Stages of Language Acquisition - UMass · Stages of Language Acquisition Key Idea from the First Week: Learning a ﬁrst language is a kind of human instinct. One Piece of Evidence

Stages ofLanguageAcquisition

Course Readings

The Stages ofLanguageAcquisition

LanguageLearning In-Utero

Stages of Babbling

Stages ofPhonemicLearning

How Kids LearnPhonemes

Stages ofMorphologicalLearning

Stages ofSyntactic Learning

How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Stages of Language Acquisition


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Course Readings

The following readings have been posted to the Moodlecourse site:

I Contemporary Linguistics: Chapter 10 (pp. 351-358,367-374)

I Language Files: Chapter 8 (pp. 319-332)


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Stages of Language Acquisition

Key Idea from the First Week:Learning a first language is a kind of human instinct.

One Piece of Evidence for this Idea:First language acquisition follows a predicable series of‘milestones’ (correlated with age).

I Language acquisition is guided an inner, biological clock

I Thus, it’s more like ‘maturation’ than purely social learning(Chomsky)

In today’s lecture, we’ll learn more about what those stages oflanguage acquisition are like...


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Language Learning in the WombClaim From First Week:First language acquisition actually begins prior to birth.

The Experimental Evidence: (Peter Jusczyk, 1970s)I Background Fact:

Infants suckle faster when they ‘like’ an auditory stimulus.I Technique:

I Developed a pacifier that could measure rate of suckingI Played recordings of both French and English to English

and French 4 day oldsI Results:

I French babies ‘liked’ French more than EnglishI English babies ‘liked’ English more than French

I Follow-Up Study:I Preference stayed when all they could hear was intonation.I Preference disappeared when intonation was taken out.

Overall Conclusion:I When kids are in the womb, they begin learning intonationI Since that’s all they can really hear in there, that makes sense


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary



Infants suckle faster when they ‘like’ an auditory stimulus.

I Technique:I Developed a pacifier that could measure rate of suckingI Played recordings of both French and English to English






Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary





and French 4 day olds

I Results:I French babies ‘liked’ French more than EnglishI English babies ‘liked’ English more than French




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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

The Stages of Babbling

Obvious Fact:Babies babble, and this is related to learning to talk.

Not-So Obvious Fact:I Babbling is not just a simple, uniform behaviorI There are stages, made up of different kinds of babblingI Kids go through these stages at roughly the same ages


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


Obvious Fact:Babies babble, and this is related to learning to talk.

Not-So Obvious Fact:I Babbling is not just a simple, uniform behaviorI There are stages, made up of different kinds of babblingI Kids go through these stages at roughly the same ages


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

The Stages of BabblingStage 1: Cooing (4-6 Months Old)

I Very basic, isolated vocalizations (single phones)I Due to physiology, usually velar or palatal soundsI [u], [gu], [ju]

Stage 2: Canonical Babbling (7-10 Months Old)I Chains of identical syllables (usually CV)

[bAbAbAbAbAbA], [dududududu]

I Other names for this stage:“Reduplicative Babbling”, “Syllable Babbling”

Stage 3: Variegated Babbling (10-11 Months Old)I Different syllables chained together

[bugAbimownAni], [mApAfowsAm]

I Sounds like kid is speaking ‘alien language’I Other names for this stage:

“Jargon Babbling”, “Gibberish Babbling”


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


The Mystery of Babbling Stages:The order of the babbling stages makes sense, but...

I Why ‘canonical babbling’? (What does repeating syllables do?)

I Why do all kids hit the same stages at about the same age?

Key Idea: Babbling follows an in-born maturational schedule.

Some Evidence: (Eric Lenneberg; 1960s)

I Some infants need to have tubes put in their throatsI These tubes prevent babbling and other forms of vocalizationI Once the tubes are removed, the children rapidly catch upI Before long, they babble at the right level for their physical age!


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


The Mystery of Babbling Stages:The order of the babbling stages makes sense, but...

I Why ‘canonical babbling’? (What does repeating syllables do?)

I Why do all kids hit the same stages at about the same age?

Key Idea: Babbling follows an in-born maturational schedule.

