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Language Acquisi-on
16 September 2013
Language Acquisi-on
• Language is extremely complex, yet children already know most of the grammar of their na-ve language(s) before they are five years old
• Children acquire language without being taught the rules of grammar by their parents
– In part because parents don’t consciously know the many of the rules of grammar
Do Children Learn through Imita-on?
• Children do imitate the speech heard around them to a certain extent, but language acquisi-on goes beyond imita-on
– Children produce uFerances that they never hear from adults around them, such as holded or tooths
– Children cannot imitate adults fully while acquiring grammar • Adult: Where can I put them? • Child: Where I can put them?
– Children who develop the ability to speak later in their childhood can understand the language spoken around them even if they cannot imitate it
Do Children Learn through Correc-on and Reinforcement?
• People some-mes think that children learn through posi-ve and nega-ve reinforcement
– But, parents rarely correct their children’s speech, and when they do they correct based on pronuncia-on and factual accuracy rather than gramma-cal accuracy
– Parents do some-mes recast children’s uFerances, but not consistently, and they also tend to recast gramma-cal sentences to reinforce correct content
– Also, it is unclear how posi-ve or nega-ve feedback would explain how children would learn the rules of language
Do Children Learn Language through Analogy?
• Another theory asserts that children hear a sentence and then use it as a model to form other sentences by analogy
– But while analogy may work in some situa-ons, but certainly not in all situa-ons: • The boy was sleeping • Was the boy sleeping? • The boy who is sleeping is dreaming about a new car • *Is the boy who sleeping is dreaming about a new car?
– Children never make mistakes of this kind based on analogy which shows that they understand structure dependency at a very young age
Do Children Learn Language through Analogy?
• Recently a theory called connec3onism has been put forward in which gramma-cal knowledge is represented by a set of neuron-‐like connec-ons
– For example, knowledge of past tense would be a set of connec-ons between phonological forms (dance and danced, drink and drank)
– Based on similari-es between words, children could produce a past tense form they had never been exposed to • If a child knows dance/danced (or drink/drank), then if they hear prance (or sink),
they can figure out the past tense should be pranced (or sank)
– But, this theory doesn’t work for everything because there are excep-ons to these analogies: • The ba8er flied out • I saw a lot of Mickey mouses
Do Children Learn through Structured Input?
• It has also been suggested that children are able to learn language because adults speak to them in a simplified version of language known as motherese, child-‐directed speech (CDS), or baby talk
– But, motherese is not syntac-cally simple and does not drop verb inflec-ons or omit func-on words
– In many cultures adults do not engage in motherese, yet children in those cultures acquire language in the same way as children who are exposed to motherese
Types of Theories
• Nature vs Nurture
Types of Theories
• Nature vs Nurture
• Nature: Na-vism
• ‘Language’ is innate • The faculty that underlies language acquisi-on is innate
• Content Na-vism vs Non-‐content Na-vism
Types of Theories
• Nature vs Nurture
• Nurture
• Behaviourism -‐ Connec-onism, Social Interac-onism, Construc-vism
Types of Theories
• Nature vs Nurture
• Nurture
• Behaviourism -‐ Connec-onism, Social Interac-onism, Construc-vism
• They all assume some aspect of language acquisi-on is innate
• The debate is really over how much is innate
Children Construct Grammars
• Approaches involving analogy, imita-on, reinforcement, and structured input do not account for the crea-vity children show, why they go through stages of acquisi-on, or why they make certain “errors” but not others
• Children extract the rules of grammar from the language and all children go through the same process of acquisi-on in the same order
– This has led linguists to formulate the innateness hypothesis: the idea that children are equipped with an innate blueprint for language (Universal Grammar) which helps them acquire language
The Innateness Hypothesis
• An argument for the innateness hypothesis is the observa-on that we end up knowing more about language than we hear around us
– This argument is known as the poverty of the s3mulus
– Children are exposed to at least a few slips of the tongue, false starts, ungramma-cal and incomplete sentences
– Also, children learn aspects of language about which they receive no informa-on • Such as structure dependent rules • The data the children is exposed to is impoverished
The Innateness Hypothesis
• For example, children somehow know to invert the auxiliary of the main clause when forming a ques-on like:
• Is the boy who is sleeping __ dreaming of a new car? Rather than • *Is the boy __ sleeping is dreaming of a new car?
