Changing the way you learn

Child language acquisition

Genie
1. locked in a room alone with no one to talk to
2. Curtis' work with Genie
  1. the critical period hypothosis- a period when we are right for learning languages
  2. used verbal labels to recode her world
  3. she wanted new words for everything even though some things don't have labels- "dark blue string"
3. Curtis' observations about Genie's lexicon
  1. she used language to describe past events
  2. she knew words that younger children wouldn't
  3. he doubted the statement that were was a deadline for aquiring language
Noam Chomsky
1. we aquire language from being taught it and we were born with the basics, they are in our genes (nature)
Eric Lenneberg
1. agreed we were born with the basics but there's a deadline for applying the principles
2. if a first language isn't aquired by puberty it's probably too late
reflexive noises-"aaaaaaaaaa. Used at the first 8 weeks of a childs life
the cooing stage-"coo/gaa/goo". Using the tongue to produce vowels and consonants at the age of 8-20 weeks
verbal scribbling/vocal play- experimenting pitch, volume and vowel sounds; "oooeeeaaa". 20-50 weeks old.
babbling stage- sounds become less varied and more frequent; "aababaadada".
body gestures- shows that the child is understanding language but can't verbally express it yet. 9 months old
Melodic Utterance Stage- 9-18 months- children pick up melody, rhythm and intonation of their mother tongue
Holophrastic stage (one word) 12-18 months
stage 2 - 18 months.
telegraphic stage- 2-21/2 years. Says sentences with up to 4 words in
Hallidays Functions: instrumental stage- language used to satisfy material needs
1. regulatory stage- language used to control others
  1. interactional stage- language used with no actual meaning, but to maintain friendly relationships
    1. personal stage- emotional language to release stress
      1. heuristic stage- language seeking information
        imaginative stage-language of creative writing, poetry and games
        representational stage- language that communicates information or ideas
        performative stage- language that controls reality
theorists
1. B.F Skinner - Behaviourist / Imitation Theories
  1. propose: children acquire language through "operant conditioning", a form of behaviouist psychology which sees all human behaviour as a process of learning from what works and what doesn't. Children start as a blank slate, then they learn to imitate adult language, gaining positive reinforcement for getting language correct and negative reinforcement for getting it wrong. He tested his theories of operant conditioning on rats and pigeons and watched how they responded to positive reinforcement. Criticisms: Chomsky pointed out that all children of all backgrounds and languages tend to go through similar stages at the same time, which supports the idea that language acqusition is innate. If imitation were taking places, these stages would happen at different times. Also children produce utterances they've never heard before which suggests they have a built grasp of the rules of language. They produce overgeneralisations which they won't have heard from adults.
    1. Poverty of stimulus suggests that the language children hear is so fragmented and grammatically non-standard that children can't copy it.
2. Noam Chomsky / Nativist/Innateness Theories
  1. propose: all language have a universal grammar. Children have an inbuild LAD which enables them to extract the rules of language from the words they hear. Children are preprogrammed with the underlying rules of grammar and need to be exposed to stimulus to activate their LAD. Children of all backgrounds tend to go though similar stages at the same time which proves that acqiuisition is innate. He believes that the quality of language they hear from their parents isn't high enough quality for them to copy. They often produces "virtuous errors" which are understandable and logical mistakes.
    1. criticisms: there is too much emphasis on what's inbuilt and not enough on the importance of interactions between child and carer. Over time Chomsky has developed his views from the most simple version of LAD. He proposes a "principles and parameters" model with Pinker which consists of switches that will be turned off or on depending on children's exposure to common rules of their native language.
3. Jerome Bruner / Input/social Interactionist Theories
  1. propose: Input it vital in helping children acquire language. Interaction scaffolds children's language development. He called his system LASS (language acquisition support system). Parents and caregivers engage in colaborative and ritualised exchanges with their children, even before language has fully developed into meaningful words. They often expand and develop their children's utterances rather than correcting them.
    1. criticisms: language language is said be innate because all children go through the same stages at a similar time.
4. Jean Piaget & Lev Vygotsky / Cognitive Theories
