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LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

by Don L. F. Nilsenand Alleen Pace Nilsen

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Youtube Babies:Charlie Bit My Finger Again:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Evil-Eye Baby:http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=evil+eye+baby&search_type=&aq=0&oq=evil

+

Funny Baby Blood:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9WmKre5O2I

The Marshmallow Test:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWW1vpz1ybo

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LANGUAGE STAGES

Stage: Age:Crying BirthCooing 6 WeeksBabbling 6 MonthsIntonation 8 MonthsHolophrastic 1 YearPivot-Open 18 MonthsWord Inflections 2 YearsQuestions & Negatives 2 ½ YearsRare & Complex Lg 5 YearsMature Speech 10 Years

(Aitchison 570)

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CARETAKER SPEECHSimplified Vocabulary

Simplified Phonology

Exaggerated Pitch & Intonation

Many Questions by Mothers

Many Imperatives by Fathers

Baby-Talk Wordse.g. wawa, choo-choo, tummy, scambled eggs, pasghetti

(Moskowitz 534)

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ACQUISITION OF SOUNDS

Properties of easy sounds:Front of the MouthTotal ArticulationMuscles already Developed (in Nursing)

Easy Sounds: /m, p, b, t, d/

Hard Sounds: /ŋ, Θ, ð, š, r, l/ clusters

Easy sounds occur in more languages and are learned earlier by children.

(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 333-335)

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ACQUISITION OF WORDSvov-vov dog

for dogs, kittens, hens, zoo animals

mooi moonfor moon, cake <O> anything round

dany bell soundfor bell, clock, telephone, doorbell

quack duck soundducks, birds, insects, coins (because a coin had an eagle on it)

koko rooster crowingrooster, merry-go-round, musical sounds, all sounds

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 335-336)

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[?aw] “not,” “no,” “don’t”

[b^?]/[m^?] “up”

[da] “dog”

[i?o]/[si?o] “Cheerios”

[sa] “sock”

[aj]/[^j] “light”

[baw]/[daw] “down”

[s:] “aerosol spray”

[sju:] “shoe”

[haj] “hi”

[sr] “shirt” “sweater”

[sæ:]/[esæ:] “what’s that?”

[ma] “mommy”

[dæ] “daddy”

(J.P. at 16 months)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 336)

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[pun] “spoon”

[peyn] “plane”

[tIs] “kiss”

[taw] “cow”

[tin] “clean”

[pol-r] “stroller”

[majtl] “Michael”

[dajt-r] “diaper”

[pati] “Papi”

[mani] “Momy”

[b-rt] “Bert”

[b-rt] “Big Bird”

(- is schwa)

(Michael from 18-21 months)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 341)

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Michael systematically substituted the alveolar stop [t] for the velar stop [k] as in his words for “cow,” “clean,” “kiss,” and his own name.

He also replaced labial [p] with [t] when it occurred in the middle of a word, as in his words for “Papi” and “diaper.”

He reduced consonant clusters in “spoon,” “plane,” and “stroller,” and he devoiced final stops as in “Big Bird.”

In devoicing the final [d] in “bird,” he created an ambiguous form [b-rt] referring both to Bert and Big Bird.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 341)

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“Michael’s substitutions are typical of the phonological rules that operate in the very early stages of acquisition.”

“Other common rules are reduplication—’bottle’ becomes [baba], ‘water’ becomes [wawa]; and the dropping of a final consonant—’bed’ becomes [be], ‘cake’ becomes ke]. These two rules show that the child prefers a simple CV syllable.”

(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 341)

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[dot] “don’t”

[kh Ip] “skip”

[su] “shoe”

[dæt] “that”

[ph e] “play”

[d^p] “thump”

[bæt] “bath”

[th ap] “stop”

[kIdi] “kitty”

[wajt] “light”

[dawi] “dolly”

[go] “grow”

([ph ] [th ] [kh ] are aspirated [p] [t] and [k] respectively)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 371)

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ACQUISITION OF GRAMMAR

Holophrastic (one part of speech)

Pivot-Open (two parts of speech)

Telegraphic (four parts of speech)

Adult (eight parts of speech)

Linguist (each part of speech has many sub-categories)

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THREE STAGES OF ACQUISITION OF MORPHOLOGY

1. Holophrastic: men, went, broke, broughtRight Answer, but Wrong Reason

2. Rule-Governed: mans, goed, breaked, bringedWrong Answer, but Right Reason

3. Knowledge of both Rules and Exceptions to the Rules: men, went, broke, broughtRight Answer, and Right Reason

NOTE: These stages also operate for adults learning a new profession

(Moskowitz 533)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 336, 370-371)

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WHAT WOULD A CHILD SAY?

children

went

better

best

brought

sang

geese

worst

knives

worse(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 371)

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GRAMMAR: TWO-WORD STAGE

The two-word stage is also called the Pivot-Open stage because one of the words is usually a Lexical Word (an open set that refers to something), and the other word is a Functional Word (a closed set with grammatical rather than reference meaning).

