Child Language Acquisition - notes

Pre-verbal State

Vegetative (0-4 months) - sounds of discomfort or reflexive actions
Cooing (4-7 months) - comfort sounds and vocal play using open mouthed-vowel sounds
Babbling (6-12 months) - repeated patterns of consonants and vowel sounds
Proto-words (9-12 months) - word-like vocalisations, not matching actual words but used consistently for the same meaning



Lexical and Grammatical Stages of Development

Holophrastic/one-word (1-1.5 years) - the child utters their first word; they then build a vocabulary of holophrases. they are called holophrases because they convey all the meaning of a phrase/sentence through intonation, body language, etc. The types of words are short and related to the here and now - the child's everyday life.

Two word (1.5-2 years) - the child begins to use two words at a time and grammar begins to emerge because the child can choose word order. They are more flexible with a range of grammatical functions: an action affects an object, an actor performs an action, an object is given a location, etc. There are still a few that defy definition and often understanding, however are creative phrases. Most children use correct word order using prepositions (e.g. on), possessions (e.g. my) and pronouns (e.g. she).

Telegraphic (2-3 years) - the child uses three or more words combined. Sentences may have gaps in them but they can combine 3-4 words in a variety of grammatical constructions. However statements, questions and commands may not always make sense.

Post-telegraphic (3 years+) - the child uses more grammatically complex combinations.



Types of Sound

Plosives - created when the airflow is blocked for a brief time (also called stop consonants) e.g. voiced - d, b, g & unvoiced - p, t, k
Fricatives - created when the airflow is only partially blocked and air moves through the mouth in a steady stream e.g. voiced - v, z, th & unvoiced - f, s, h, sh
Affricates - created by plosives and fricatives together e.g. voiced - dg & unvoiced - ch
Approximants - similar sounds to vowels e.g. voiced - w, r, j
Nassals - produced by air moving through the nose e.g. voiced - m, n
Laterals - created by placing the tongue on the ridge of the teeth and then air moving down the side of the mouth e.g. voiced - l



Pamela Grunwell is a theorist who said children at the following ages should be able to pronounce the following phonemes...

2 years - p, d, b, m, d, n, w, t
2.5 years - k, g, h
3 years - f, s, j, l
3.5 years - ch, dg, v, z, sh, r



Key CLA Processes

Addition - the repetition of particular sounds and structures e.g. doggie (adding an extra vowel sound to create a CVCV structure)

Reduplication - repeating the whole syllable e.g. choochoo

Deletion - deleting the last sound and/or swapping other sounds around e.g. ca instead of cat, pi instead of pig (often occurs on the last consonant)

Consonant cluster reduction - reducing the amount of consonants in a word so it is easier to pronounce e.g. banket instead of blanket

Substitution - when one sound is swapped for an easier sound e.g. debra or zebra (fricative sound replaced by a stop sound)

Assimilation - repeating the same consonant sound so it is easier to pronounce e.g. goggie instead of doggie, babbit instead of rabbit (illustrates how some sounds change because of other sounds around them)



David Crystal has suggested that the repetition and and simplified pronunciation in these words helps children to recognise and learn them bit by bit. Children also replace new difficult words with phonologically similar ones as a kind of stand-in whilst they're learning the correct one.

A child's pronunciation of the seeing word can often very a great deal from day-to-day or even hour-to-hour. For example, one child produced over 10 different forms of the word pen in just half an hour.

By age 3 - they have usually grasped twice as many consonants and nearly all the vowels, they use words of three syllables and use emphasis of keywords

By age 4 - they still may not be able to grasp consonant clusters, they may have begun to use them but won't be able to pronounce the 300+ different ways consonants can be combined in the English language

By age 5 - most things are no longer a problem apart from in long, complicated and unfamiliar words/phrases



Rate of Lexical Development
1 year - 50 words
2 years - 200 words
3 years - 2000 words



Katherine Nelson (1973) identified four categories for first words:

Naming (things or people), actions/events, describing/modifying things, personal/social words

60% of child's first words were nouns, verbs were the second largest group and were used with actions or location words like 'up' and 'down'. Modifiers/describing words came third. Personal/social words made up the smallest group of the sample (8%).

Whole object assumption - when children first name is something using one down they refer to the whole object and not little parts

When children used two words, a noun and a verb or a modifier and a noun are most commonly used.



Spelke notes for categories that concrete nouns fit into:

Cohesion, continuity, solidity, contact - children are are like objects that are clearly defined in shape

Overextension - it is common for children to overextend a word's meaning. Children link objects with similar qualities and may, for example, apply the word 'dog' to all for naked household pets.

Underextension - less frequently, children underextend a word by giving it a narrower definition then it really has, for example, a child might use 'duck' for a fluffy cartoon dark and not for the brown ones in the local pond.



Eve Clark's study of first words found that children base overextension on:

The physical qualities of objects & features such as taste, sound, movement, shape, size and texture

Professor Aitchison argues that language has a 'biologically organised schedule' and quotes Eric Lenneberg's theory that language is "maturationally controlled, emerging before it is critically needed."



Types of Overextension
Categorical Overextension (60%) - the name for one member of a category is extended to all members of the category, e.g. apple used for all round fruits

Analogical Overextension (15%) - a word for one object is extended to one in a different category, usually on the basis that it has some physical or functional connection, e.g. ball used for a round fruit

Mismatch statements (25%) - one word sentences that appear quite abstract; child makes a statement about one object in relation to another, e.g. saying 'duck' when looking at an empty pond



B.F. Skinner wrote a book called Verbal Behaviour (1957) in which he described his theory of language acquisition. He experimented on rats and pigeons and discovered he could train them to do tricks with the reward of food. He formed his 'Operant Conditioning Theory', also known as Behaviourism. He applied the theory that children learn language through imitation and reinforcement and claimed no complicated internal mechanisms were needed when learning languages. A child would just have to imitate others around them and then be rewarded and encouraged by it.

However, there are many ways to argue against Skinner. For example, some children have 'seen and not heard' cultures and develop language fine without contact with adults (at the same rate). Children also learn words/use utterances that have never been said to them by adults. People who can't speak but can hear can still understand language spoken by others, without imitations.

Professor Jean Aitchison identified three stages in children's linguistic development:

Labelling - linking words to the objects which they refer, understanding that things can be labelled

Packaging - exploring the labels and to what they can apply, over/underextension occurs in order to eventually understand the range of a words meaning

Network-building - making connections between words; understanding similarities and opposites in meanings



Network Building
Hypernym - e.g. clothes
Hyponym - e.g. socks, shoes, coat, vest, etc.
Synonym - words that have the same meaning




Eve Clark found that common adjectives ('nice' and 'big') are among children's first 50 words, but spatial adjectives ('wide' and 'thick') are acquired later.




Piaget was a 20th century Swiss psychologist whose views about children's cognitive development have been very influential. He emphasised that children are active learners who use their environment and social interactions to shape their language. Piaget linked linguistic development with an understanding of concepts surrounding the word's meanings, suggesting that children cannot be taught before they are ready.
His four developmental stages are:
Sensorimotor (up to 2): Experiences physical world through the senses and begins classifying the things in it - when lexical choices appear, they tend to be concrete rather than abstract. Object permanence develops - the concept that objects exist when out of sight.
Pre-operational (2-7): Language and motor skills develop and become more competent. Language is ego-centric - either focused on the child or used by the child when no one else is around.
Concrete Operational (7-11): Children begin thinking logically about concrete events.
Formal Operational (11+): Abstract reasoning skills develop.