Ling 51/Psych 56L: Acquisition of Languagelpearl/courses/acqoflang1_2017fall/...Ling 51/Psych 56L: Acquisition of Language Lecture 15 Lexical development IV Announcements Be working

Ling51/Psych56L:AcquisitionofLanguage

Lecture15LexicaldevelopmentIV

Announcements

Beworkingonreviewquestionsforlexicaldevelopment

HW4due11/13/17

Bringquestionsforin-classreviewon11/13/17

Thedifferenceafter50words

Upto50words:about8-11wordsaddedeverymonth,addingwordsisaslowprocess

After50words:about22-37wordsaddedeverymonth,wordsoftenaddedafterasingleexposure

Calledthe“wordspurt”,“wordexplosion”,“namingexplosion”.Occursformost(butnotall)childrenaround18months.

Awordspurt

fromPlunkett1993

FromSamuelson&McMurray2017“…arapidaccelera^onofthepaceatwhichtoddlersaddnewwordstotheirproduc^vevocabulary…anonlinearshi_invocabularydevelopment.”—>bigslopeofline.

Doeseverychildhaveawordspurt?

Goldfield&Reznick1990

Someseemto(13of18)

Doeseverychildhaveawordspurt?

Goldfield&Reznick(1990)

Othersdon’t(5of18)

Leveragingknownwords

OnBorovsky,Ellis,Evans,&Elman2015:“Childrenleveragetheirearlyworldknowledgeto

helpthemunlocktheirlanguageskills.Knowingafewrelatedwordshelpschildrenrecognizelinksbetweennewwordmeanings,andthiscouldbeaveryusefulstrategyforhelpingchildrenlearnvocabularyearlyinlife.Thismightbepartoftheexplanationforwhychildrenbegintostart'talkingupastorm'betweentheagesof18-24months.”—ArielleBorovosky

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151012132455.htm

Causesofthevocabularyspurt

Samuelson&McMurray2017:“actuallythenecessaryconsequenceoftwobasic

factsaboutwordlearning:(1)childrenlearnmultiplewordsatonce,and(2)thosewordsvaryindifficulty(withmostwords

beingmoderatelydifficult).”

“thecombina^onofthesetwothingsalwaysproducesanaccelera^nglearningcurve”

Causesofthevocabularyspurt

Frank,Lewis,&MacDonald2016:Theimpactofdevelopingprocessingabilities“difficultiesusingknowledgeorrepresentations

thattheyneverthelesspossess”

“anycognitiveoperationrequiresmultiplesteps,eachofwhichrequiresometimetocompleteandhavesomeprobabilityoffailure…”

“…eventhesimplestwordlearninginputforobjectreferentsinvolvesfollowingsomekindofalen^onalcue(e.g.,gazeorpoin^ng)toadistaltargetandthenprocessingsomekindoflinkbetweenawordandthetargetreferent…”

Causesofthevocabularyspurt

Frank,Lewis,&MacDonald2016:Theimpactofdevelopingprocessingabilities“difficultiesusingknowledgeorrepresentations

thattheyneverthelesspossess”

Theseabilities“developdramaticallyoverthefirsttwoyearsandbeyond”,whichleadstobetterabilitytolearnandusevocabulary.

Wordcomprehension

Thewordspurtreferstowordschildrenactuallyproduce.However,anotherwaytotestchildren’sdevelopinglexiconsisviatheircomprehensionofwords.

Productionusuallylagsbehindcomprehension.Ex:At16months,childrentypicallyproducelessthan50words,but

parentsreporttheycomprehendbetween92and321words.

Productionvocabulariesaredifferentfromcomprehensionvocabularies.(Thismaybebecausecommunicationworksjustfinewithaminimalverbvocabulary.Ex:goisveryversatile.Go+night-night,go+car,go+park,etc.)

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenphonologyandwordlearning

phonologicalmemory=abilitytorememberasequenceofunfamiliarsounds

Children’sphonologicalmemoryhasbeenlinkedtotheirvocabularysizefrom22monthsupto9yearsold.(Thismakessensesincetheabilitytoremembertheformsofnewlyencounteredwordswouldbevitalifachildwantstolearnthemappingbetweensoundandmeaning.)

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenlabelingandwordlearning

[Extra]

Ferguson,Havy,&Waxman(2015)foundthat12-month-oldswhorecognizethatdifferentlabelsindicatedifferentcategorieshavealargervocabularyat18months.

Whatthismeans:Recognizingthatwords(labels)denotespecificconcepts.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150831135841.htm

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenmothereseandwordlearning

Ma,Golinkoff,Houston,&Hirsh-Pasek(2011)foundthat21-month-oldslearnbetterfromchild-directedspeech(ascomparedtoregularadult-directedspeech).

Whatthismeans:Rememberthatmotheresehasexaggeratedprosody,andwhenlearningnovelwordsearlyoninlexicaldevelopment,childrenrelymoreonprosodiccues.Also,theexaggeratedprosodymaygetchildren’sattentionmore.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenmothereseandwordlearning

Taumoepeau(2016)foundthatmotherswhoexpandedmoreoftheutterancesdirectedatchildrenbetweentheagesof24and33monthsreallygavethosechildrenaboostwhenlearningwords.

