The Development of LanguageChapter 9Language and Communication

How do we develop the ability to communicate?Module Objectives:What are the elements of speech?How do children develop speech?How do children learn the meaning of words?

Infants begin making sounds at birth. They cry, coo, and laughbut in the first year they dont really do much talking

It could be argued that infants DO communicate with others, but do not have language

What is Language?Think about your languagemaybe you even speak more than one! What makes a language?

This is a broad conceptlanguage is a system that relates sounds or gestures to meaning.

Language is expressed through speech, writing and gesture.

There are four distinct elements to language-Phonology refers to the sounds of a language

Semantics is the study of words and their meaning

Grammar refers to the rules used to describe the structure of a languageWhich involves syntax or rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences

Pragmatics is the study of how people use language to communicate effectively

Children must learn to hear the differences in speech sounds and how to produce them; they must learn the meaning of words and rules for combining them into sentences and they must learn effective ways to talk with others

PhonemesThe basic building blocks of languageThe unique sounds that can be joined to create wordsThe sound of p in pin, pet, and patThe sound of b in bed, bat, and bird

Infants can distinguish many of these sounds, some of them as early as 1 month after birth

Can discriminate sounds they have never heard before such as phonemes from a foreign language

The language environment for infants is not solely auditory. Much language exposure comes from face-to-face interaction with adults

Infants use many tools to identity words in speech. They dont understand the meaning of the word yet, but they can recognize a word as a distinct configuration of sounds

Parents and adults help infants master language sounds by talking in a distinctive styleThink on your ownIn what distinctive way do adults talk to infants? How can this help infants master the language?

Language developmentInfants are equipped for language even before birth, partly due to brain readiness, partly because of auditory experiences in the uterus

Children around the world have the same sequence of early language development

Newborns prefer to hear speech over other sounds- they prefer to listen to baby talk- the high pitched, simplified and repetitive was adults speak to infants

The sound of a human voice, whether familiar or strange always fascinates infants

Adults Use Infant-Directed SpeechAdults speak slowly and with exaggerated changes in pitch and loudness and elongated pauses between utterances

Also known as parentese, motherese, or child-directed speech

Infant-direct speech may attract infants attention more than adult-directed speech because its slower pace and accentuated changes provide the infant with more salient language cues

Helps infants perceive the sounds that are fundamental to their language

When talking to girls, adults use more words like doggie and blankie whereas with boys, adults use more words like dog and blanket. Girls hear twice as many diminutives.

If infant-directed speech helps infants perceive sounds that are essential to the development of their languageWhat about children who cannot hear?

Deaf ChildrenAbout 1 in every 1,000 American infants is born deaf

Over 90% of deaf children have hearing parents

These children are often delayed in language and complex make-believe play

MommyDaddyBaby

Deaf infants and toddlers seem to master sign language in much the same way and at about the same pace that hearing children master spoken language.

Deaf 10-month-olds often babble in signs: they produce signs that are meaningless but resemble the tempo and duration of real signs

Deaf ChildrenCompared to hearing children, babbling of deaf children is delayed

However, if they are exposed to sign language development will be right on schedule with normal-hearing childrens speech development

Hearing dog, infants in the middle of the first year of life may first say dod then gog before finally saying dog correctly

The same gradual progression will occur with sign language infants will make mistakes at first before making the correct sign for dog

Speech ProductionAt 2 months, infants begin making sounds that are language-basedStarts with cooing

They begin by producing vowel-like sounds, such as ooooo and ahhhh

At 5 to 6 months, infants begin making speech-like sound that have no meaning

Cooing turns into babbling

Baby TalkBabbling is the extended repetition of certain single syllables, such as ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ba-ba-ba that begins at 6-7 months of age.

Babbling is experience-expectant learningAll babies babbleAll babies gesture

The sounds they make are similar no matter what language their parents speak

BabblingOver the next few months, babbling incorporates sounds from their native language.

Even untrained listeners can distinguish between babbling infants who have been raised in cultures in which French, Arabic, or Cantonese languages were spoken.

Many cultures assign important meanings to the sounds babies babble:

ma-ma-ma, da-da-da and pa-pa-pa are usually taken to apply to significant people in the infants life

First WordsInfants first recognize words, then they begin to comprehend words

At about 4 months of age, infants will listen longer to a tape repeating their own name than to a tape of different but similar name

At about 7-8 months of age, infants readily learn to recognize new words and remember them for weeks

At 6 months if an infant hears either mommy or daddy, they look toward the appropriate person.

