LIN 1300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Baby Talk, Functional Theories Of Grammar, Metropolitan Area Youth Symphony

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Linguistics
• Course: LIN 1300
• Professor: Laura Kastronic

Document Summary

Language is a complex system that sets us apart from other animals. Native language acquisition: babbling> first words> 1 word stage> 2 word stage> complex structures. But language can be acquired by adults too in the form of a 2nd 3rd 4th language (cid:314) 2nd language acquisition differs from 1st in many respects. Humans are predisposed to acquire & learn language. Babies are born with knowledge that language has patterns and are able to identify those patterns. Innate knowledge of linguistic universals & universal grammar. Children can make utterances they"ve never heard before. It"s appearance is not the result of a conscious decision. It"s emergence is not triggered by external events: the behaviour emerges before it is necessary. Critical period : period of time in an individual"s life during which a behaviour must be acquired (cid:313) if not acquired during this period, normal language skills will not be attained.