PSY 369: Psycholinguistics Language Acquisition 1

PSY 369: Psycholinguistics

Language Acquisition 1

Acquiring language

Student in my psycholinguistics course

Dr. Cutting, language sure is complicated. How do you

expect us to learn all this stuff?

Acquiring language


2 year old

Whadda’ ya mean, mommy. I can talk.

I can understand what you say. What’s so hard?

Acquiring language


2 year old

How do we (humans) do it? How do we learn to use this complex behavior?

Overview Some of the major issues

Imitation vs Innateness Born to walk Born to talk?

How much explicit teaching do we get? Commonalities across languages and cultures

Language is complex everywhere Sounds, words, syntax, and more No primitive (simple) languages

Language development is similar everywhere Similar stages

In the beginning… Prelinguistic communication

and the womb

We experience language before we’re even born

Normal human language uses sounds between 100 and 4000 Hz

Sound travels through skin and fluids too In the womb, sounds up to 1000 Hz

Can’t hear individual words But can hear: Intonation, durations, rhythm, stress

What was that?You’re

mumbling.


and the womb


Mahler (mid 80’s, in France) 4 day old babies Nonnutritive sucking method Played French or Russian Sucking pattern changed if language

was switched Sucking pattern didn’t change if

language wasn’t switched Babies knew (something about) the

languages


and the womb


DeCasper, et al (1994)Fetal heart monitor


and the womb


DeCasper, et al (1994)

Same story Different story

Had mothers read stories everyday to fetuses during 34-38 weeks of pregnancy

After 38th week, two stories were played to the fetuses (but mom couldn’t hear it)

Fetal heart monitor


and the womb


DeCasper, et al (1994)


Had mothers read stories everyday to fetuses during 34-38 weeks of pregnancy


Fetal heart monitor


and the womb


DeCasper, et al (1994) Had mothers read stories everyday

to fetuses during 34-38 weeks of pregnancy



Decreased fetalheart-rate

Baby learned something about the story

Fetal heart monitor

Lecture notes from book

After birth

Prelinguistic communication

Phonological differences are key Higher in pitch More variable in pitch More exaggerated intonation

All may help to orient and maintain attention of infant

May help “bootstrap” later learning

Child-directed speech (motherese)

Lecture notes from book

After birth

Prelinguistic communication

Demonstration that the infant is trying to communicate in some way

e.g., pointing behaviors Criteria

Waiting Persistence Development of alternative plans

Prelinguistic gestures

Sharp phoneme boundary

1 ... 3 … 5 … 7

% /ba/

100

0

Eimas et al, (1971) Categorical perception in infants (1 month olds)

Early phonology

Young infants can distinguish different phonemes

9:30 mark in video

Early phonology

A number of studies suggest that very young infants can perceive between a number of phonemic distinctions (e.g., Kuhl & Meltzhoff, 1997)

Not limited to their language context However, as they age/experience their context

language the ability to perceive some of these distinctions are lost (~10 to 12 months)

Categorical perception in infants

Nature/nurture debate: Are humans “pre-programmed” to distinguish speech

sounds?

1 ... 3 … 5 … 7

% /ba/

100

0

Sharp phoneme boundary

Eimas et al, (1971) Categorical perception in infants (1 month olds)

Early phonology

Chinchillas do it too!Kuhl and Miller (1975)

Are they “pre-programmed to perceive human speech?

We’re listening

Typical language development

6 Months Responds to his name Responds to human voices without

visual cues by turning his head and eyes

Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones

Early speech production

6 - 8 weeks: cooing 4 - 6 months: babbling

The progression of cooing and babbling follows a universal pattern. Babies, until around 6 months old, can produce

sounds/phonemes that their parents cannot produce or distinguish

Clear consonants and vowels are produced “da”, “gi”

18:15 mark in video





6 - 7 months: Reduplicated babbling “dada”, “gigi”





6 - 7 months: Reduplicated babbling 8 - 9 months: CVC clusters may appear

“bod”, “tat”




10 or 11 months: Variegated babbling Combining “incomprehensible words”

“dab gogotah” Intonation patterns

May reflect phonological rules of spoken language context

By 12 to 14 months some evidence of language specific phonological rules


The progression of cooing and babbling follows a universal pattern. Role of both nature and nurture

Nature/Biology plays an important role in the emergence of cooing & babbling.