By their 1st birthday, infants usually say their first words, usually an extension of babbling.By the age of 2 most children have a vocabulary of a few hundred words, and by age 6 the vocabulary includes over 10,000 words!

The Importance of SymbolsChildren begin using gestures, which are symbols shortly before their first birthday.

Gestures and words convey a message equally wellsometimes gestures pave the way for language

In one study, 50% of all objects were referred to first by gesture and, about 3 months later, by word (Iverson & Meadow, 2005)

After children know that objects have names, a gesture is a convenient substitute for pronouns like it or that and often cause the adult to say the objects name

Names for everything!Once an infants vocabulary reaches about 50 words it suddenly begins to build rapidly, at a rate of 50-100+ words per month, mostly nouns.

This language spurt occurs around 18 months and is sometimes called the Naming explosion.

Productive VocabularyEarly productive vocabularies of children in the US include names for people, objects, and events from the childs everyday life.

Frequent events or routines are also labeled, such as up or bye-bye

Nouns predominate the early productive vocabularies of children

The rate of childrens vocabulary development is influenced by the amount of talk they are exposed toThe more speech that is addressed to a toddler, the more rapidly the toddler will learn new words

Word ComprehensionFast Mapping is the process of rapidly learning a new word simply from the contrastive use of a familiar word and an unfamiliar word

The childrens ability to connect new words to familiar words so rapidly that they cannot be considering all possible meaning for the new word

Example of Fast MappingIn a preschool classroom, an experimenter drew a childs attention to two blocks asking the child to get the celadon block not the blue one

From this simple contrast, the child inferred that the name of the color of the requested object was celadon

After a single exposure to this novel word, about half the children showed some knowledge of it a week later by correctly picking the celadon color child from a bunch of paint chips

Give Fast-Mapping a tryAnswer the following questions on you own.

This is a snurk. It walks on its flaxes. How many flaxes does a snurk have?Snurks have twice as many flaxes as ampolinks. Where are the amopolinlks?Snurks are covered with garslim. Garslim is like __________?Like dogs, snurks can wag their pangeers. Where is the pangeer?Do you think snurks can bispooche? Why or why not?

These questions put you back in toddlers shoes listening to adults speak. Like toddlers, you all must rely on context to comprehend the strange vocabulary to describe the snurk.

In absence of adequate context, comprehension is impossible (as you experienced in question #5).

Early Errors in LanguageOne common inaccuracy is underextension using a word too narrowly.

Using the word cat to refer only to the family cat

Using the word ball to refer only to a favorite toy ball

Sarah refers to the blanket she sleeps with as blankie. When Aunt Ethel gives her a new blanket Sarah refuses to call the new one a blankie she restricts that word only to her original blanket.

OverextensionThe use a given word in a broader context than is appropriate

Common between 1 and 3 years of ageMore common than Underextension

Toddlers will apply the new word to a group of similar experiences

Open for opening a door, peeling fruit, or undoing shoelaces

Language ErrorsChildren overextend because they have not acquired another suitable word or because they have difficulty remembering a more suitable word

Examples:Ball referring to ball, balloon, marble, egg, or appleMoon referring to moon, half-moon shaped lemon slice, or half a CheerioCar referring to a car, bus, truck, or tractorDaddy referring to dad or any manDoggie referring to dog or any four-legged animal

Making SentencesMost children begin to combine words into simple sentences by 18 to 24 months of age

Childrens first sentences are two-word combinations referred to as Telegraphic speech

Words directly relevant to meaning

Words not critical to the meaning are left out similar to the way telegrams were written such as:Function words: a, the inAuxiliary words: is, was, will beWord endings: plurals, possessives, verb tenses

These sentences are brief and to the point, containing only vital informationMore cookie, Mommy go, Daddy juice, Sue dogs

By about 2 years of age, children have the ability to produce more complex sentences (four or more words per sentence).

The longer sentences are filled with grammatical morphemes (words or endings of words that make sentences more grammatical).

A 1 -year-old might say kick ball but a 3-year-old would be more likely to say I am kicking the ball

OverregularizationSpeech errors in which children treat irregular forms of words as if they were regular.

