**: - *-ing* (ongoing actions) and *plural -s* (visible quantities) are acquired early because their referents are concrete and observable. - Articles (*a, the*) and auxiliary verbs (*is, has*) are acquired later because they have less visible or tangible referents. 2. **Meaningfulness of Referent**: - **Definition**: How relevant or important the morpheme's referent is to the child's communication needs. - **Examples**: - Possession (*-'s*) and plurals (*-s*) are meaningful because they help children describe ownership and quantities, concepts central to their everyday experiences. - Contractible auxiliaries (*-'s*) are less meaningful as they do not directly add new content to a sentence. 3. **Distinctiveness of Sound Signal**: - **Definition**: How noticeable or distinct the morpheme sounds. - **Examples**: - Present progressive *-ing* is phonetically distinct and thus learned early. - Contractible copula and auxiliary (*Mary's playing*) are less distinct because the contraction reduces their prominence. **Applications and Insights** 1. **Early Morphemes (e.g., *-ing*, *plural -s*)**: - Tied to tangible and easily understood concepts (e.g., actions, quantities). - Highly frequent in everyday language. - Phonetically distinct. 2. **Later Morphemes (e.g., *contractible auxiliary -'s*)**: - Abstract and grammatically complex. - Low frequency in speech. - Phonetic indistinctness makes them harder to learn. 3. **Cross-Linguistic Implications**: - The factors influencing English morpheme acquisition (observability, meaningfulness, distinctiveness) apply universally to other languages, though the specific morphemes and their order may differ. - **Progressive (-ing):** It\'s semantically simple (indicates ongoing action) and doesn\'t require auxiliary verbs, making it easy to use. - **Prepositions (in, on):** They describe concrete spatial relationships, which are easy for children to observe and understand. - **Plural (-s):** It\'s highly regular, frequently used, and conceptually straightforward (adding \"-s\" to indicate \"more than one\"). - **Possessive (-\'s):** Ownership is an early-learned concept and is simpler than subject-verb agreement, which is required for third-person forms. - **Past Irregular:** Learned earlier because children memorize these high-frequency forms (e.g., \"went,\" \"fell\") individually. - **Past Regular (-ed):** Acquired later as children internalize the grammatical rule, which requires understanding and applying a pattern. 1.1.3 Later Speech Stages: Rule Formation for Negatives and Other Complex Structures As children develop more complex language abilities, they move beyond simple utterances to mastering the rules for forming negatives, questions, passives, and relative clauses. This section focuses on **negation formation**, outlining the stages through which children acquire this complex grammatical structure. **Features of Negation** Children must learn several key features to correctly form negative sentences. These include: 1. **Placement of the Negative Marker**: - For the verb **\"be\"**, the negative marker \"not\" is placed **after the copula**. - Example: *Kim is happy* → *Kim is not happy*. - For other verbs, \"not\" is placed **before the main verb**. - Example: *Kim wants candy* → *Kim not want candy*. 2. **Insertion of Auxiliary \"do\"**: - When the main verb is not \"be\" or a modal (e.g., *will*, *can*), the auxiliary verb \"do\" must be inserted. - Example: *Kim not want candy* → *Kim do not want candy*. 3. **Tense Shifting**: - When the auxiliary \"do\" is used, the tense is shifted from the main verb to the auxiliary. - Example: *Kim do not want candy + PAST* → *Kim did not want candy*. 4. **Lexical Concordance**: - Adjustments are required for other sentence elements to ensure grammatical correctness. - Example: In English, \"some\" changes to \"any\" in negative sentences. - *Kim wanted some candy* → *Kim did not want any candy*. 5. **Contraction**: - In informal speech, the auxiliary and negative marker may be contracted. - Example: *Kim did not want candy* → *Kim didn't want candy*. **Stages of Negation Development** According to **Klima and Bellugi (1966)**, children acquire negation in three distinct stages: **Stage 1: Early Negation** - **Characteristics**: - The negative marker (\"no\" or \"not\") is placed at the beginning of the utterance, often without regard for grammar. - This is a simple, external negation that does not integrate with the syntax of the sentence. - **Examples**: - \"No play that\" (intended meaning: *Don't play with that*). - \"No fall\" (intended meaning: *Don't fall*). - \"No the sun shining.