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Language and its Development. Language. What defines language? What properties does language have? How does language allow for communicative power? Why does language exist? What does it gain us? When does language develop?. Properties of Language. Symbolic Cat =Thor = Arbitrary - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Language and its Development
Language What defines language? What properties
does language have?
How does language allow for communicative power?
Why does language exist? What does it gain us?
When does language develop?
Properties of Language Symbolic
Cat = Thor = Arbitrary Productive Discrete
Language is based on discrete units; each unit is unique
Properties of Language
/bog/ /pog/
Properties of Language
Properties of Language Symbolic
Cat = Thor = Arbitrary Discrete
Language is based on discrete units; each unit is unique
Productive
Properties of Language- Productivity We can say sentences we’ve never heard
before “I hate you, Mommy!”
We have a limited set of words and structures that can be recombined.
Generativity: “He said that she told them that he thought that
we heard that they reported that…”
Ambiguity in Speech
Resolving AmbiguitySocial agreement, context, intention Grice (1975): Maxims of Conversation 1. Quality: Tell the truth! (Avoid falsehoods *and*
statements for which you have no evidence)2. Quantity: Include what is necessary to express
information, and nothing extraneous.3. Utterances will be related to the topic at hand4. Manner: Avoid ambiguity, use common ground
(Clark)
Ambiguity in Speech Humor:
Last night I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. What he was doing in my pyjamas, I’ll never know”- Groucho Marx
Garden Path Sentences The horse raced past the barn fell. The prime number few.
Properties of Language Is language unique to humans? Or does
animal communication meet these criteria? Symbolic?
call systems used by animals only in presence of predators; NO
Arbitrary? For some animals, YES; others, NO
Discrete NO
Productive Productivity dependent upon discreteness; NO
Language and Thought What does language allow us in terms of our
ability to think? Whorfian hypothesis
Eskimos and “snow” Interlanguage differences
Colors Spatial position/direction Grammatical gender
The Innateness of Language Behaviorism: Language is learned like
everything else We say something, we receive feedback, which
encourages us to say it again BUT: We can say things we’ve never heard;
we can produce new structures. Chomsky: Language is innate to humans
Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Universal Grammar Poverty of the Stimulus
The Nature of Feedback (Poverty of the Stimulus)1. Children get little or no direct instruction.2. Children get little feedback and don’t listen to what they
get -- so why do they ever correct their errors?3. Children hear many ungrammatical structures not
identified as such -- how do they come to learn these are wrong?
4. In some cultures adults don’t speak to children.5. Children will make up a language if they are not given one
-- deaf children of hearing parents.
Feedback
Child: Nobody don’t like me.Mother: No, say “Nobody likes me.”Child: Nobody don’t like me.Mother: No, say “Nobody likes me.”Child: Nobody don’t like me.[dialogue repeated eight times]Mother: Now listen carefully, say
“Nobody likes me.”Child: Oh! Nobody don’t likeS me.
The Nature of Feedback (Poverty of the Stimulus)1. Children get little or no direct instruction.2. Children get little feedback and don’t listen to what they
get -- so why do they ever correct their errors?3. Children hear many ungrammatical structures not
identified as such -- how do they come to learn these are wrong?
4. In some cultures adults don’t speak to children.5. Children will make up a language if they are not given one
-- deaf children of hearing parents.
The Language Gene SLI: Specific Language Impairment: Language
is impaired without signs of impairment in other areas (motor, cognitive, etc.)
The FOXP2 gene Members of the KE family with a corruption of this
gene had SLI; the others didn’t. The Language Gene?
The Language Gene
The Language Gene Is it really specific to humans?
NO Is language the only area affected by the
gene? NO
FOXP2 affects rapid-motor sequencing (which is imperative for language), but not language itself.
Statistical Word Learning Saffran, Aslin, and Newport
(1996) 8-month-olds presented with a
series of syllables (2 mins) Bidakupadotigolabubidaku Transitional probabilities
Within-word: 1.0 (bida) Between-word: 0.33 (kupa)
Then, they play repetitions of the “words” and “nonwords” If babies have learned the
words, they should prefer the nonwords.
And they do!
Language Development In utero:
Can distinguish between vowels (/a/ vs. /o/) Infants:
Can distinguish phonologically similar sounds at 2 months (they lose this ability by 8-12 months)
Can pick up on cues to word segmentation Can distinguish their native language from other
languages
Language Development How do we tell what
babies know? Preferential looking Sucking Heart rate
Language Development Babies prefer looking
at/hearing new things
When something is interesting: Heart rate slows Sucking rate slows
Child Language Development How do children get from being completely non-
verbal to being expert speakers?1. Can distinguish between vowel sounds (/a/ vs. /o/)- in
utero2. Can distinguish between all contrasts- from birth3. Categorical perception of speech sounds (8-12 months)4. Babbling: 6 months5. One word stage: ~1 year6. Two word stage: ~2 years (vocab is about 50 words)7. Multiword utterances; gradually increase in complexity
Verb Learning Two types of past
tense verbs: Regular: talked, liked,
hated Irregular: ate, went,
was U-shaped curve of
language learning Early: correct usage Middle:
overgeneralization Late: correct usage
The Critical Period If language learning
doesn’t occur before a certain time, language will be impaired
Johnson & Newport (1989) Age of Acquisition affects
ability to learn second language
Genie Pinker (NR)
Nicaraguan sign language Deaf children