Applying rules to words that are exceptions to the rule

This leads young children to talk about foots, tooths, sleeps, sheeps and mouses.

Although technically wrong, Overregularization is a sign of verbal sophistication because it shows children are applying the rules to grammar.

Between 3 and 6 Years of AgeChildren learn to use negationThat isnt a butterfly

Children learn to use embedded sentencesJennifer thinks that Bill took the book

Children begin to comprehend passive voice as opposed to active voiceThe ball was kicked by the girl as opposed to The girl kicked the ball

By the time most children enter kindergarten, they use most of the grammatical forms of their native language with great skill

The development of language in children is amazing, but how do they do it?There are several theories that attempt to explain how we develop language

Infants Are Conditioned to SpeakBehaviorists believe that all learning is acquired step-by-step, through associations and reinforcements

According to this view, the reinforcement of the quantity and quality of talking to child affect rate of language development.

When a 6 month-old says, ma-ma-ma they are showered with attention and praise. This is exactly what the baby wants and will make the sounds again to get the same rewards.

Say Ma-Ma..Children who are spoken to more and praised by caregivers tend to develop language faster.

Parents are great intuitive teachers- we name items for infants and praise infants when they repeat our words.

For instance, parents typically name each object when they talk to their child, Here is your bottle, There is your foot, You want your juice?

Parents name the object and speak clearly and slowly, often using baby talk to capture the infants interest (Gogate et al., 2000).

What Do the Linguists say?Noam Chomsky believes language is a product of biology and is too complex to be mastered so early and easily by conditioning.

Chomsky noted that children worldwide learn the rudiments of grammar at approximately the same age because the human brain is equipped with a language device.

including intonations and structure of language

Our Brain is Specialized for LanguageLAD (language acquisition device) is an area of our brain which facilitates the development of language.

Chomsky believes that the LAD facilitates language and enables children to derive the rules of grammar from everyday speech, regardless of the native language.

Language is experience-expectant, words are expected by the developing brain-Chomsky believes that children are pre-wired for language

Think about a successful conversationWhat factors influence effective communication?

Using Language to CommunicateFor effective oral communication:

People should take turns, alternating as speaker and listener

A speakers remarks should relate to the topic and be understandable to the listener

A listener should play attention and let the speaker know if his or her remarks do not make sense

Taking TurnsSoon after 1-year-olds begin to speak, parents encourage their children to participate in conversational turn-taking

By age 2, spontaneous turn-taking is common in conversations between children and adults

By age 3, children have progressed to the point that if a listener fails to reply promptly, the child repeats his or her remark in order to elicit a response

Taking TurnsParent: Can you see the bird?Infant (cooing): ooooohParent: It is a pretty bird.Infant: ooooohParent: Youre right, its a cardinal.

Parents having a conversation with a 6-week-old infant still involve taking turns. To help children along, parents often carry both sides of the conversation to demonstrate how the roles of speaker and listener alternate.

Initiating a ConversationThe first attempt to deliberately communicate typically emerges at 10 monthsUsually by touching or pointing to an object while simultaneously looking at another person

At 1 year, infants begin to use speech to communicate and often initiate conversations with adultsFirst conversation are about themselves but this rapidly expands to include objects in their world

By preschool, children begin to adult their messages to match the listener and the contextSchool-age children speak differently to adults and peersPreschool children give more elaborate messages to listeners who are unfamiliar with a topic than to listeners who are familiar with it

Click on the picture for an interesting article on language development

Whats Next?How Do Our Emotions Develop?

*http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep06/images/MotherBabyTalking.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep06/words.html&h=82&w=100&sz=22&hl=en&start=83&um=1&tbnid=bfFDhCcNTING-M:&tbnh=67&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinfant%2Btalking%26start%3D63%26ndsp%3D21%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

*English employs just 40 phonemes while other languages have as many as 85 or as few as 15.

Newborns are biologically capable of hearing the entire range of phonemes in all languages worldwide. But as babies grow and are more exposed to an particular language, they only notice the linguistic distinctions that are meaningful in that environment. Specialization in one language increases while the potential to hear other language sounds is lost.