\" - **Pattern**: **Neg + Affirmative Utterance**. - **Cross-Linguistic Observations**: - French children use *non* or *pas* at the start of sentences. - Japanese children place the negative marker *nai* at the end of the utterance, following their language structure. **Stage 2: Internal Negation** - **Characteristics**: - The negative marker appears **within the sentence**, closer to its correct grammatical position. - Auxiliary verbs, such as \"do\" and \"can,\" begin to emerge, but they are often used in contracted forms (e.g., \"don't,\" \"can't\") that are treated as single words by the child. - Uncontracted forms of auxiliaries (e.g., \"do not\") are rare at this stage. - **Examples**: - \"I don't want it.\" - \"You can't dance.\" - \"That no Mommy.\" - \"He no bite you.\" - **Errors**: - Negative imperatives remain poorly formed, similar to Stage 1: - Example: \"Touch the snow no\" (intended meaning: *Don't touch the snow*). - Lack of grammatical consistency, such as missing subject-verb agreement. **Stage 3: Advanced Negation** - **Characteristics**: - Children begin to use negation correctly with auxiliary verbs, modals, and the copula \"be.\" - Negative imperatives are now formed with auxiliary \"do.\" - Children show greater mastery of when to use \"do\" versus when to omit it. - **Examples**: - \"Paul can't have one.\" - \"This can't stick.\" - \"I didn't did it.\" (Tense misplacement error). - \"Don't kick my box.\" - \"I am not a doctor.\" - \"Donna won't let go.\" - **Errors**: - Tense misassignment occurs, as children struggle to shift tense correctly from the verb to the auxiliary. - Example: \"I didn't did it\" (correct: *I didn't do it*). - Example: \"You didn't caught me\" (correct: *You didn't catch me*). - Occasional inconsistencies in negation with the copula or modals. **Mastery of Negation** - By the end of Stage 3, children have a strong grasp of negation rules, with only minor errors persisting. - Further refinement occurs over the next year or so, as children resolve issues with tense reassignment and exceptions in negative marking. 1.2 The development of speech comprehension 1.2.1: Fetuses and Speech Input The section explores research on whether fetuses can perceive speech sounds while in the uterus and how this might influence postnatal language development. - **Benzaquen et al. (1990)** conducted a study where a microphone was placed inside the uterus to determine if speech sounds could reach the fetus over the ambient sounds of the mother\'s heartbeat and blood flow. They found that the mother\'s speech could indeed reach the fetal environment. However, there is debate about whether the fetal auditory system is developed enough to process these sounds meaningfully. - **Lecanuet et al. (1989)** exposed pregnant women to specific sound sequences (/babi/ + /biba/ or /biba/ + /babi/) using loudspeakers placed near them. They measured the fetuses\' heart rates and found that the heart rates changed in response to the familiarized sound sequences, suggesting that fetuses can detect and learn auditory patterns before birth. - **DeCasper and Fifer (1980)** studied newborns less than three days old. By connecting a pacifier to a recording device, they observed that infants would adjust their sucking rates to hear recordings of their mother\'s voice over another woman\'s voice, indicating an early preference and ability to distinguish their mother\'s voice. - **Locke (1993)** proposed that the recognition of the mother\'s voice might develop postnatally within the first 12 hours after birth, rather than prenatally, challenging the interpretation of earlier findings. - The section concludes by noting that, although some sounds reach the fetus, the uterine environment likely distorts speech sounds due to the liquid medium, making it difficult for fetuses to distinguish detailed speech elements, similar to how sounds are perceived underwater. 1.2.2 Speech comprehension occurs without speech production: the case of mute-hearing children This section examines instances where individuals with normal hearing but severely impaired speech production abilities develop full language comprehension. These cases illustrate that speech comprehension can develop independently of the capacity to produce speech. - **Christopher Nolan**, an Irish writer born with cerebral palsy, was unable to articulate speech due to profound motor impairments. Despite this, he developed a sophisticated understanding of language through auditory input alone. Using a head-mounted pointer to select letters, he authored notable literary works, demonstrating that profound language comprehension and creativity