The Emergence of Grammar
Chapter 12
BSL 565 - Applied Linguistics
Dr. Olson
Introduction
Introduction
This chapter discusses children's acquisition of language and some of the research findings of the language acquisition process.
You should be familiar with
the following terms:
| developmental sequence | naturalistic approach |
| phonology | experimental approach |
| syntax | morphology |
| semantics | motherese |
What we will cover:
The Study of the Acquisition
of Language
Phonological Development
Morphological Development
Syntactic Development
Semantic Development
Determinants of Language Acquisition
Section I: The Study of Language Acquisition
We commonly refer to the phenomenon of linguistic development as 'language acquisition', the end result of this process is actually a grammar (the mental system that allows people to speak and understand a language).
Much of language acquisition research focuses on children's early utterances, the order of emergence, and the errors.
Answer the following questions:
Explain the differences between the naturalistic approach and experimental studies approach.
In one naturalistic study, a search for passive structures in a sample of 18,000 utterances from sixty children yielded only nineteen examples produced by twelve children. Is this evidence that the other forty-eight children had not yet mastered the passive structure? Why or why not? How are the advantages of the naturalistic method exemplified here?
Section II: Phonological Development
Sound change that begins as subtle alterations in the sound pattern of a language in particular phonetic environment.
Section III: Morphological Development
A system of categories and rules involved in word formation and interpretation.
Review the following sites and write a summary:
A Child's First Steps in Language Learning
New Insights Into How Babies Learn Language
Based on the discussion in Section 3.1 about the developmental sequence of morpheme acquisition, consider the acquisition in other languages of the morphemes listed in Table 12.7. Would you predict that these morphemes would be acquired in exactly the same order as their English equivalents? Why or why not?
Section IV: Syntactic Development
Children gradually master the
rules to place words in an orderly sequence (after they are about one year
old).
Section V: Semantic Development
The ability to use a word in context and to draw inferences about the category and meaning of new words.
Review the following web site and write a summary:
Turn to the questions at the
end of the chapter (472 - 473) and answer questions 7, 8, and 9.
Other sources to view:
Language Acquisition: Mama Teached Me Talk! or Did She?
Section VI: Determinants of Language Acquisition
Provide two examples of each of the following: overgeneralizations, overregulations, and underextensions.
It has been reported that hearing children growing up in homes with non speaking parents cannot learn language from radio or even television. Can you think of any reasons for this? What are the implications of these findings for our understanding of the type of experience that is required for language acquisition?
Conclusion
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