Child Language Development Notes

How do we learn to speak?
-Parents/Carers
-Imitation and reinforcement (copy and reproduce)
-Interactions/using language with others
-Play (different contexts)


Steven Fry Documentary - (Word of Mouth)
-Language starts at 2 years old (although continues to develop up until that point)
-Nationality doesn't matter, all children learn at the same pace
-We need human language for collaboration
-It is proven with DNA that women use language conclusively
-FOX-P-2 - medical research which identified DNA in charge of language (shows language is innate)
-There is a 'window for language development' which closes around puberty


DR DEB ROY - (origins of language)
He filmed his child up until he was 3 years old and is continuing to investigate his development now He says that at 24 months, children acquire around 10 new words each day


STEVEN PINKER - 'Children say things which they have never heard before'  - proof of DNA.


JEAN BERKO GLEASON - (the Wug Test)
Shows that different opportunities to communicate in different contexts is crucial for children


Horizon Documentary - (Why do we talk?)
-Language is exclusively human and it comes naturally
-Speech and language distinguish humans with animals
-Children learn to speak with minimal effort
-How we learn to talk remains a mystery
-Convergence - parents simplifies language to match their child's language but as the child's language develops the parents language becomes more complex (unconsciously)
-When a child is 5, they will know around 5,000 words


CATHY PRICE -
Her work is highlighting that there are key parts of the brain which is linked with language use
Children's brains responds to a mothers voice as soon as they're born and they have an innate ability to learn language


NOAM CHOMSKY -
Language is innate and we all have an LAD (Language Acquisition Device). We need to be exposed to language early on in life. The origins of language lies within our genes. Morphology can change language - it is happening presently.


Facts -
-NVC (Non Verbal Communication) is the main communication with young children, for example, lip movements, facial expressions, sounds and hand movements
-Babies hand movements, facial expressions, voice tone and lip movements are different when thei mothers are talking to them
-Mothers then respond to babies gestures as if they are real conversational partners. This is called turn-taking
-Turn-taking then turns into language between the child and parents (child-directed speech)
-Gaze, pointing, turn-taking and routines are all important in developing language
-Crying allows babies to recognise the importance of communication
-Deaf children exposed to sign language show the same stages of language development as do hearing children do with spoken language
-If a person develops his/her language after puberty, he/she will never be able to fully acquire language
-If you expose a baby to two languages at the same time, he/she will learn both
-The semantic ability of a child id higher than their phonological ability


What do children learn first?
-Nouns (mostly common and proper)
-Pro-nouns (often used as determiners) - it, her, she, me, I, there
-Responses to questions (either gestures, e.g. shaking head or simple yes or no answers)