Some Evidence: (Eric Lenneberg; 1960s)

I Some infants need to have tubes put in their throatsI These tubes prevent babbling and other forms of vocalizationI Once the tubes are removed, the children rapidly catch upI Before long, they babble at the right level for their physical age!


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Stages of Phonemic LearningKey Fact About Learning PhomemesBabies acquiring English learn phonemes in a uniform order:

1. Labials ([p], [b], [m])

2. Alveolars ([t], [d], [n], [s], [z])

3. Velars ([k], [g], [N])

4. Alveopalatals ([S], [Z], [Ù] [Ã])

5. Dentals ([T], [D])

Question: Why this order?I It’s not just ‘front of the mouth’ to ‘back of the mouth’I It’s not just about how common the sounds are in English

([T], [D] are very common in English)I It’s not just about how ‘difficult’ the sounds are....


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Stages of Phonemic LearningKey Fact About Learning PhomemesBabies acquiring English learn phonemes in a uniform order:

1. Labials ([p], [b], [m])

2. Alveolars ([t], [d], [n], [s], [z])

3. Velars ([k], [g], [N])



Question: Why this order?I It’s not just ‘front of the mouth’ to ‘back of the mouth’I It’s not just about how common the sounds are in English

([T], [D] are very common in English)I It’s not just about how ‘difficult’ the sounds are....


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

Stages of Phonemic LearningOrder English Phonemes are Acquired

1. Labials ([p], [b], [m])

2. Alveolars ([t], [d], [n], [s], [z])

3. Velars ([k], [g], [N])



Fun Fact:This order matches how rare the sounds are in the world.

I Labials are the most common sound in the world’s langauges

I The second most common are alveolars

I The third most common are velars

I The fourth most common are alveopalatals

I The fifth most common are dental fricatives(rather rare in the world)


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


1. Labials ([p], [b], [m])

2. Alveolars ([t], [d], [n], [s], [z])

3. Velars ([k], [g], [N])



Generalization:The time it takes to learn phoneme X correlates with howcommon X is in the world’s languages.

A Picture that Emerges:For every phoneme X, kids are born knowing how likely X isgoing to be in their language:

I The more likely the sound is...I The more confident the kid will be that their language has it...I So, the more quickly they will learn X is in their language...


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


1. Labials ([p], [b], [m])

2. Alveolars ([t], [d], [n], [s], [z])

3. Velars ([k], [g], [N])



Generalization:The time it takes to learn phoneme X correlates with howcommon X is in the world’s languages.

A Picture that Emerges:For every phoneme X, kids are born knowing how likely X isgoing to be in their language:

I The more likely the sound is...I The more confident the kid will be that their language has it...I So, the more quickly they will learn X is in their language...


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Do Kids Learn Phonemes?

Key Fact from Phonology Unit:Languages can differ in whether two phones are allophones ofthe same or different phonemes

I In English, [t] and [th] are allophones of the same phoneme (/t/).

I In Thai, [t] and [th] are allophones of the same phoneme.

Key Consequence:One thing kids have to learn is whether certain phones areallophones of the same (or different) phonemes.

Question:How do kids learn two phones are allophones of same /different phonemes?


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Do Kids Learn Phonemes?

Key Fact from Phonology Unit:Languages can differ in whether two phones are allophones ofthe same or different phonemes

I In English, [t] and [th] are allophones of the same phoneme (/t/).

I In Thai, [t] and [th] are allophones of the same phoneme.

Key Consequence:One thing kids have to learn is whether certain phones areallophones of the same (or different) phonemes.

Question:How do kids learn two phones are allophones of same /different phonemes?


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Do Kids Learn Phonemes?Question:How do kids learn two phones are allophones of same / differentphonemes?

One Way That Sounds PlausibleI Kids are born unable to hear any distinctions between phones

(e.g. [t] and [th])I When learning words, kids learn they must distinguish some

phones (the phonemes), but not others (the allophones).

I Thai kids learn to hear the difference between [t] and [th]I English kids don’t need to learn to hear the difference

Surprising Fact:I This is not the way kids do it...I The way kids do it is exactly the opposite...