• To do this, the child must somehow understand structure dependency and cons-tuent structure, something that adults do not consciously know
The Innateness Hypothesis
• The innateness hypothesis asserts that children do not need to learn universal principles like structure dependency because that is part of UG (Universal Grammar)
– They only have to learn the language-‐specific aspects of grammar
• The innateness hypothesis provides an answer to Chomsky’s ques-on:
– What accounts for the ease, rapidity, and uniformity of language acquisi-on in the face of impoverished data?
Theories of Language Acquisi-on
• Behaviourism Skinner, Watson
• Construc-vism Piaget
• Social Interac-onism Bruner
• Na-vism Chomsky
Theories of Language Acquisi-on
• Behaviourism (and ConnecConism)
• Construc-vism
• Social Interac-onism
• Na-vism
Language is built up via exposure and posi-ve reinforcement
Language is built up as part of the cogni-ve learning systems built by the child
Language is acquired via communica-ve interac-ons
Language is acquired using an innate language specific learning system
Theories of Language Acquisi-on
• Na-vism
• Content Na-vism – Knowledge is in place
• Non-‐Content Na-vism – No knowledge, just a domain specific learning mechanism in place
Behaviourism
• Behaviourism was developed in an aFempt to make psychology ‘scien-fic’
• Behaviourism was a theory of learning, and nothing else
• Behaviourism was finished by the late 1950s
Ideas of classical conditioning originate from old philosophical theories. However, it was the Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov who elucidated classical conditioning. His work provided a basis for later
behaviorists like John Watson.
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
Sovf
oto
Pavlov’s Experiments
Before conditioning, food (Unconditioned Stimulus, US) produces salivation (Unconditioned Response, UR). However, the tone (neutral stimulus) does not.
Pavlov’s Experiments
During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (tone) and the US (food) are paired, resulting in salivation (UR). After
conditioning, the neutral stimulus (now Conditioned Stimulus, CS) elicits salivation (now Conditioned
Response, CR)
Acquisition
The CS needs to come half a second before the US for acquisition to occur.
Operant & Classical Conditioning
1. Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (CS and US). Operant conditioning, on the other hand, forms an association between behaviours and the resulting events.
Operant & Classical Conditioning
2. Classical conditioning involves respondent behaviour that occurs as an automatic response to a certain stimulus. Operant conditioning involves operant behaviour, a behaviour that operates on the environment, producing rewarding or punishing stimuli.
Behaviourism
• Pavlov and Watson believed that the process of learning was the same for all animals
• So a pigeon and and a person do not differ in their learning
Behaviourism
• Mind was a tabula rasa when we were born
• Environment plays a vital role in learning
• Nurture and not nature is responsible for learning
Behaviourism
• Learning language is through imita-on
• Learning is habit forma-on
Behaviourism
• S-mulus – response
• Learning is shaped by repe--on and reinforcement
• Posi-ve reinforcement – reward
• Nega-ve reincorcement -‐ punishment
Behaviourism
• Behaviourism cannot explain how children acquire Language
• The mechanisms of learning u-lised in Behaviourism are not the mechanisms involved in acquiring a language
Connec-onism
• Language is a system of paFerns acquired via general learning mechanisms
• Repeated exposure to language allows the child to magically build up paFerns in its head which allow gramma-cal language to emerge
• No rules are present
Piaget
• Children go through certain stages in their cogni-ve development
• These stages move from less complex to more complex learning
• The stages of language acquisi-on are determined by the stages of cogni-ve development
Piaget
• Sensorimotor stage
• Pre-‐opera-onal stage
• Concrete opera-onal stage
• Formal opera-onal stage
• Piaget’s theory of development relies on three components:
• Assimila-on, Accommoda-on and Equilibra-on.
• The first refers to how new informa-on is introduced into the mind, the second deals with how the system of knowledge in the child’s mind is altered to accommodate the new informa-on and Equilibra-on refers to the mental restructuring that occurs during mental development.
Piage-an Perspec-ve
• Piage-an perspec-ve • Developing cogni-on and developing language
– one results in the other
• Environment
• General learning mechanisms and not universal
grammar.
Piage-an Perspec-ve
Four stages in Piaget’s framework: – sensorimotor stage – symbolic stage – concrete opera-onal stage – formal opera-onal stage.
• Language and the onset of symbolic stage coincide. • Concrete opera-onal stage and vocabulary spurt stage
coincide • Formal opera-onal stage and syntac-c development coincide
Piage-an perspec-ve -‐ cri-cisms
• Piage-an theory cannot explain how children go about actually segmen-ng the speech stream into gramma-cally relevant parts.