are possible without speech production. - **Anne McDonald**, an Australian woman with severe physical disabilities preventing speech, similarly developed full language comprehension. Through the use of assistive communication technology, she expressed complex thoughts and pursued higher education, highlighting the dissociation between speech production and comprehension. - **Rie**, a Japanese girl who was mute but physically active, comprehended spoken Japanese at a level comparable to her peers. She responded accurately to complex verbal instructions and learned to recognize and understand written characters, further exemplifying that speech production is not requisite for language understanding. These cases underscore the notion that individuals can internalize the grammatical and semantic structures of a language through comprehension alone. The development of a mental grammar, facilitating the understanding of complex linguistic input, occurs even in the absence of the ability to produce speech. 1.2.3 In Normal Children, Speech Comprehension Develops in Advance of Speech Production Children first need to understand speech to use words and sentences meaningfully. Language acquisition is gradual; as they comprehend words and grammar, they begin to produce them. This pattern holds throughout development---**comprehension** consistently **precedes production**. Comprehension and production develop together. As children\'s grammatical understanding improves, they incorporate this knowledge into their speech. Studies show that infants as young as six months can recognize words like \"mommy\" and \"daddy,\" indicating that comprehension starts before they begin speaking. 1.2.4 Speech Production Lags Behind Speech Comprehension 1.2.4.1 The Huttenlocher Study - **Study Overview**: - Huttenlocher (1974) examined four children aged 10 to 13 months over six months. - Found that comprehension of speech exceeded their production abilities. - **Findings**: - The children could identify familiar objects (e.g., \"bottle,\" \"diaper\") when named. - They responded appropriately to complex commands involving possessive distinctions, such as: *"Baby's diaper"* vs. *"Your diaper"*. *"Baby's bottle"* vs. *"Your bottle"*. - **Implication**: - Even though the children could not produce such structures in speech, their comprehension demonstrated understanding of these distinctions. 1.2.4.2 The Sachs and Truswell Study - **Study Overview**: - Sachs and Truswell (1978) studied children in the one-word production stage. - Examined whether children could comprehend multi-word syntactic structures. - **Findings**: - Using familiar words from the children's vocabulary (e.g., \"kiss,\" \"smell,\" \"ball,\" \"truck\"), researchers created novel combinations in imperatives (e.g., *"Kiss ball"*, *"Smell truck"*). - The children correctly followed the instructions, demonstrating their ability to comprehend combinations beyond their production capability. - **Implication**: - Children's comprehension of syntactic structures is more advanced than their production at this stage. 1.2.4.3 A Reading Before Speaking Study - **Study Overview**: - Steinberg and Steinberg (1975) demonstrated that children could understand written language before they could produce the same words in speech. - **Findings**: - Their son was taught to recognize and comprehend written words, phrases, and sentences. - He responded correctly to commands like *"Open the door"*, regardless of whether they were spoken or written, even though he could not yet say those words. - **Implication**: - This supports the idea that comprehension develops ahead of production, even in literacy-related contexts. **Key Insights** 1. **Comprehension-Production Gap**: - Studies show that children comprehend more complex linguistic structures than they can produce during early language development stages. 2. **Examples of the Gap**: - Understanding possessive distinctions (*Huttenlocher*). - Comprehension of multi-word imperatives (*Sachs and Truswell*). - Reading before speaking (*Steinberg and Steinberg*). 3. **Implications for Language Learning**: - Children's cognitive abilities to comprehend language lay the foundation for later production. - Their comprehension expands gradually, enabling them to understand and process novel combinations of words before producing them themselves. 1.2.5 Relative Paucity of Comprehension Studies - **Limited Research**: There are fewer studies on children\'s language comprehension compared to production. - **Methodological Challenges**: Assessing comprehension is complex and subjective, using methods like looking-time and pointing tasks. - **Critical Gap**: Understanding comprehension is essential for a complete view of language acquisition and informing educational practices. 