In the following sentences, indicate which is the Pivot word and which is the Open word:

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Allgone sock.

Byebye boat.

More wet.

Katherine Sock.

Hi Mommy.

Allgone sticky.

It ball.

Dirty sock.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 333)

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See boy

See soci.

Pretty boat.

Pretty fan.

More taxi.

More melon.

Push it.

Move it.

Mommy sleep.

Bye-bye melon.

Bye-bye hot.

(Adam, Eve, and Sarah)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 369-370)

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M. L. U.

As children progress from the holophrastic to the pivot-open to the telegraphic to the mature stages of language development, a simple but effective gauge of their level of development is MLU.

MLU means “Mean Length of Utterance.” “MLU is the average length of the utterances the child is producing at a particular point.”

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 347)

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TELEGRAPHIC SPEECH

During this stage of development, the functional categories like Determiners, Auxiliaries, Prepositions, Conjunctions and Expletives are missing.

And the Lexical categories like Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs (usually without any suffixes) are present.

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Cat stand up table.

What that?

He play little tune.

Andrew want that.

Cathy build house.

No sit there.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 347)

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ACQUISITION OF MORPHOLOGY

AGE 2:

Progressive –ing: I singing.

Plural –s: blue shoes.

Copula am, is, are: He is asleep.

Articles a, the: He is a doctor.

(Aitchison 574)

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ACQUISITION OF MORPHOLOGY 2

AGE 3:

Third Person Singular –s: He wants an apple

Past tense –d: I helped Mummy

Full Progressive be + -ing: I am singing

Shortened Copula: He’s a doctor

Shortened Progressive: I’m singing(Aitchison 574)

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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.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 326)

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ADULT: What does [maws] mean?CHILD: Like a cat.

ADULT: Yes, What else?CHILD: Nothing else.

ADULT: It’s part of your head.CHILD: [fascinated]

ADULT: [touching child’s mouth] What’s this?CHILD: [maws]

(Neil Smith talking to 2-year-old Amahl)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 327)

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CHILDREN’S METAPHORS

Don’t giggle me.

I danced the clown.

Yawny Baby—you can push her mouth open to drink her.

Who deaded my kitty cat?

Are you gonna nice yourself?

CF: Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 361)

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“WUG” AS A NOUN

Make it plural.

Make it possessive.

Make it plural and possessive.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 343-344)

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“WUG” AS A VERBPut it after “he” in a sentence.

Make it past tense.

Make it a past participle.

Make it a present participle.(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 343-344)

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“WUG” AS AN ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB

Make it comparative.

Make it superlative.(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 343-344)

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ACQUISITION OF NEGATIVES

Stage One: “No you catch me.”

Stage Two: “You didn’t caught me.”

Stage Three: “You didn’t catch me.”

(Moskowitz 547)

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ACQUISITION OF WH-QUESTIONS

STAGE ONE:What Mummy doing? Why you singing? Where daddy go?

STAGE TWO:Where you will go? Why kitty can’t see? Why you don’t

know?

STAGE THREE:Where will you go? Why can’t kitty see? Why don’t you know?

(Aitchison, 575)

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CHILD: Want other one spoon, Daddy.FATHER: You mean, you want the other spoon.

CHILD: Yes, I want the other one spoon, please Daddy.FATHER: Can you say, “the other spoon”?

CHILD: Other … one … spoon.FATHER: Say “other.”

CHILD: Other.FATHER: Spoon

CHILD: SpoonFATHER: Other spoon.

CHILD: Other … spoon. Now give me other one spoon?

(Aitchison, 565)(Braine, 161)(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 327)

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CHILD: My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we patted them.ADULT: Did you say your teacher held the baby rabbits?

CHILD: YesADULT: What did you say she did?

CHILD: She holded the baby rabbits and we patted them.ADULT: Did you say she held them tightly?

CHILD: No, she holded them loosely(Aitchison 566)(Cazden 92)

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 325)

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EXPLAIN THE FOLLOWINGSelf-Directed Louding: Baby’s getting a rash

Rhetorical Questions: Don’t you know I just wiped that off?