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary




phones (the phonemes), but not others (the allophones).I Thai kids learn to hear the difference between [t] and [th]I English kids don’t need to learn to hear the difference



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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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phones (the phonemes), but not others (the allophones).I Thai kids learn to hear the difference between [t] and [th]I English kids don’t need to learn to hear the difference



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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Kids Learn PhonemesQuestion:How do kids learn two phones are allophones of same / differentphonemes?

The Way Kids Seem to Do ItI Kids are born perceiving the differences between all phones

I Both English and Thai kids start off hearing the differencebetween [t] and [th]

I Kids learn to ignore the difference between some phonesI English kids learn to ignore the difference b/ [t] and [th]I Thai kids don’t; they continue hearing the difference.

I By learning to ignore the difference between X and Y, kids learnto see them as allophones of the same phoneme.


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Kids Learn Phonemes

The Experimental Evidence: (Peter Jusczyk, 1970s)

I Background Facts:I Infants suckle faster when they ‘like’ some soundI When infants hear the same sound over-and-over, they get

bored (sucking rate declines)I When infants hear a new sound, they get excited

(sucking rate increases)

I Experimental Technique:I Used a pacifier that could measure rate of suckingI Played infants a long series of the same allophone ([t])I Once they were bored, changed the sound to another

allophone ([th])


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary



I Background Facts:I Infants suckle faster when they ‘like’ some soundI When infants hear the same sound over-and-over, they get

bored (sucking rate declines)I When infants hear a new sound, they get excited

(sucking rate increases)

I Experimental Technique:I Used a pacifier that could measure rate of suckingI Played infants a long series of the same allophone ([t])I Once they were bored, changed the sound to another

allophone ([th])


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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I Results:I Below 6 months, English kids suckle faster when [t] is

changed to [th]I Above 6 months, English kids don’t react when [t] is

changed to [th]

I Conclusions:I Below 6 months, English kids perceive the difference

between [t] and [th]I Above 6 months, they don’t


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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I Results:I Below 6 months, English kids suckle faster when [t] is

changed to [th]I Above 6 months, English kids don’t react when [t] is

changed to [th]

I Conclusions:I Below 6 months, English kids perceive the difference

between [t] and [th]I Above 6 months, they don’t


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Kids Learn PhonemesMajor Conclusions:

I Newborns can perceive all the possible phones a humanlanguage can have (Universal Grammar)

I Over time, kids learn to stop distinguishing some phones.I Kids give up distinctions their language doesn’t use

(If kids don’t use the distinction, they eventually lose it...)

One Final Question:How do English kids learn to stop distinguishing [t] and [th]?

The Surprising Answer:

I Well, they must see the pattern for when /t/ is pronounced as [th]

I But, the rule is that [th] appears in the onset of a syllable.I So, 6 month olds must be dividing words up into syllablesI So, 6 month olds already know the syllabification algorithm!

(Actually, that algorithm is probably innate...)


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How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Morphological LearningCurious Fact:English children learn inflectional morphemes in a set, uniform order:

1. Suffix /-iN/ (jumping, kicking)

2. Plural /-z/ (dogs, cats)

3. Possessive /-z/ (Daddy’s, Mommy’s)

4. Determiners ‘the’, ‘a’

5. Past Tense /-d/ (jumped, kicked)

6. Agreement /-z/ (jumps, kicks)

7. Auxiliary Verb ‘be’ (He is kicking)

Question: Why this order?I It’s not about how simple the pronunciation is

(2, 3, 6 are all homophones!)I It’s not about how often the kid hears the morpheme

(‘the’ and ‘a’ are most frequent; /-d/ least frequent)

Answer: It’s still kind of a mystery!I (see Contemporary Linguistics reading)


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Syntactic Learning

Key Fact About Acquisition of SyntaxKids follow a uniform schedule in learning the rules of syntax.

First Stage: ‘One-Word Stage’ (12-18 Months)I Utterances are only single words.I But, many multi-word utterances can be understood.

