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