• The theory cannot also explain how children map words onto verb and noun phrases merely using general processing.
Piaget
• Sensorimotor stage
• The first stage of Piaget’s theory lasts from birth to approximately age two and is centered on the infant trying to make sense of the world. During the sensorimotor stage, an infant’s knowledge of the world is limited to their sensory percep-ons and motor ac-vi-es. Behaviours are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory s-muli. Children u-lize skills and abili-es they were born with, such as looking, sucking, grasping, and listening, to learn more about the environment. The child is really stupid!
Piaget
• Sensorimotor stage
• Object Permanence: According to Piaget, the development of object permanence is one of the most important accomplishments at the sensorimotor stage of development.
• Object permanence is a child's understanding that objects con-nue to exist even though they cannot be seen or heard.
Piaget
• But object permanence actually occurs much earlier than Piaget thought
Piaget
• Sensorimotor stage (the 6 substages)
• Reflexes (0-‐1 month): During this substage, the child understands the environment purely through inborn reflexes such as sucking and looking.
• Primary Circular Reac-ons (1-‐4 months): This substage involves coordina-ng sensa-on and new schemas. For example, a child may such his or her thumb by accident and then later inten-onally repeat the ac-on. These ac-ons are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable.
Piaget
• Sensorimotor stage (the 6 substages)
• Secondary Circular Reac-ons (4-‐8 months): During this substage, the child becomes more focused on the world and begins to inten-onally repeat an ac-on in order to trigger a response in the environment. For example, a child will purposefully pick up a toy in order to put it in his or her mouth.
• Coordina-on of Reac-ons (8-‐12 months): During this substage, the child starts to show clearly intenConal ac-ons. Children begin exploring the environment around them and will olen imitate the observed behaviour of others. The understanding of objects also begins during this -me and children begin to recognize certain objects as having specific quali-es. For example, a child might realize that a raFle will make a sound when shaken.
Piaget
• Ter-ary Circular Reac-ons (12-‐18 months): Children begin a period of trial-‐and-‐error experimenta-on during the filh substage. For example, a child may try out different sounds or ac-ons as a way of gemng aFen-on from a caregiver.
• Early Representa-onal Thought (18-‐24 months): Children begin to develop symbols to represent events or objects in the world in the final sensorimotor substage. During this -me, children begin to move towards understanding the world through mental opera-ons rather than purely through ac-ons.
Piaget
• The preopera-onal stage
• This occurs between ages two and six. Language development is claimed to be one of the hallmarks of this period. Piaget noted that children in this stage do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate informa-on, and are unable to take the point of view of other people, which he termed egocentrism.
• During the preopera-onal stage, children also become increasingly adept at using symbols, as evidenced by the increase in playing and pretending. For example, a child is able to use an object to represent something else, such as pretending a broom is a horse. This is seen as linked to language development.
Piaget
• The preopera-onal stage
• Role playing also becomes important during the preopera-onal stage. Children olen play the roles of "mammy," "daddy," "doctor" and many others.
Piaget
• Egocentrism: Piaget used a number of crea-ve and clever techniques to study the mental abili-es of children. One of the famous techniques egocentrism involved using a three-‐dimensional display of a mountain scene. Children are asked to choose a picture that showed the scene they had observed. Most children are able to do this with liFle difficulty. Next, children are asked to select a picture showing what someone else would have observed when looking at the mountain from a different viewpoint. Invariably, children almost always choose the scene showing their own view of the mountain scene. According to Piaget, children experience this difficulty because they are unable to take on another person's perspec-ve.
• They are s-ll developing their ‘Theory of Mind’
• But they have some version of theory of mind from the start
Piaget
• Conserva-on: Another well-‐known experiment involves demonstra-ng a child's understanding of conserva-on. In one conserva-on experiment, equal amounts of liquid are poured into two iden-cal containers. The liquid in one container is then poured into a different shaped cup, such as a tall and thin cup, or a short and wide cup. Children are then asked which cup holds the most liquid. Despite seeing that the liquid amounts were equal, children almost always choose the cup that appears fuller. Piaget conducted a number of similar experiments on conserva-on of number, length, mass, weight, volume, and quan-ty. Piaget found that few children showed any understanding of conserva-on prior to the age of five.
Piaget
• The concrete opera-onal stage
• This begins around age seven and con-nues un-l approximately age eleven. During this -me, children gain a beFer understanding of mental opera-ons. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothe-cal concepts.