1.3 The relationship of speech production, speech comprehension, and thought 1.3.1 Speech comprehension necessarily precedes speech production - A learner must first hear speech sounds to know which to produce. - Understanding speech sounds requires associating them with experiences before assigning meaning. 1.3.2 Thought as the Basis of Speech Comprehension - **Concepts and Meaning**: The meanings underlying speech comprehension arise from concepts in a person\'s mind, which are shaped by experiences rather than the speech sounds themselves. - **Role of Experience**: Children derive meanings from their experiences with the environment (e.g., animals, people, food) and their own emotions and desires. Without these experiences, they lack the context to assign meaning to words and sentences. - **Thought Precedes Language**: Thought is fundamental to language acquisition. Cases exist of individuals without language (e.g., some deaf individuals, children raised in isolation), but there are no known cases of individuals who have language but lack thought. - **Function of Language**: Language serves to label and communicate thoughts through physical sounds, but thought itself encompasses ideas, feelings, and perceptions independent of language. - **Learning Syntax**: Understanding syntactic structures requires more than knowing individual word meanings. For example, to grasp the sentence \"John chased Bill,\" children must witness the corresponding event to comprehend the roles of the agent (John) and the object (Bill). - **Integration of Experience**: Hearing sentences alongside real-world events helps children learn the relationships between words and their meanings, reinforcing the Agent--Action--Object structure in language. 1.4 Parentese and Baby Talk 1.4.1 Parentese - **Impact of Chomsky\'s Theories**: In the 1960s, Noam Chomsky\'s theories on innate language knowledge shifted focus away from the importance of experiential input---both linguistic and environmental---in language learning. - **Need for Quality Input**: Research indicates that the type of speech and environmental input children receive is crucial for language acquisition. Limited exposure to language, such as through television or overheard adult conversations, leads to poor language development. - **Definition of Parentese**: Parentese, also known as \"Motherese,\" \"caregiver speech,\" \"Adult-to-Child Language\" (ACL), or \"Child-Directed Speech\" (CDS), refers to the specialized speech adults use when communicating with young children. - **Characteristics of Parentese**: This form of speech is characterized by specific linguistic features and is delivered from various caregivers, including parents, siblings, and relatives. It plays a vital role in facilitating language learning for children. 1.4.2 Characteristics of Parentese **Immediacy and Concreteness** - Adults typically talk to children about immediate, observable events rather than abstract concepts. For example, they might say, \"The dog wants water,\" focusing on the present situation. **Grammaticality of Input** - Speech directed at children is generally highly grammatical and simplified, with ungrammatical sentences being rare (e.g., one ungrammatical sentence per 1500 utterances). This consistency aids children in understanding sentence structures. **Short Sentences and Simple Structures** - Parentese often consists of short, simple sentences instead of complex structures. For instance, \"The dog wants water\" is preferred over more complex phrases. **Vocabulary: Simple and Short** - Adults use simple and restricted vocabulary when speaking to children, favoring words like \"see\" over \"notice\" and \"hard\" instead of \"difficult.\" Phonology is also simplified, using consonant-vowel patterns (e.g., \"mama,\" \"wawa\"). **Exaggerated Intonation, Pitch, and Stress** - Adults exaggerate intonation and use a slower tempo, often repeating or rephrasing statements. They use higher pitch, clearer pauses, and distinctive stress to enhance understanding. **Adaptation by Older Children** - Not only adults but also older children simplify their speech when talking to younger children, indicating a broader tendency to adjust language based on the listener\'s age, even among peers. 