Infants can learn that sucking can turn on a tape that emits a sound. Within a few minutes, 1-month-olds can learn the relationship between sucking and the sound. They will suck rapidly to hear a tape that consists of nothing more than the sound of p puh. After a few minutes, infants habituate to the sound (decrease sucking). But, if the tape is changed to a different sound the sound of b buh infants will suck rapidly (dishabituate). So, they can tell the difference between puh and buh.*The most impressive accomplishment of humans- it differentiates our species from all others*Think about trying to understand someone speaking a foreign language it is much easier to understand the language when it is spoken slowly and carefully

Infant-directed speech:Characterized by short, simple sentences and it typically refers to concrete objects in a babys environmentPitch becomes higher, the range of frequencies increases, and intonation is more variedThere is a repetition of wordsTopics are restricted to items that are assumed to be comprehensible to infants

By the end of the firs year, ID speech changes. It takes on more adult-like qualities. Sentences become longer and more complex the individual words are spoken slowly and deliberately

When talking to girls, adults use more words like doggie and blankie whereas with boys, adults use more words like dog and blanket. Girls hear twice as many diminutives. The use of diminutives decreases with age but still remains higher fro girls than boys. Boys tend to hear firmer, clearer language whereas girls tend to hear warmer language.**Deaf children with hearing parents:These children are often delayed in language and complex make-believe playThey, during middle childhood, may achieve poorly in school and may be deficient in social skillsHearing parents are less positive, less effective at joint attention and turn-taking, and more directive and intrusive

Deaf children with deaf parents escape these difficulties!!Early child-parent communication seems to be keyDeaf parents know they must wait for the child to turn to them in order to communicateHearing parents tend to gesture when the childs attention is direct elsewhereDeaf children need models to create a natural language-learning environment*Deaf children display their own form of babbling Infants who cannot hear and who are exposed to sign language babble with their hands instead of their voices

Regardless of hearing or deaf, babbling progresses from the sounds that are simplest to the more complex.

At about 6 months, babbling begins to take on characteristics of the native language. Even untrained listeners can distinguish between babbling infants who have been raised in cultures in which French, Arabic, or Cantonese languages were spoken.

Until about 6 months, deaf children will produce the prelinguistic sounds just like hearing children. At about 6 months, deaf children will stop doing things like making raspberries, cooing, etc*Prior to producing speech, infants vocal tracts are prepared for speech through crying, sneezing, sighing, burping, and lip-smacking

Infants are sensitive to prosody the characteristic rhythm, tempo, cadence, melody, intonation patterns, etc with which a language is spoken

In English, normal sentences start with a rise in pitch and then the pitch falls toward the end of the sentence. In English, we also have questions which start out with a flat pitch and then it rises at the end of the sentence.

Babies that are exposed to a language with different patterns of intonation (such as Japanese and French) reflect their languages intonation in their babbling. So, babbling is influenced by the characteristics of the speech they hear.***At 6 months if an infant hears either mommy or daddy, they look toward the appropriate person.

Infants gradually come to understand the meaning of less frequently heard words their pace is going to vary child to child. At about 10 months, children understand about 11 to 154 even though they may not be able to say these words*****This is an exercise in fast mapping. They have to complete the questions quickly without talking to anyone.

The first four questions should be easy to answer. The last question is designed to be impossible to answer without further information.

These questions put you back in toddlers shoes listening to adults speak. Like toddlers, you all must rely on context to comprehend the strange vocabulary to describe the snurk. In absence of adequate context, comprehension is impossible (as in question 5).*When toddlers start learning language they make certain mistakes*Overextension is more common than underextensionReflects their sensitivity to categorizationToddlers will apply the new word to a group of similar experiencesOpen for opening a door, peeling fruit, or undoing shoelacesChildren overextend because they have not acquired another suitable word or because they have difficulty remembering a more suitable word Children overextend more words in production than in comprehension they may refer to buses, trains, trucks as cars but will point to the correct object when given the correct name (comprehension precedes production)

*Telegraphic speech: Two-word utterancesUsually deals with everyday events, things, people or activitiesWord order usually conforms to what the child hearsWords not critical to the meaning are left out similar to the way telegrams were written

***********Parents having a conversation with a 6-week-old infant still involves taking turns. To help children along, parents often carry both sides of the conversation to demonstrate how the roles of speaker and listener alternate.

Parents try to get the infant to fit into the conversation. Using scaffolding*