Chapter 9: Language Development
Language the systematic and conventional use of sounds, signs or written symbols for
the intention of communication or self-expression
Human language differs from the communication systems of other species in 3 different
ways:
1. Human language is symbolic the hand movements and sounds represent
something that is independent of just the sounds and movements
2. It is grammatical each language has a system of rules that allows the speaker to
form sentences that may not have been formed before; it does not have a set
number of sentences that all speakers must memorize
3. The language varies from culture to culture although all humans acquire
language, the languages we speak depend on the cultures we come from
In order to successfully acquire language, it is important to develop expertise in the
following areas of language:
The form phonology and structure of words and sentences
The meaning accomplished through semantics and grammar
The use pragmatics
Thus, it is clear that language consists of many components:
Phonology the actual sounds made by the speaker
Semantics the underlying, abstract meaning of language
Grammar the linguistic rules of a language
Pragmatics the use of language in a social context; or ability to use language to get
things done in the world
There are two extremist positions that try to explain how children acquire language:
1. The empiricist position this position states that language is acquired through the
mechanisms of learning, just like how everything else is acquired
B F Skinner was the one who proposed this he thought that children
acquire language through operant and classical conditioning
o Although this is somewhat true, children do not learn language
entirely through conditioning for example, grammar: children do
not imitate grammar they have not yet learned, unless they are
able to produce it on their own
2. Contemporary theoretical perspective acknowledges that a childs language
environment is important for language acquisition, but that children are also
especially prepared for learning language - Nativist theories children are born with a broad theory of language that they
modify in accordance with the speech they hear while growing up
Nativists believe that language is a domain-specific goal, and the cognitive
processes involved in learning language are different from those used for
acquisition of other skills.
Theories date back to ancient times In Greece, it was believed that the
first word a child spoke would be from the worlds oldest language
o King Psammetichus commanded this upon a child, and the child
uttered bekos, which was Phrygian for bread, and so it was believed
that Phrygian was the oldest language in the world.
Modern theorists believe that children possess a language instinct the
structures and processes of acquiring language are innate, but typical
language environments allow kids to learn their mother tongue
Claims:
o Language is a unique human ability with a strong biological base
o Eric Lenneberg championed the position that language is based in
biology, pointing out six characteristics to support his argument
o Language is:
Species specific
Species uniform
Difficult to prevent
Develops in a regular sequence
Has specific anatomical structures associated with its use
Sometimes affected by language disabilities that are
genetically based
- Social interactionist perspective language acquisition comes from childrens
social interaction with others and is based on their developing social-cognitive
abilities
Universal Grammar
Noam Chomsky
Refers to the innate grammatical rules that typify all languages
Chomsky proposed that children are born with a special mental organ, the LAD
(language acquisition device) - this, according to Chomsky, is a mechanism that
enables humans to acquire any language given a minimum linguistic input
The idea is that children dont know actual language, instead they possess a set of
principles and parameters that help them interpret the speech they hear
Nativists point out the universal similarities of all languages e.g. all languages have
vocabularies that are divided into parts of speech, prefixes and suffixes
Sensitive Period for Language Acquisition The implication that childrens brains are specifically suited to learning language,
but with time, experience and brain maturation, they lose this ability of language
learning, making it more difficult for them to learn languages
Consistent with nativist perspective
Four sources of evidence:
o Children who experience social isolation in their childhood rarely acquire
more than a tentative mastery of language
o Adults are clearly able to learn a second language, but the later they are
exposed to it, the more difficult it is for them to pick it up
o Even first languages, like the American Sign Language, become harder to pick
up for hearing-impaired children if they are exposed to it at a later age
o Brain damage the later your left hemisphere gets damaged, the harder it is
for you to acquire and speak language normally because it becomes more
difficult for other areas of the brain to take over the language function
Pidgins structurally simple communication systems that arise when people who share no
common language come into constant contact with each other
Creole language that develops when children transform the pidgin of their parents to a
grammatically more complex true language
Social Interactionism
Believe that language development is the consequence of a set of mechanisms and
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