1.4.3 Baby Talk - Baby Talk is a form of Parentese characterized by overly simplified vocabulary and syntax, designed to facilitate communication with young children. **Vocabulary** - **Simplification**: Baby Talk uses established words like \"bow-wow\" (dog) and \"choo-choo\" (train), often featuring a simple Consonant + Vowel structure, frequently repeated (e.g., \"wan-wan\"). - **Onomatopoeia**: Many Baby Talk words mimic the sounds associated with the objects they refer to, such as \"bow-wow\" for barking and \"choo-choo\" for a train. **Syntax** - **Less Emphasis**: Syntax is less prominent in Baby Talk; adults often use simplified structures resembling children's early speech. - **Examples of Simplification**: Instead of saying, \"I will give you a banana,\" a parent might say, \"Mommy give Tony banana,\" omitting articles and modal verbs. - **Proper Name Substitution**: Parents often use proper names (e.g., \"Mommy,\" \"Tony\") instead of personal pronouns, making it easier for children to understand. 1.4.4 The Effect of Parentese and Baby Talk in Language Learning - **Facilitation of Language Learning**: Studies indicate that Parentese and Baby Talk have a positive, but small, effect on language acquisition (Newport et al., 1977; Furrow et al., 1979; Kemler-Nelson et al., 1989; Murray et al., 1990). - **Age-Related Effectiveness**: Research suggests that Parentese is particularly effective for very young children (Gleitman et al., 1984). - **Conclusion**: The prevalence of Parentese and Baby Talk in interactions with young children supports the idea that these forms of speech are beneficial for language learning. 1.5 Imitation, rule learning, and correction 1.5.1 What is learned by imitation - **Imitation in Language Learning**: Many believe that children learn language by imitating the words they hear, which helps them pronounce sounds and words. - **Limitations of Imitation**: - **Production vs. Comprehension**: Imitation applies only to speech production, not comprehension. Since comprehension precedes production, imitation cannot be involved in the primary process of language learning. - **Abstract Rules**: Imitation cannot account for the construction of sentences, as abstract rules cannot be physically imitated. While the output of these rules (speech) exists, the rules themselves are not observable. - **Role of Imitation**: Despite its limitations, imitation plays a significant role in developing articulation and the sound patterns of speech. 1.5.2 Productivity by Rule - **Novel Word Production**: Children often produce novel and ungrammatical words and sentences that cannot be explained by imitation. Examples include: - Plurals: \"sheeps,\" \"mouses,\" \"gooses\" - Past tense: \"goed,\" \"comed,\" \"falled,\" \"breaked\" - **Rule Formulation**: Children formulate rules in their minds to construct these novel utterances. They learn the plural and past tense morphemes and apply them to new cases, often leading to errors with irregular forms. - **Regular vs. Irregular Forms**: While children correctly use regular forms (e.g., \"hat/hats,\" \"carry/carried\"), they may incorrectly apply rules to irregular words they have previously learned (e.g., \"went\" becomes \"goed\"). - **Strong Rule Application**: The rules children develop can override previously learned irregular forms, leading to confusion and the creation of incorrect forms like \"wented\" and \"camed.\" - **Learning Exceptions**: Children must eventually learn the exceptions to these rules, demonstrating that while they understand the proper forms when spoken to them, applying rules correctly can be challenging due to exceptions in language. 1.5.3 The Frequent Futility of Correction - **Ineffectiveness of Correction**: Research indicates that correcting children\'s speech is often ineffective, as parents typically do not focus on grammatical correctness (Brown et al., 1969; Brown, 1973). - **Limited Impact**: While some corrections may help older children, the rarity of grammatical corrections relative to the number of mistakes suggests that correction plays a minor role in grammar learning. - **Self-Recognition**: Children usually notice their own speech errors over time and make necessary adjustments independently. - **Nature of Correction**: Corrections often involve repeating the child's incorrect utterance in a corrected form, which may not help. Children must identify the difference, understand the error, and adjust their grammar, a complex task they often ignore. - **Focus on Context**: Parents are generally more concerned with the truthfulness or appropriateness of a child\'s statements than with grammatical accuracy. For instance, a child may receive a reprimand for lying rather than a grammatical correction. - **Social Learning**: Children tend to learn social norms and appropriateness over grammatical rules, indicating that correction is more about behavior than language structure. 