Language and its Development

Language and its Development

Language What defines language? What properties

does language have?

How does language allow for communicative power?

Why does language exist? What does it gain us?

When does language develop?

Properties of Language Symbolic

Cat = Thor = Arbitrary Productive Discrete

Language is based on discrete units; each unit is unique

Properties of Language

/bog/ /pog/

Properties of Language

Properties of Language Symbolic

Cat = Thor = Arbitrary Discrete

Language is based on discrete units; each unit is unique

Productive

Properties of Language- Productivity We can say sentences we’ve never heard

before “I hate you, Mommy!”

We have a limited set of words and structures that can be recombined.

Generativity: “He said that she told them that he thought that

we heard that they reported that…”

Ambiguity in Speech

Resolving AmbiguitySocial agreement, context, intention Grice (1975): Maxims of Conversation 1. Quality: Tell the truth! (Avoid falsehoods *and*

statements for which you have no evidence)2. Quantity: Include what is necessary to express

information, and nothing extraneous.3. Utterances will be related to the topic at hand4. Manner: Avoid ambiguity, use common ground

(Clark)

Ambiguity in Speech Humor:

Last night I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. What he was doing in my pyjamas, I’ll never know”- Groucho Marx

Garden Path Sentences The horse raced past the barn fell. The prime number few.

Properties of Language Is language unique to humans? Or does

animal communication meet these criteria? Symbolic?

call systems used by animals only in presence of predators; NO

Arbitrary? For some animals, YES; others, NO

Discrete NO

Productive Productivity dependent upon discreteness; NO

Language and Thought What does language allow us in terms of our

ability to think? Whorfian hypothesis

Eskimos and “snow” Interlanguage differences

Colors Spatial position/direction Grammatical gender

The Innateness of Language Behaviorism: Language is learned like

everything else We say something, we receive feedback, which

encourages us to say it again BUT: We can say things we’ve never heard;

we can produce new structures. Chomsky: Language is innate to humans

Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Universal Grammar Poverty of the Stimulus

The Nature of Feedback (Poverty of the Stimulus)1. Children get little or no direct instruction.2. Children get little feedback and don’t listen to what they

get -- so why do they ever correct their errors?3. Children hear many ungrammatical structures not

identified as such -- how do they come to learn these are wrong?

4. In some cultures adults don’t speak to children.5. Children will make up a language if they are not given one

-- deaf children of hearing parents.

Feedback

Child: Nobody don’t like me.Mother: No, say “Nobody likes me.”Child: Nobody don’t like me.Mother: No, say “Nobody likes me.”Child: Nobody don’t like me.[dialogue repeated eight times]Mother: Now listen carefully, say

“Nobody likes me.”Child: Oh! Nobody don’t likeS me.

The Nature of Feedback (Poverty of the Stimulus)1. Children get little or no direct instruction.2. Children get little feedback and don’t listen to what they

get -- so why do they ever correct their errors?3. Children hear many ungrammatical structures not

identified as such -- how do they come to learn these are wrong?

4. In some cultures adults don’t speak to children.5. Children will make up a language if they are not given one

-- deaf children of hearing parents.

The Language Gene SLI: Specific Language Impairment: Language

is impaired without signs of impairment in other areas (motor, cognitive, etc.)

The FOXP2 gene Members of the KE family with a corruption of this

gene had SLI; the others didn’t. The Language Gene?

The Language Gene

The Language Gene Is it really specific to humans?

NO Is language the only area affected by the

gene? NO

FOXP2 affects rapid-motor sequencing (which is imperative for language), but not language itself.

Statistical Word Learning Saffran, Aslin, and Newport

(1996) 8-month-olds presented with a

series of syllables (2 mins) Bidakupadotigolabubidaku Transitional probabilities

Within-word: 1.0 (bida) Between-word: 0.33 (kupa)

Then, they play repetitions of the “words” and “nonwords” If babies have learned the

words, they should prefer the nonwords.

And they do!

Language Development In utero:

Can distinguish between vowels (/a/ vs. /o/) Infants:

Can distinguish phonologically similar sounds at 2 months (they lose this ability by 8-12 months)

Can pick up on cues to word segmentation Can distinguish their native language from other

languages

Language Development How do we tell what

babies know? Preferential looking Sucking Heart rate

Language Development Babies prefer looking

at/hearing new things

When something is interesting: Heart rate slows Sucking rate slows

Child Language Development How do children get from being completely non-

verbal to being expert speakers?1. Can distinguish between vowel sounds (/a/ vs. /o/)- in

utero2. Can distinguish between all contrasts- from birth3. Categorical perception of speech sounds (8-12 months)4. Babbling: 6 months5. One word stage: ~1 year6. Two word stage: ~2 years (vocab is about 50 words)7. Multiword utterances; gradually increase in complexity

Verb Learning Two types of past

tense verbs: Regular: talked, liked,

hated Irregular: ate, went,

was U-shaped curve of

language learning Early: correct usage Middle:

overgeneralization Late: correct usage

The Critical Period If language learning

doesn’t occur before a certain time, language will be impaired

Johnson & Newport (1989) Age of Acquisition affects

ability to learn second language

Genie Pinker (NR)

Nicaraguan sign language Deaf children