Whatthismeans:Rememberthatmotheresetendstohavemoreexpansionsandrepetitions,andthisseemstobehelpful(mostlikelyforrememberingwordformsanddeterminingtheirreferents).

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenmothereseandwordlearning

OnNewman,Rowe,&BernsteinRatner(2015):“Parentswhorepeatwordsmoreoftentotheir

infantshavechildrenwithbetterlanguageskillsayearandahalflater…Alotofrecentfocushasbeenonsimplytalkingmoretoyourchild--buthowyoutalktoyourchildmatters.Itisn'tjustaboutthenumberofwords.”-RochelleNewman

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150921103539.htm

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenmothereseandwordlearning

Rowe(2012):Thequantityofspeechisthestrongest

predictorofvocabularygrowthinthesecondyearoflife.Diversityofvocabularyusedbyparentspredictsvocabularygrowthinthethirdyearoflife,andthecomplexitiesassociatedwithnarrativesanddecontextualizedspeechpredictvocabularygrowthinthefourthyearoflife.

Decontextualizedspeech:Thingsthataren’taboutthe“here”and“now”ofthecurrentcontext.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenquantityofmotherese

andwordlearning http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/

21596923-how-babbling-babies-can-boost-their-brains-beginning-was-word#

(video:upthroughabout1:14) Issuesofinputdisparity “ItisalsonowclearfromDrFernald’sworkthatwordsspokendirectly

toachild,ratherthanthosesimplyheardinthehome,arewhatbuildsvocabulary…Tellingparentsisthefirststep:manywhovolunteeredthemselvesandtheirchildrenforstudydidnotknowtheycouldhelptheirbabiesdowellsimplybyspeakingtothem.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenquantityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differencesbysocio-economicstatus(SES)

“Onaverage,childrenfromlower-SESfamiliesshowslowervocabularygrowthrela^vetotheirhigher-SESpeers,andthesedifferencespersistintotheschoolyears.Fromwheredothesedifferencesarise?Researchsuggeststhatvaria^oninparents’speechtochildren—asafunc^onofSES—relatestochildren’slanguagedevelopment.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenquantityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differencesbysocio-economicstatus(SES)

“Forexample,HartandRisleyrevealeddrama^cdifferencesintheamountthatparentstalktotheiryoungchildrenasafunc^onofSES.Theires^ma^onssuggestthatbyage4,childrenfromprofessionalfamilieshearatotalof45millionwordsonaverage,whilechildrenlivinginpovertyhear13millionwordsonaverage.Thisfindingiso_endescribedasthe‘30millionwordgap.’Importantly,quan^ta^vedifferencesinparents’languageinputhavebeenshowntouniquelypredictaspectsofchildren’slanguagedevelopment,suchasvocabularygrowthandspeedinprocessingfamiliarwords.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differencesbysocio-economicstatus(SES)

“RowefoundthatSESwasrelatedtobothquan^tyandqualitymeasures,withmorehighlyeducatedparentsusingmorewordtokensandwordtypes,aswellasmorerarewordsandmoreofsometypesofdecontextualizedulerances…”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differencesbysocio-economicstatus(SES)

“By18months,group-leveldifferencesinvocabularyknowledgeandlanguageprocessingefficiency(i.e.,comprehensionoflanguageinreal^me)betweenlower-SESandhigher-SEStoddlersarealreadyapparent.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differencesbysocio-economicstatus(SES)

“By24months,thereisa6-monthgapbetweenSESgroupsinlanguageprocessingefficiency,whichhasbeenshowntoforecastlaterlanguagelearning.Thus,infantshearingmorerichlanguagefromtheircaregiversearlyinlifedevelopstrongerlanguageprocessingskills,whichcanaffecttheirabilitytolearnnewwordsmorequickly,andthisinturnseemstoinfluencetheirabilitytoprocessfuturesentencescontainingthosewords.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenquantity&qualityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differencesbysocio-economicstatus(SES)

“Specifically,childrenatthelowerendoftheSESspectrumtendtoreceivesignificantlylesshigh-quan^tyandhigh-qualitylanguageexperience,whichaffectstheirdevelopmentofvocabulary,grammar,andlanguageprocessing.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearning Schwab&Lew-Williams2016:Differenceswithinsocio-economicstatus(SES)

“…withinthislow-SESsample,measuresofthequalityofmother–childcommunica^onmorestronglypredictedchildren’sexpressivelanguageabili^esoneyearlaterthandidthetotalnumberofwordsspokenbymothers…”

“…childrenfromlow-SESfamilieswhosemothersspoketothemusingmorecomplexlanguageat18monthsweresignificantlyfasterinareal-^mecomprehensiontaskat24months.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearningRowe,Leech,&Cabrera2017:Differenceswithinsocio-economicstatus(SES)

“theoverallquan^tyoffathertalkdidnotrelatetochildren’svocabularyorreasoningskills…fathers’useofwh-ques^ons(butnototherques^ons)relatedtoboth…achallengingtypeofinput,whichelicitsaverbalresponsefromthechildthatlikelyhelpsbuildvocabularyandfosterverbalreasoningabili^es.”

