Language
Acquisition
Psychology 236
Lifespan Development
Spring 2008
Chapter 9
William J. Davis
Graduate Assistant
Department of Psychology
Central Connecticut State University
What Is Language?
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Symbolic
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Learned
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Rules (grammar,
syntax, etc.)
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Infinitely Flexible
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Infinite Generativity
How Do We Use Language?
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Social Exchange of Information
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“Gossip”
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2/3 of all conversations
Transmission of Technically Complex
Information
“If an Ape doesn't see it, they will never
know about it”
The
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Biology Of Language
Noam Chomski
“Language Acquisition
Device”
–
The brain contains
special languagelearning mechanisms at
Birth
–
“Pre-Wired for
Language”
The
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Broca's Area
–
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production
Broca's Area
Wernicke's Area
–
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Brain and Language
comprehension
Aphasia
–
Impairment of
language
Wernicke's Area
Critical / Sensitive Periods
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A 3 year old has about TWICE as many
connections between brain cells as she
will have when she is an adult.
During childhood, trillions of connections
are being checked.
Pruning – “Use It or Loose It”
By age 7, window for language
acquisition begins to close
Environment & Language
●
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Behavioral Theory – Successful
attempts at imitating parents' language
is rewarded (Positive reinforcement) –
Unsuccessful attempts are punished or
not rewarded (Negative reinforcement)
Limitations – Does not explain
creation of unique sentences; Language
is often learned even if not reinforced
Interactionist
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A social view of language acquisition
Language can only be learned in the
context of interaction with other
people
Biology & Environment interact
–
Genie & Mary “No-Name” were socially
isolated
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How did language develop in the deaf
Nicaraguan children?
Infancy
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Birth to 18 months
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“Babbling & Gestures”
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Deaf children “Babble”
with hands
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Discovering the
Phonology of their
native language
–
Are capable of
learning ANY language
Infancy (cont.)
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8 to 12 months – Begin understanding
words; using gestures to communicate
with parents
10 to 15 months – Baby's First Words
18 months – Burst of Language; They
want to know the word for everything
–
Corresponds to development of “Object
Permanence”
Toddlers
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2 to 3 years
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Rapid development of
vocabulary
–
Grammar, Syntax
–
Intonations & accent of
parents' culture
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Increased use of verbs
–
Use of complex
sentences
Toddlers (cont.)
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By the age of 3
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Has around 900-1000 words
–
Much of what is said is understandable
–
Can follow conversations and understand
narratives
–
Can give narratives that can be followed
–
Has a command of the past, present and
future tenses
Pre-School
●
●
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Learning about 50 new
words per month
By age 4, she is speaking
in long, grammatically
correct sentences
By age 7, she has a
vocabulary of about
14,000 words
Pre-School (cont.)
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Increased mastery & has a basic grasp of
the complex rules of grammar & syntax
“And, If, so, because, then, but”
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More complex understanding of reality
–
relationship between things & events
–
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Conditional thinking; Causality
Able to talk about things that are not
here & not now
Middle Childhood
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6 to 8 years
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Understand
transformations in
syntax
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Perception of Nuance
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Make comparisons
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Categorizing by parts
of speech
–
Reading & Writing
Middle Childhood (cont.)
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By age 10 or 11...
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Average vocabulary of over 40,000 words
–
Know what is appropriate and inappropriate
to say in various contexts
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Able to understand new words and phrases
by looking at the parts that make up the
word
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Word Play; Figures of Speech; Metaphors;
Similes