PSY 102 Lecture 9: Lecture 9
30 Apr 2018
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April 5th, 2018 PSY102 – Lecture 9
1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Language
• Arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols, such as words or gestural
signs, in rule-based ways to create meaning
• A language is a system of symbols, sounds, meanings, and rules of combination
• Allows for communication of information, as well as social and emotional functions
• Phonemes: the smallest units of sound
o A, E, I, O, U, Da, Ga, etc.
• Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning
• Phrases are composed of morphemes
• Sentences: strings of morphemes and phrases that express a thought or intention
Features of Language
• Highly practiced and automatic process
• Four levels of analysis that must coordinate
o Phonemes
o Morphemes
o Syntax
o Extralinguistic information
Phonemes
• Categories of sounds our vocal apparatus produces
• Probably around 100 total, each language only uses a subset of them
• 40-45 in English, range from 15-80 worldwide
Morphemes
• The smallest grammatical unit in a language
o In other words, it is the smallest meaningful unit of a language
• Convey information about semantics –meaning derived from words and sentences
• Can be full words (“dog”) or modifiers (“re-”)
o Example: -ed, -ing, -s → plurals
Syntax
• The set of rules of a language by which we construct sentences
• Includes word order, morphological markers, and sentence structure
• Real-world language rarely follows this completely
o Example: Informal, Formal
Extra-Linguistic Information
• Elements of communication that are not part of the content of language
o but are critical to interpreting its meaning
• Used to help interpret ambiguous information
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
April 5th, 2018 PSY102 – Lecture 9
2
Nonverbal Communication
• Nonverbal communication includes:
o vocal intonation
o body language (crossed arms)
o gestures (often involving the hands or fingers)
o physical distance
o facial expressions
o touch
Language Dialects
• Variations of the same language used by groups of people from specific geographic areas,
social groups, or ethnic backgrounds.
• Use consistent syntax rules, although they may differ from “mainstream” speech
• “Where you at?” vs “What are you doing?”
Where and Why?
• Language requires a long learning period, hefty brain power, and other disadvantages
• Advantages then must be particularly useful
o Communication of complex ideas
o Coordinates social interactions
o Assists in complex activities
• Studying language evolution is complicated
• Phonemes, morphemes, and syntax are not usually related to what they refer
• Exceptions of onomatopoeia and sound symbolism
o Onomatopoeia: Word which mimics the sound → BOOM!
▪ POW! → Hitting something, Hoot → Owl hooting
Onomatopoeia
• A word that mimics the sound of the object or action it refers to
• When you pronounce a word, it will mimic its sound.
Sound Symbolism
• The fact that certain words seem to have intrinsic meanings
Language Development
• 100 basic phonemes
• Babbling (6 - 18 months)
• Words (10 - 13 months)
• Vocabulary spurt (18 – 24 months)
• Receptive (understanding) vs. productive vocabulary
• Fast Mapping
• Over and Under-extensions
• Over regularizations
Babbling
• Children begin to recognize their native language before they are born
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find more resources at oneclass.com
April 5th, 2018 PSY102 – Lecture 9
3
• Babbling during first year allows babies to develop control over vocal tracts
• Also, developing phoneme recognition during this time
Learning Language
• By the end of first year, babbling takes on a conversational tone that sounds meaningful
even though it isn’t
Learning Words
• Comprehension precedes production
• Recognize words long before being able to say them
• Only have a limited ability to coordinate sounds to produce words
• Recognize own name by 6 months, comprehend other words by 10-12 months
• Begin to produce words around 1 year of age, with an exponential rate of increase
• Tend to over – and – under extend word meanings
Word Explosion/Spurt
• By 15 months know about 50 words, but at 18-24 months suddenly have a word explosion
• Fast mapping
Syntactic Development
• Refers to combining words into phrases
• Start off speaking in the one-word stage, move to combining two words by two years
• Can comprehend basic syntax rules before they can display them
Sign Language
• Type of language used by deaf communities that relies on visual communication
• More than gestures, exhibits all features of spoken language
• Same brain areas are involved
• Developmental stages are the same in spoken and sign languages
Bilingualism
• The earlier the better
• Usually have one dominant language, but proficient in both
• Pass through same stages as monolinguists, although syntax is slowed
• Have heightened metalinguistic insight and tend to perform better on language tasks
• Same brain areas used if second language is learned early, but different areas used if learned
later in development
Language Development
• Nature versus Nurture debate
o Natural innate language abilities versus learning
• The case for nurture: (behaviorist)
o B.F. Skinner argued that children imitate the utterances of their parents
o Skinner suggests that children receive differential reinforcement for speech sounds
• The case for nature (Nativist)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Features of language: highly practiced and automatic process, four levels of analysis that must coordinate, phonemes, morphemes, syntax, extralinguistic information. Phonemes: categories of sounds our vocal apparatus produces, probably around 100 total, each language only uses a subset of them, 40-45 in english, range from 15-80 worldwide. Syntax: the set of rules of a language by which we construct sentences, real-world language rarely follows this completely. Includes word order, morphological markers, and sentence structure: example: informal, formal. Extra-linguistic information: elements of communication that are not part of the content of language, but are critical to interpreting its meaning, used to help interpret ambiguous information. Nonverbal communication: nonverbal communication includes, vocal intonation, body language (crossed arms, gestures (often involving the hands or fingers, physical distance, facial expressions touch. Onomatopoeia: a word that mimics the sound of the object or action it refers to, when you pronounce a word, it will mimic its sound.