Second Stage: ‘Two-Word Stage’ (A Few Months Later)I Utterances are only single words or two-word phrasesI But, many multi-word utterances can be understood.I Word-order is always correct (Brown 1973)

Subject Verb Object LocationDaddy jump

kick ballput table

doggy table


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary






kick ballput table

doggy table


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How Kids LearnRules

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Second Stage: ‘Two-Word Stage’ (A Few Months Later)I Utterances are only single words or two-word phrasesI But, many multi-word utterances can be understood.

I Word-order is always correct (Brown 1973)


kick ballput table

doggy table


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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kick ballput table

doggy table


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Interesting Fact:Even at the ‘One-Word’ and ‘Two-Word’ stage, childrenunderstand complex sentences.

Experimental Evidence: (Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff 1991)I Technique

I Introduce children to Big Bird and Cookie MonsterI Then, two videos played simultaneously:

I One where BB tickles CMI One where CM tickles BB

I Then, two audio recordings, played alternatelyI “Look at BB tickling CM!”I “Look at CM tickling BB!”

I Key Result:Even kids at One-Word Stage looked at the correct screen.

I Key Conclusion:Even at 1-Word Stage, kids know English word-order is ‘S-V-O’


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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I Introduce children to Big Bird and Cookie Monster

I Then, two videos played simultaneously:I One where BB tickles CMI One where CM tickles BB





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How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Syntactic LearningThe Stages of Syntax Acquisition:

I One-Word StageI Two-Word StageI Three-Word Stage?

NO!

Third Stage: ‘Telegraphic Stage’ (A Few Months Later)I Utterances can be many words long (≥3)I However many ‘small’ words are dropped (e.g. ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘is’...)

(Thus, their speech looks like old-timey telegraphs)I Examples:

Daddy like book.Man ride bus today.Me wanna show Mommy.


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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I One-Word StageI Two-Word StageI Three-Word Stage? NO!

Third Stage: ‘Telegraphic Stage’ (A Few Months Later)I Utterances can be many words long (≥3)I However many ‘small’ words are dropped (e.g. ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘is’...)

(Thus, their speech looks like old-timey telegraphs)I Examples:

Daddy like book.Man ride bus today.Me wanna show Mommy.


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


I One-Word StageI Two-Word StageI Telegraphic Stage

Interesting Observation:There is no ‘Three-Word’ or ‘Four-Word’ stage. Why?

I At 2-Word Stage, kids know 2 words can go together in a phrase:[ A B ]

I At 2-Word Stage, kids don’t know phrases can go together withother words:* [ [ A B ] C ]

I Next, kids learn that phrases can go together with other words:[ [ A B ] C ]

I But, once they know that, they (of course) know they can makearbitrarily long structures:[ [ [ A B ] C ] D ]


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Kids Learn Linguistic RulesWell Known Fact of Child Psychology:With ‘general intelligence learning,’ different kids have differentlearning ‘styles’ and ‘strategies’

I Some are ‘visual learners’, other ‘tactile learners’...

I Some need ‘structure’, others need to ‘figure it out themselves’...

First Language Acquisition is Different:

I With 1st language acquisition, all kids use the same strategy :I All kids aim to make ‘maximal generalizations’

The Universal Strategy in First Language Acquisition:I When kids see a pattern, they leap to as broad a rule as

possibleI They usually leap too far, and apply the rule in places where

they shouldn’tI Then they gradually ‘back off’ and restrict the rule properly.


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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How Kids LearnRules

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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

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‘Overgeneralization’ in Language Acquisition

Example: Plural Morphophonemics

I The Adult Rule: /-z/→ [-1z] / Strident

I Many kids temporarily use [-1z] before any fricative(‘bathes’ [bæT1z] ‘laughes’ [læf1z])

I The Kid Rule: /-z/→ [-1z] / FricativeI Over time, they restrict the environment for [-1z]

Example: Past Tense Suffix /-d/I The Adult Rule:

Past Tense = /-d/ except for: give, make, think, go...I All kids temporarily use /-d/ with every verb:

(‘goed’ [gowd], ‘maked’ [mejkt], ‘gived’ [gIvd], ...)I The Kid Rule: Past Tense = /-d/ No Exceptions

I Over time, they learn to restrict the words where /-d/ goes


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How Kids LearnRules

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I The Adult Rule: /-z/→ [-1z] / StridentI Many kids temporarily use [-1z] before any fricative

(‘bathes’ [bæT1z] ‘laughes’ [læf1z])







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Past Tense = /-d/ except for: give, make, think, go...