The form of the child’s vocalization is also affected by the linguistic environment.

Early speech production Transition to speech

Early words Common Phonological processes

Reduction Delete sounds from words

Coalescence Combine different syllables into one syllable

Assimilation Change one sound into a similar sound within the

word Reduplication

One syllable from a multi-syllabic word is repeated

Typical language development12 Months

Uses one or more words with meaning (this may be a fragment of a word)

Understands simple instructions, especially if vocal or physical cues are given

Practices inflection Is aware of the social value of speech


18 Months Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20

words Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns Some echolalia (repeating a word or

phrase over and over) Much jargon with emotional content Is

able to follow simple commands

Building our lexicon

Comprehended words 12 months first words age 2 years 200 words age 6 years 15,000 words

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

8 m 1y 2y 3y 4y 5y 6y

produced words

Building our lexicon

One word stage Early words

Fast mapping Over and under extensions Role of adults’ speech

Holophrases Single word that seems to represent an

entire sentence

Important people Objects that move Objects that can be acted upon Familiar actions

Nouns before verbs

First words

Word ExtensionWord Extension

The appropriate limits of the meaning of words

ExtensionExtension

Underextension applying a word too narrowly

Overextension applying a word too broadly

Lecture notes from book Early grammar

Measures of syntactic development Emergence of grammatical categories

Comprehension and production comparisons Individual differences

Lecture notes from book Acquisition of morphology Later syntactic development Cross-linguistic differences Metalinguistics and discourse

Lecture notes from book Bilingualism and second-language acquisition

Lecture notes from book Using words

One word utterances Two word utterances Development of syntax

Production and comprehension comparisons

Lecture notes Later developments in syntax and semantics Emergence of linguistic awareness

Bilingualism and second-language acquisition

Language and social contexts Language in the school Revisit the innateness issue

24 Months Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the

following: in, on, under Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations

(mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words Rhythm and fluency often poor Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are

often confused My and mine are beginning to emerge Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth,

hair)”


36 Months Use pronouns I, you, me correctly Is using some plurals and past tenses Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name Handles three word sentences easily Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words About 90% of what child says should be intelligible Verbs begin to predominate Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and

activities Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason Able to reason out such questions as "what must you do when you are

sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?" Should be able to give his sex, name, age Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands

what is expected


Lecture notes from web 48 MonthsKnows names of familiar animals Can use at least four prepositions or can demonstrate his understanding of their ﾊﾊ

ﾊ meaning when given commands Names common objects in picture books or magazines Knows one or more colors Can repeat 4 digits when they are given slowly Can usually repeat words of four syllables Demonstrates understanding of over and under Has most vowels and diphthongs and the consonants p, b, m, w, n well established Often indulges in make-believe Extensive verbalization as he carries out activities Understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a contrast is presented Readily follows simple commands even thought the stimulus objects are not in sight Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even sounds

60 MonthsCan use many descriptive words spontaneously-both adjectives and adverbs Knows common opposites: big-little, hard-soft, heave-light, etc Has number concepts of 4 or more Can count to ten Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems Should have all vowels and the consonants, m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng,y (yellow) Should be able to repeat sentences as long as nine words Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair) Should be able to follow three commands given without interruptions Should know his age Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later, after, while Tomorrow, yesterday, today Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and some ﾊﾊ complex sentences Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct

6 ﾊ YearsIn addition to the above consonants these should be mastered: f, v, sh, zh, th,1 He should have concepts of ﾊ 7 Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a picture, seeing relationships Between objects and happenings

7 ﾊ YearsShould have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the soft g as in George Should handle opposite analogies easily: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-swims, blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour, etc Understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end, etc Should be able to tell time to quarter hour Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words

8 ﾊ YearsCan relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at some time in ﾊ the past Complex and compound sentences should be used easily Should be few lapses in grammatical constrictions-tense, pronouns, plurals All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple compositions Social amenities should be present in his speech in appropriate situations Control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well and appropriately established Can carry on conversation at rather adult level Follows fairly complex directions with little repetition Has well developed time and number concepts

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PSY 369: Psycholinguistics Language Acquisition 1