  1. They see language acquisition different to cognitive development. Piaget argued that children needed to understand a concept before they could use the language terms that referred to that concept. Vygotsky believed that language had 2 separate roles: one for communication and one for the basis of thought. Language labels can help children recognise differences between and within cateogries more clearly.
    1. criticisms: there are"fuzzy" areas in childrens language acquisition that don't relate to Piagets belief that concepts come first and language afterwards. More people believe that language is more linked to the cognitive development, like Vygotsky said.
features of CDS
1. high pitch & exaggerated itonation & stress
2. repeated sentence frames
3. interogatives and imperatives
4. frequent use of child's name & absence of pronouns
5. absence of past tense
6. one word utterances
7. simple sentences
8. omission of inflections
9. fewer verbs, modifiers & function verbs
10. concrete & dynamic verbs
11. expansions
12. recastings
Gentry's 5 stages of spelling
1. 1. precommunicative (random shapes/no meaning)
2. 2. semi phonetic (may only write the initial letter of the word. they begin to understand directionality)
3. 3. phonetic (they try to sound out everything they spell)
4. 4, transactional (vowels are used in every syllable)
5. 5,correct/conventional (basic knowledge of the english spelling system, word structure
Barclay's 7 stages of writing development
1. 1. scribbling- making random marks on the pages which arn't related to letters or words. They're learning the skill of holding the pen.
2. 2. Mock handwriting: practise drawing shapes, not possible to work out what it represents.
3. 3. mock letters: produce random letters, no awareness of spacing or matching sounds
4. 4. conventional letters: match sounds with symbols. Words are unlikley to be spaced out. Start to use initial consonants to represents words.
5. 5. invented spelling: spelled phonetically
6. 6. appropiate spelling: sentences are more complex as they become more aware of standard spelling patters & writing becomes more legible.
7. 7. correct spelling: words are spelled correctly.
Kroll's 4 stages of writing development
1. 1. The Preparatory stage (from 18 months)- children develop motor skills & begin to learn the basics of the spelling system
2. 2. The Consolidation Stage (6-8 years)- children write in the same way as they speak, use lots of colloquialisms, use short declarative statements and familiar conjunctions, not sure how to finish off a sentence & they begin to express ideas in the form of sentences
3. 3. The Differentiation stage (8-mid teens): aware of difference between the conventions of spoken & written language, they begin to understand the different genres, they can structure their work and can use more complex grammar, punctuation becomes more accurate
4. 5. The Integration stage (mid teens upwards): writing is accurate, wide vocab, accurate spelling, they understand that style can change according to audience and purpose. Narrative and descriptive skills improve, can plot and set a story. They develop a personal writing style.
Rothery's findings about children's writing
1. 1. observation/comment: the first sentence observes then the second evaluates.
2. 2. observation: observing only
3. 3. recount: similar to a narrative but the events proceed smoothly whereas in a narrative, we are kept uncertain regarding the outcome of the story. Recounts are usually chronologically organised.
4. 4. Report: Gives a more factual objective description of events or objects.
5. 5. Narrative: The complication has be resolved for better or for worse. It begins with an orientation which gives a temporal or spatial setting for events to follow. It's the followed by a complication and resolution. At the end there may be a coda which states the point of telling the story,
adverbials
1. time
2. reason
3. manner
4. frequency
5. place
grammar
1. a/an - indefinite article
2. the -definite article
phonology
1. cat - ca : deletion
2. bib - bi : deletion of the consonant
3. bring - bing : reduction of the consonant cluster
4. cat - dat : substitution
5. dog - gog: assimilation (mixed up a letter already in the word)
6. egg - egu : addition
7. choo choo : reduplication
8. banana - bana : deletion of unstressed syllables
9. repetition of "s" : sibilance
10. roll of "R" : rhotic
lexis
1. hypernyms: main catogary
2. hyponyms: things in the catogary
3. network building: start understanding that words have connections
4. synonyms: similar words
5. antonyms: opposite words
children's writing
1. emergant writing: writing like behaviour, making marks where writing isn't fully formed
2. environmental print: visual signs & meanings
3. linearity: if words are written straight/wonky
4. blending: merging phonemes to create words
5. segmenting: break words down to make it more simple
6. writing 'context bound' to understand all the info fully

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Child language acquisition

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