1.6 Learning Abstract Words - **Progression from Concrete to Abstract**: Children typically learn words starting with concrete objects (e.g., \"mama,\" \"dog\") and direct actions (e.g., \"run,\" \"jump\"), moving on to relational terms (e.g., \"on,\" \"sitting\") and later to mental experiences (e.g., \"hungry,\" \"happy\") before grasping complex abstract concepts (e.g., \"truth,\" \"hope\"). - **Learning Mechanisms**: - **Simple Association**: For concrete words, children can directly associate sounds with objects. However, for abstract words, more complex cognitive processes are required. - **Hypothesizing**: Children must infer meanings based on contextual clues and their own experiences, as abstract concepts are not directly observable. - **Examples of Learning Abstract Words**: - **\"Hungry\" and \"Hurt\"**: A child might hear \"Are you hungry?\" when crying or \"Does it hurt?\" after falling. Through repeated exposure and contextual understanding, the child associates these words with their feelings of hunger and pain. - **Complex Ideas**: Words like \"lie\" and \"guess\" require children to understand more abstract ideas. For example, after telling a falsehood, a child learns the word \"lie\" by recognizing the discrepancy between their statement and reality. - **Metaphor as a Learning Tool**: Metaphorical language helps children understand abstract concepts by connecting familiar words to new meanings. For instance, when a father says, \"I\'m glad you saw the light,\" the child hypothesizes that \"light\" may refer to understanding or making the right choice. 1.7 Memory and logic in language learning 1.7.1 Memory - **Importance of Memory in Language Learning**: Memory is a crucial psychological factor underlying children\'s language acquisition. It enables them to identify words, develop rules, and relate speech to their environment and mental states. - **Retention of Language Data**: Children must remember numerous words, phrases, and sentences, along with the contexts in which they were used. This memory provides the foundation for vocabulary and structural analyses. - **Abstract Meaning and Rule Discovery**: A good memory allows children to compare new sentences with previously experienced ones, facilitating the understanding of abstract meanings and grammatical structures, such as negation. - **Evidence from Research**: Studies on patients with semantic short-term memory deficits show that they struggle to comprehend and produce multi-word structures, highlighting the role of memory in language processing (Martin and Freedman, 2001; Martin and He, 2004). - **Early Memory Development**: Children can remember stories word for word and learn idiomatic expressions. Research indicates that infants as young as 8 months can recognize and remember speech sounds from familiar stories (Jusczyk and Hohne, 1997). - **Broad Memory Capacity**: The impressive memory capacity of children is not limited to language; it extends to various domains, including faces, objects, music, and past events, demonstrating a remarkable ability to retain and process information. 1.7.2 Logic **Young Children Use Inductive Logic** - In early language learning, children employ inductive reasoning to analyze words and sentences. For instance, with plurals, they observe that a suffix is added when discussing multiple objects. By scanning mature speakers\' sentences, they formulate rules based on actual data---this process exemplifies inductive logic, where characteristics in speech are connected to objects and events. **Young Children Use Deductive Logic** - Children also demonstrate deductive reasoning in their speech. For example, when a child states, \"You have more than me!\" in the context of sharing cookies, they imply a logical argument: - **Premise 1**: You have more cookies than me. - **Premise 2**: We should have an equal amount. - **Conclusion**: You should give me some of your cookies to make it equal. Tom's response of sharing cookies indicates he understood the underlying argument, showing that children can engage in complex logical reasoning earlier than traditionally thought. **Revisions to Developmental Theories** - This analysis challenges Piagetian theories, which suggest that deductive logic develops after age six, indicating that the age norms for both inductive and deductive logic need reconsideration. Additionally, Piaget\'s assertion that intelligence relies on physical interactions with objects is flawed, as evidenced by individuals with severe physical limitations who still develop high intelligence and language skills.