• Piaget decided that children in the concrete opera-onal stage were fairly good at the use of induc-ve logic.
• Induc-ve logic involves going from a specific experience to a general principle. On the other hand, children at this age have difficulty using deduc-ve logic, which involves using a general principle to determine the outcome of a specific event.
Piaget
• Reversibility: One of the most important developments in this stage is an understanding of reversibility, or awareness that ac-ons can be reversed. An example of this is being able to reverse the order of rela-onships between mental categories. For example, a child might be able to recognize that his or her dog is a Labrador, that a Labrador is a dog, and that a dog is an animal.
Piaget
• The formal opera-onal stage
• This begins at approximately age twelve to and lasts into adulthood. During this -me, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical thought, deduc-ve reasoning, and systema-c planning also emerge during this stage.
• Logic: Piaget believed that deduc-ve logic becomes important during the formal opera-onal stage. Deduc-ve logic requires the ability to use a general principle to determine a specific outcome. This type of thinking involves hypothe-cal situa-ons and is olen required in science and mathema-cs.
Piaget
• Abstract Thought: While children tend to think very concretely and specifically in earlier stages, the ability to think about abstract concepts emerges during the formal opera-onal stage. Instead of relying solely on previous experiences, children begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of ac-ons. This type of thinking is important in long-‐term planning.
• Problem-‐Solving: In earlier stages, children used trial-‐and-‐error to solve problems. During the formal opera-onal stage, the ability to systema-cally solve a problem in a logical and methodical way emerges. Children at the formal opera-onal stage of cogni-ve development are olen able to quickly plan an organized approach to solving a problem.
Piaget
• Much of the cri-cism of Piaget's work is in regards to his research methods. A major source of inspira-on for the theory was Piaget's observa-ons of his own three children. In addi-on to this, the other children in Piaget's small research sample were all from well-‐educated professionals of high socio-‐economic status. Because of this unrepresenta-ve sample, it is difficult to generalize his findings to a larger popula-on.
Piaget
• Research has disputed Piaget's argument that all children will automaCcally move to the next stage of development as they mature. Some data suggests that environmental factors may play a role in the development of formal opera-ons.
• Most researchers agree that children posses many of the abili-es at an earlier age than Piaget suspected. Recent research on theory of mind has found that children of 4-‐ or 5-‐years old have a rather sophis-cated understanding of their own mental processes as well as those of other people. For example, children of this age have some ability to take the perspec-ve of another person, meaning they are far less egocentric than Piaget believed.
• While there are few strict Piage-ans, Piaget has had a large influence in the understanding of children’s cogni-ve development.
Piaget
• Piaget’s claims about the rela-onship between stages of cogni-ve development and Language development have been shown to be false.
• Children’s linguis-c abili-es develop regardless of what cogni-ve stages they have gone through, there is no causal connec-on
• The important thing is that Piaget allowed for no specific modules and therefore the path of the emergence of language must relate to the cogni-ve developmental path, but hyperlinguis-c children show Piaget’s theories to be wrong as the language outstrips other cogni-ve abili-es; so do some children born lacking limbs who therefore did not have some of the sensorimotor input Piaget considered crucial to language acquisi-on.
Interac-onism
• It is based on the work of Joseph Bruner about social learning
• And also on the work of Lev Vygotsky on children’s development
Interac-onism
• The central claim is that language is acquired as a result of interac-ons that provide the child with the necessary data to develop language
• It stresses the func-onal aspect of language
• The socio-‐communica-ve func-ons; func-ons that are present in the pre-‐linguis-c stage
• Although language structure is not related in any way to func-on
• Language learning occurs as part of a larger process of socializa-on, as the child learns to be part of its community
• Bruner argues that interac-ons provide the child with LASS – Language Acquisi-on Support Structures
• Even simple things like turn-‐taking
Interac-onism
• The role of caregiver speech is crucial in Interac-onsim
Motherese / Caregiver Speech / Infant Directed Speech
• Prosodic features higher pitch, greater range of frequencies, more varied intona-on (Garnica 1977; Sachs 1977)
• Lexical features special forms like 'poFy' and 'nana' (Ferguson 1964)
• Complexity features shorter uFerances, fewer embedded clauses, fewer verb auxiliaries, etc. (Snow 1977a; Furrow, Nelson & Benedict 1979)
• Redundancy features more immediate repe--on and more repe--on of the same words or phrases over a period of -me
• Content features restric-ons to topics in the child's world (Snow 1977b)
• But language acquisi-on takes place without motherese
• So motherese is not required for language acquisi-on
• If motherese is crucial, how did language first get acquired?