I All kids temporarily use /-d/ with every verb:(‘goed’ [gowd], ‘maked’ [mejkt], ‘gived’ [gIvd], ...)

I The Kid Rule: Past Tense = /-d/ No ExceptionsI Over time, they learn to restrict the words where /-d/ goes


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How Kids LearnRules

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Example: ‘Causative’ Use of VerbsI The Adult Rule:

A few verbs can be used according to the following pattern:

The ice melted I melted the ice (= I made the ice melt)The towel dried I dried the towel (= I made the towel dry)The dish broke I broke the dish (= I made the dish break)

I Many kids temporarily apply this pattern to all verbs:

I “Don’t giggle me!” (= ‘Don’t make me giggle’)I “You can drink my doll.” (= ‘You can make my doll drink’)

I Over time, they learn to restrict the verbs that follow this pattern


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary


Example: ‘Causative’ Use of VerbsI The Adult Rule:

A few verbs can be used according to the following pattern:

The ice melted I melted the ice (= I made the ice melt)The towel dried I dried the towel (= I made the towel dry)The dish broke I broke the dish (= I made the dish break)

I Many kids temporarily apply this pattern to all verbs:

I “Don’t giggle me!” (= ‘Don’t make me giggle’)I “You can drink my doll.” (= ‘You can make my doll drink’)

I Over time, they learn to restrict the verbs that follow this pattern


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Kids Learn Rules

The Main Point:I In learning a first language, all kids employ a very bold strategy:

I They first apply a rule as broadly as possible.I Gradually, they ‘back off’, restrict where the rule applies

I That all kids do this suggests it’s ‘in-born’ in some way...

A Deep, Puzzling Question:How do kids learn not to apply a rule?(How do they learn not to say ‘goed’)

I After all, they aren’t told when they are wrong.

I It can’t be a simple matter of ‘if I don’t hear it, then it’s wrong’:

I There are lots of things people hardly ever say.I How would kids distinguish between ‘wrong’ and just ‘rare’?


Course Readings



Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

How Kids Learn Rules

The Main Point:I In learning a first language, all kids employ a very bold strategy:

I They first apply a rule as broadly as possible.I Gradually, they ‘back off’, restrict where the rule applies

I That all kids do this suggests it’s ‘in-born’ in some way...

A Deep, Puzzling Question:How do kids learn not to apply a rule?(How do they learn not to say ‘goed’)

I After all, they aren’t told when they are wrong.

I It can’t be a simple matter of ‘if I don’t hear it, then it’s wrong’:

I There are lots of things people hardly ever say.I How would kids distinguish between ‘wrong’ and just ‘rare’?


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Stages of Babbling





How Kids LearnRules

Summary

SummarySome Key Facts About the Way Kids Learn Language:

1. Kids begin learning language in the womb.I All they really learn is intonation.

(After all, that’s all they can hear!)

2. Many parts of language acquisition follow a setsequence of universal stages:

I Babbling (cooing, canonical babbling, variegated babbling)I Phonemes (labials, alveolars, velars, ...)I Morphemes (ing, plural, possessive, determiners...)I Syntax (one-word, two-word, telegraphic)

3. Kids learn phonemes by ‘forgetting’I We’re born distinguishing between all phones.I Over time, we learn to ignore certain distinctions:

(e.g. [t] and [th])

4. Kids adopt a bold strategy in learning rules.I Kids begin by applying a rule as broadly as possible.I Over time, they learn to restrict where the rule applies.


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(e.g. [t] and [th])



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(e.g. [t] and [th])



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(e.g. [t] and [th])


Documents

Stages of Language Acquisition - UMass · Stages of Language Acquisition Key Idea from the First Week: Learning a ﬁrst language is a kind of human instinct. One Piece of Evidence