First Language Acquisition Lecture #16. 2 First Language Acquisition Why do we call it language...

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First Language Acquisition Lecture #16

Transcript of First Language Acquisition Lecture #16. 2 First Language Acquisition Why do we call it language...

Page 1: First Language Acquisition Lecture #16. 2 First Language Acquisition  Why do we call it language acquisition?  Learning  Intentional process  Presupposes.

First Language Acquisition

Lecture #16

Page 2: First Language Acquisition Lecture #16. 2 First Language Acquisition  Why do we call it language acquisition?  Learning  Intentional process  Presupposes.

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First Language Acquisition

Why do we call it language acquisition?Learning

Intentional process Presupposes teaching Teacher controls pace

Acquisition Unconscious process Does not presuppose teaching Child controls pace

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First Language Acquisition

How do nurture and nature interact in FLA?Nature

Must have LAD—poverty of stimulus too great to learn without “language instinct”

All children learn a language; have language capacity Overgeneralizations demonstrate child is analyzing language

Nurture Children cannot acquire language without

interaction/scaffolding Children learn the language of their environment; through

parents who model social interaction Memorization of chunks by rote demonstrates not all info is

anlayzed fully

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Four Pillars of FLA

1. Ability1. Physiological2. Cognitive

2. Interaction1. Scaffolding (Caretaker

speech)

3. Motivation1. Internal vs. External2. Instrumental vs. Integrative

4. Data1. Forms2. Meaning3. Function

1. Targeted/limited vocab

2. Exaggerated intonation

3. Repetition

4. Questioning

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Critical Period Hypothesis

There is an ideal window of opportunity within which we are primed to acquire language: birth - puberty

Evidence?Adults struggle to learn a second

language (to a greater or lesser degree)

The question is why?We struggle with both the

physiological and the cognitive ability.

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Stages of First Language Acquisition

Prelinguistic Sounds0-1 mo. Sleep, eat, cry1 mo. Intonational patterns2-5 mos. Cooing stage5-12 mos. Babbling stage

One-word Stage (holophrastic)1 yr. emergence of first word (controversial)1 yr., 6 mos. Holophrastic stage

intonation layers on meaning ‘fis’ phenomenon

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Stages of First Language Acquisition

Two-word Stage2 yrs. Two words, three possible interpretations

Subject-verb ‘Mary go.’ Verb-modifier ‘Push truck.’ Possessor-possesed ‘Mommy sock’

Content words, no function words

Telegraphic Stage 2 yrs., 6 mos. telegraphic stage

2-5 words with little extra morphology Morphological overgeneralization Easier, more productive morphemes first

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Stages of First Language Acquisition

Telegraphic Stage, cont.2-5 yrs. More elaborate syntax

Learning 20-30 words per day Semantic overgeneralization/

undergeneralization

Fine-tuning5-10 yrs. Refining grammar, building vocabulary

How children learn vocabulary:– Assign word to a broad semantic category– Work out distinctions among words in that category

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Building Vocabulary

Traditional efforts:Flash cardsLook it up in the dictionary—

what is the problem here?

Better to learn vocab in context:ReadingConversation Language learning software

How can you help your children develop their language skills the most?