• Children can acquire language with very poor interac-on with caregivers
• Children with Specific Language Impairment do not develop language properly regardless of the high degree of interac-on with their caregivers
• Children with SLI have the same level of interac-on with caregivers as their siblings without SLI
• Four Proper-es of language acquisi-on we need to note are:
• Universality: it happens everywhere • Uniformity: despite the difference in input children seem to
develop the same level of language
• Rapidity: language is acquired with astonishing speed, given what else the infant has to do and the adult rate
• Iden-cal Milestones: children learning different languages seem to go through the same milestones
• Poverty of s-mulus: some of the input may be wrong, but the child has no way of knowing what is right and what is wrong
• The logical problem of underdetermina-on: the child ends up with more knowledge than it has evidence for
Stages in Language Acquisi-on
• Children acquire language in similar stages across the world
• When children are acquiring language, they do not speak a degenerate form of adult language
– Rather, they speak a version of the language that conforms to the set of gramma-cal rules they have developed at that stage of acquisi-on
Stages in Language Acquisi-on
• Children acquire language in similar stages across the world
• When children are acquiring language, they do not speak a degenerate form of adult language
– Rather, they speak a version of the language that conforms to the set of gramma-cal rules they have developed at that stage of acquisi-on
The Percep-on and Produc-on of Speech Sounds
• Infants display an ability to discriminate and recognize speech sounds
– They will even respond to linguis-c contrasts when those contrasts are not present in the language(s) spoken around them
– They can perceive differences in voicing, place of ar-cula-on, manner of ar-cula-on
– But they do not react to nonlinguis-c aspects of speech (loudness, gender-‐based pitch differences, etc.)
• Infants appear to be born with the ability to perceive and focus on the sounds that are important for language, so they can learn any human language
– But by 6 months babies begin to lose to ability to discriminate between sounds that are not phonemic in the language(s) they are acquiring
Babbling
• Babbling begins at about 6 months and is considered the earliest stage of language acquisi-on
– Babies may babble phonemes that do not occur in the language(s) they are acquiring
– 95% of babble is composed of the 12 most common consonants around the world • Early babbles mostly consist of CV sequences but become more varied later on
• By 1 year babbles are composed only of the phonemes used in the language(s) they hear
– Deaf babies babble with their hands like hearing babies babble using sounds
First Words
• Aler the age of one, children figure out that sounds are related to meanings and start to produce their first words
• Usually children go through a holophras3c stage, where their one-‐word uFerances may convey more meaning – up used to indicate something in the sky or to mean “pick me up”
• This suggests that children know more language than they can express
Segmen-ng the Speech Stream
• A major obstacle that babies must overcome is to be able to iden-fy where word boundaries are
• English-‐speaking children may be able to use stress as a cue for word boundaries (prosodic bootstrapping)
– Every content word in English has stress • If a word has two syllables, the stress either falls on the first syllable (trochaic stress) or the second syllable (iambic stress), but the vast majority of English words have trochaic stress
– Experiments have shown that children do use stress as a cue for word boundaries since most English words have stress on the first syllable
Segmen-ng the Speech Stream
• But how do children know the stress paFern of the language they are acquiring?