Speechsamplesfrom“low-income,African-Americanfathersandtheir24-month-oldchildren”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearningHoff,Quinn,&Giguere2017:Bilingualacquisition

“ChildrenmayhearveryrichlanguageuseinSpanishandlessrichuseinEnglish…iftheirparentsaremoreproficientinSpanishthaninEnglish.”-ErikaHoff

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170420093711.htm

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearningHoff,Quinn,&Giguere2017:Bilingualacquisition

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170420093711.htm

“ThereissomethingaboutdifferencesamongthechildrenandthequalityofEnglishtheyhearthatmakesomechildrenacquirevocabularyandgrammarmorerapidlyinEnglishandotherchildrendevelopmoreslowly,"saidHoff."Ithinkthekeytakeawayfromourstudyisthatit'snotthequan^tyofwhatthechildrenarehearing;it'sthequalityoftheirlanguageexposurethatmalers.Theyneedtoexperiencearichenvironment.”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweenqualityofmotherese

andwordlearninghttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917141431.htm

Brady&Goodman2014:Investigating18-to36-month-olds

• childrenlearnbetterwhenavarietyofcuesareavailable(likethescenes+nouns+framesconditioninSnedeker&Gleitman2002)

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweencognitivedevelopment

andwordlearning

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917141431.htm

Brady&Goodman2014:Investigating18-to36-month-olds

• children’sabilitytofigureoutawordusinglinguisticcontext(liketheframesconditioninSnedecker&Gleitman2002)improvedwithage

• children’smemoriesarestilllimited—thefirst3wordstheylearnthepreviousdaystickwiththembetter

• by36months,childrenreliedlessonsocialcueslikeeyegaze

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensocialcuesandwordlearning

Brooks&Meltzoff2008:10-and11-month-oldinfantswhofollowthegazeoftheircaretakersandpointedthemselveswhenlearningnewwordshadfastervocabularygrowth.

Bergelson&Swingley2013:10-month-oldabilitytofollowpointingofcaretakercorrelateswithcurrentnon-noun(verb,adjective,etc.)vocabulary.

Wu&Gros-Luis2015:16-month-oldslearnedthelabelsfornewobjectsthebestwhenthelabelswereprovidedcontingentlyafterthechild’sownpointinggesture.

Whatthismeans:Veryearlywordlearningmaybegreatlyfacilitatedbythesekindofsocialcuesinacommunicativecontext.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensocialcuesandwordlearning

Scott,Sakkalou,Ellis-Davies,Hilbrink,Hahn,&Gattis2013:14-month-oldtendencytolookatobjectsafterbeingencouragedtodoso(calledinfantfollow-in)isstronglyrelatedtoproductivevocabularysizeandgrowth.

Whatthismeans:Veryearlywordlearningmaybegreatlyfacilitatedbythesekindofsocialcuesinacommunicativecontext.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensocialcuesandwordlearning

Myers,LeWitt,Gallo,&Maselli2016:17-month-oldscanlearnwordsfromvideochats,butonlyinteractivechatswheretheon-screenpartnerrespondedtotheminreal-time,asopposedtoprerecordedoneswithoutthatinteraction.

Whatthismeans:Veryearlywordlearningmaybegreatlyfacilitatedbythesekindofsocialcuesinacommunicativecontext.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensocialcuesandwordlearning

http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/wa05.03.htmlJointattention“inthewild”

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensocialcuesandwordlearning

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensequentialpatternsensitivity

andwordlearning

Ellis,RobledoGonzales,&Deák2013:6-month-oldcapacitytorespondto

novelbutpredictableeventsrobustlypredictedbothreceptiveandproductivevocabularyat22months.

Whatthismeans:Thisdomain-generalabilitytotrackprobabilities(sometimescalledstatisticallearning)mattersforearlywordlearning.

Howlearningworks: Linksbetweensequentialpatternsensitivity

andwordlearning&SES

Eghbalzad,Deocampo,&Conway2016:SL=statisticallearning“ForchildrenwithhighSLability,SES

hadaweakereffectonlanguagecomparedtochildrenwithlowSLability,suggestingthathavinggoodSLabilitiescouldhelpamelioratethedisadvantagesassociatedwithbeingraisedinafamilywithlowerSES”whenitcomestolanguagelearning.

Recap:Children’slexicaldevelopment

Childrentypicallyacquiretheirfirst50wordsoveraseriesofmonths,andthenincreasetheirrateoflexicalacquisitionsuddenly(wordspurt)

Thequantityandqualityoflanguageexperiences(especiallyastransmittedbymotherese)impactslexicaldevelopment.

TherearesignificantdifferencesinmotheresebothacrossSESclassesandwithinSESclasses.

Socialcuesandstatisticallearningabilitiesimpactchildren’svocabularydevelopment.

Questions?

YoushouldbeabletodoallofHW4,andallofthelexicaldevelopmentreviewquestions.