Chapter 6 pp modified ii

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Cognitive and Language Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Chapter 6Part II


Language

• A social tool consisting of a complex set of rules for using symbols

• Limited number of words provide an unlimited number of messages


Necessary Skills for Language

• Distinguish sound and sound patterns• Phonemes

• Learn the meaning of words• Semantics

• Learn to put words together• Syntax

• Learn to use language in a social context• Pragmatics


Distinguishing Speech Sounds

• Languages differ in the number and types of phonemes used

• At birth, infants can hear all phonemes

• By 10 months, infants lose sensitivity to unused phonemes


Early Speech Sounds

• Cooing• Soft, repetitive vowel sounds such as “ahh”

and “ooh”

• Babbling• Repeating consonant-vowel combinations

such as “mama” or “dada” two or more times


First Words

• Receptive language • Children’s understanding of

language

• Expressive language• Children’s ability to produce

language

• Receptive language precedes expressive language



Developmental Course• In the first year, infants

• Communicate through gestures • Produce word-like sounds• Respond to words

• 12 months• First word

• Typically the name of common object or person• Indicates gains in abstract thinking

• Holophrases• Individual words that convey as much meaning as sentences

• i.e., “milk” may mean “I want milk.”


Developmental Course

• 12-18 months• Add about 3 words/month

• 18-24 months• Vocabulary “explosion”• Use of words in social rituals

• 2 years• Words indicating success (“hooray”) and failure (“uh-oh”) are used • New words are invented• Acquire about 10 words/day


Over- and Under-Extending Meaning

• Overextension• The use of words to refer to objects or things that are outside the

bounds of the category named by the word

• Underextension• The use of words to refer to fewer items than the word actually

names

• Both are common childhood language mistakes


First Sentences• Telegraphic speech

• Early language in which only highly informative words are used and less informative words are neglected

• Order of words illustrates grammatical knowledge

• Gradually becomes elaborated


Early Talkers

• Children between 11-20 months of age in the top 10% for vocabulary production

• Early talkers are normal in comprehension but exceedingly high in their production of speech


Late Talkers

• Children at the bottom of the vocabulary production scale relative to peers

• Mixed developmental outcome• About half catch up within 1 year• About half continue to show delays

• Risk factors• Children in families of low socioeconomic status• Children with the greatest language development delays• Children with the smallest expressive vocabularies


Reinforcement-Based Theories• Emphasis on environmental influences

• Learning occurs via reinforcement of correct and grammatical forms of speech

• Caregivers encourage infants to talk and reinforce their talking with praise, affection, and attention

• This motivates children to communicate

• Learning also occurs via observation and imitation of others


Environment-Based Theories

• Rewards are less central than is exposure to the environment

• The regularities children hear in speech provide the verbal input for language• “Statistical learning”

• Learning which sounds go together helps language acquisition


Objections to Learning-Based Theories

• Do not adequately explain the development of grammar

• Parents rarely reward or punish children’s grammar

• Children create novel words and phrases they could not have heard anyone say before


Innate Theories of Language

• Humans have a species-specific capacity for learning language

• Children are born with a language acquisition device (LAD) in their brain that allows them to understand the universal grammar of all human languages


Evidence

• Children all over the world acquire language in similar ways

• The brain is specialized for language• Different aspects of language are processed in specific locations• These language “modules” are evidence of evolutionary wiring


Critical Periods• Critical period for language acquisition from about 2 years -

puberty• Rapid brain development in the first years of life is tied to

language abilities

• Without language exposure during the critical period, the ability to fully develop language is lost

• Immigrants master languages more or less successfully depending on age at immigration


Social Interaction Theories

• The social context of language is a fundamental part of language development

• By talking to them, caregivers expose infants to the rules, contexts, and patterns of speech

• Child’s active participation is crucial


Child-Directed Speech

• Simple, repetitive sentences spoken in a high-pitched voice

• Exaggerated intonation to direct and maintain the child’s attention

• A simple, repetitious vocabulary focused on present events

• A modification of words that may be difficult for the child

• There are both cultural and individual differences in the amount used


Teaching by Exposure

• Expansion and Extension• Taking young children’s simplified language and adding complexity

and completeness to it

• So, if a child says, "Puppy outside....”• We can expand this utterance by saying, "Puppy IS outside“

• We've expanded because we've kept the word order the same (puppy is the first word, outside is the second- and we haven't changed this), but we've made it just a bit longer

• We can extend this utterance instead by saying, "He's barking" • We've extended the conversation by adding a bit more information. This is the key to

extension

• Acts as scaffolding


Language Learning in Deaf Children

• Deaf children learn sign language at the same rate and in the same pattern as speaking children

• Even if not exposed to sign language, they will attempt to communicate with gestures


The Resiliency of Language

• Hearing children of deaf parents will learn to speak with only 5-10 hours/week of exposure to hearing speakers

• Blind children do not experience delays in language development

• Children with left hemisphere brain damage can often recover language abilities


The Fragility of Language

• Not all aspects of language are resilient

• The ability to acquire language diminishes with age

• The sensitive period for acquisition gradually closes• This is supported by brain imaging studies, especially for

grammar

Technology

Chapter 6 pp modified ii