– Babies may use sta-s-cal frequency of syllable sequences to determine word boundaries
• In one experiment, babies were able to recognize the nonsense words pabiku, tuCbu, golabu, and babupu out of strings of nonsense syllables because those strings of syllables in the ‘words’ occurred more frequently than the random strings of syllables
• Children may use sta-s-cal strategies to determine a few words, and from there may be able to determine the rhythmic, allophonic, and phonotac-c proper-es of the language and then can determine even more words from this knowledge
The Acquisi-on of Phonology
• Children tend to acquire the sounds common to all languages first, followed by the less common sounds of their own language
• Vowels tend to be acquired first, and consonants are ordered: – Manner of ar-cula-on: nasals, glides, stops, liquids, frica-ves,
affricates – Place of ar-cula-on: labials, velars, alveolars, palatals
• Uncommon but high frequency sounds may be acquired earlier than expected
The Acquisi-on of Phonology
• Children can perceive more sound contrasts than they can make in early stages
– Thus they know more about phonology than we can tell by listening to them speak
• When they cannot yet produce a sound, they may subs-tute an easier sound
– These subs-tu-ons are rule-‐governed – Children tend to reduce consonant clusters ([pun] for spoon),
reduplicate syllables ([wawa] for water), and drop final consonants ([ke] for cake)
The Acquisi-on of Word Meaning • When children learn the meanings of words they must learn the relevant
features of the class of things that are referred to by that word
– They must learn that dog refers to pugs and Great Danes, but not cats
• When learning words, children olen overextend a word’s meaning
– For example, using the word dog to refer to any furry, four-‐legged animal (overextensions tend to be based on shape, size, or texture, but never color)
• They may also underextend a word’s meaning
– For example, using the word dog to refer only to the family pet, as if dog were a proper noun
The Acquisi-on of Word Meaning
• The whole object principle: when a child learns a new word, (s)he is likely to interpret the word to refer to a whole object rather than one of its parts
– This principle and others may help the child learn 5,000 words per year
• It has also been put forth that children can learn the meaning of verbs based on the syntac-c environments of the verbs – This is known as syntac3c bootstrapping
The Acquisi-on of Morphology
• The acquisi-on of morphology clearly demonstrates the rule-‐governed nature of language acquisi-on – Children typically learn a morphological rule and then overgeneralize
it – Children go through three stages in the acquisi-on of an irregular
form:
• In phase 1 they use the standard irregular past tense forms because they have learned these irregulars as separate lexical items (broke, brought)
• In phase 2 the child has learned the rule for past tense and therefore aFaches the regular past tense morpheme to the irregular verb (breaked, bringed)
• In phase 3 the child realizes that there are excep-ons to the morphological rule and bring the standard irregular forms back into their vocabulary (broke, brought)
The Acquisi-on of Morphology
• The “wug test” demonstrates that children apply the correct plural allomorph to nouns they have never heard before – Which shows they have an understanding of natural classes of
phonemes and are not just imita-ng words they have heard before
• Children acquiring languages other than English learn subject-‐verb agreement very early
• Children also demonstrate their knowledge of deriva-onal rules and can create new words – E.g. broomed (“swept”)
The Acquisi-on of Syntax
• At about two years of age, children start to put words together to form two-‐word uFerances
– The intona-on contour extends over the two words as a unit, and the two-‐word uFerances can convey a range of meanings: • mommy sock = subject + object or possessive
• Chronological age is not a good measure of linguis-c development due to individual differences, so instead linguists use the child’s mean length of uFerance (MLU) to measure development
The Acquisi-on of Syntax
• The telegraphic stage describes a phase when children tend to omit func-on morphemes such as ar-cles, subject pronouns, auxiliaries, and verbal inflec-on – For example: He play li8le tune or Andrew want that
• However, while func-on morphemes are absent, these sentences have hierarchical cons-tuent structure like adult sentences – Telegraphic uFerances are not just words strung together and reveal the child’s knowledge of syntac-c rules
The Acquisi-on of Syntax
The Acquisi-on of Syntax
• A child must know the syntac-c categories of words in order to apply syntac-c rules
– Seman3c bootstrapping: the no-on that children first use the meaning of a word to figure out its syntac-c category
– Word frames may also help children determine the syntac-c categories for words • Some frames such as you__it and the___one occur frequently enough that kids may be able to iden-fy which words can occur in each frame (verbs for the former and adjec-ves for the laFer)
The Acquisi-on of Syntax
• Between 2;6 and 3;6 a language explosion occurs and children undergo rapid development
– By the age of 3, most children consistently use func-on morphemes and can produce complex syntac-c structures:
• He was stuck and I got him out • It’s too early for us to eat
• Aler 3;6 children can produce wh ques-ons, and rela-ve pronouns
• Some-me aler 4;0 children have acquired most of the adult syntac-c competence
The Acquisi-on of Pragma-cs
• Deixis: – Children olen have problems with the shiling reference of pronouns • Children may refer to themselves as ‘you’
– Problems with the context-‐dependent nature of deic-c words • Children olen assume the hearer knows who she is talking about
The Development of Auxiliaries: A Case Study
• In the telegraphic stage children olen omit auxiliaries from their speech but can form ques-ons (with rising intona-on) and nega-ve sentences – I ride train? I not like this book
• As children acquire auxiliaries in ques-ons and nega-ve sentences, they generally use them correctly – The child always places the nega-on in the correct posi-on in rela-on to the aux