Self-Answered Questions: What does the lamb say? Baaa.

Limiting Questions: Do you want chocolate or vanilla?

What is the function of egocentric speech? Do adults use this device?(Heath 617)

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RESTRICTED AND ELABORATED CODES

In 1971, Basil Bernstein distinguished between local language (restricted codes) and public language (elaborated codes).

Restricted codes use “he” and “she” instead of “Mom” and “Dad.”

They use back channels like “You know.”

They use tags like “isn’t it.”

They use fewer verbs and adjectives.

They use more slang, fixed expressions, and cliches.(Bernstein 5)

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ACQUISITION OF HUMOR

Even babies have a sense of humor. Adults laugh with children who are playing peek-a-boo or watching Sesame Street with its Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Young children are also fond of knock-knock jokes and riddles.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 9-10)

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TOILET HUMOR

Alvin Schwartz says that children who are six or seven enjoy toilet humor because they no longer have accidents, but they still remember when they did. They like the following poem:

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I see London; I see France.I see Betsy’s underpants.They aren’t green; they aren’t blue.They’re just filled with number two.

They also like to talk about the secret parts of the body:

Mary had a little bear,The best that she could find.And everywhere that Mary went,There was her bare behind.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 11)

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CONSERVATION HUMOR

Paul McGhee told a joke to children of different ages: “A man goes into a pizza parlor and tells the server to cut his pizza into four pieces because he isn’t hungry enough to eat six pieces.”

1st Graders didn’t laugh because they didn’t get the joke. They hadn’t yet mastered conservation.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 10)

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8th Graders didn’t laugh because they had mastered conservation so long ago that there was no tension.

The students in the middle grades laughed the hardest. They experienced pleasure because they could take pride in the fact that they were able to figure out that the amount of pizza was the same regardless of how many pieces it was cut into.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 10)

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!6 LEVELS OF HUMOR DEVELOPMENT

In Antony Chapman’s It’s a Funny Thing, Humor, Alice Sheppard has outlined six levels of humor development for children:

LEVEL 1 (IDIOSYNCRATIC): Involves amusement related to a young child’s individual experience as with a surprise, a physical sensation, or a response to someone else’s smile or laughter.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 10)

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!LEVEL 2 (NORMATIVE): Involves a generalization that implies a rule, or a convention. Later, the child will violate the rule or convention.

LEVEL 3 (EXPECTATION): Involves a reference to the unusualness or the improbability of an event.

LEVEL 4 (RELATIONAL): Involves concern for inner motives related to a situation, relations among events, and multiple aspects of the situation.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 10)

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!!LEVEL 5 (EXTRA-CONTEXTUAL): Involves context beyond the situation implied in the notion of parody, take-off, irony, or satire. It also involves the distinction between appearance and reality; the humor is revealed as contingent upon subtle aspects of events.

LEVEL 6 (PHILOSOPHICAL): Involves the ability to see what is ridiculous in the nature of things and to generalize an outlook from humor examples.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 10)

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Summary of life.msg

!!!Summary of Life

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References:References:

Aitchison, Jean. “Predestinate Grooves: Is There a Preordained Aitchison, Jean. “Predestinate Grooves: Is There a Preordained Language `Program’?” (Clark, 560-579).Language `Program’?” (Clark, 560-579).

Bernstein, Basil. Bernstein, Basil. Class, Codes and Control: Three VolumesClass, Codes and Control: Three Volumes. London: . London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1971-1975.Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1971-1975.

Braine, M. D. S. “The Acquisition of Language in Infant and Child.” in Braine, M. D. S. “The Acquisition of Language in Infant and Child.” in The Learning of LanguageThe Learning of Language Ed. C. E. Reed. New York, NY: Ed. C. E. Reed. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1971.Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1971.

Cazden, Courtney. Cazden, Courtney. Child Language and EducationChild Language and Education New York, NY: New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972.Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972.

Chapman, Antony J., and Hugh C. Foot, eds. Chapman, Antony J., and Hugh C. Foot, eds. Humor and Laughter: Humor and Laughter: Theory, Research, and ApplicationsTheory, Research, and Applications. New Brunswick, NJ: . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1996.Transaction, 1996.

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Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa. Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa. Language: Language: Readings in Language and Culture, 6th EditionReadings in Language and Culture, 6th Edition. New York, NY: . New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.St. Martin’s Press, 1998.

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. “Language Acquisition.” An Introduction to Language, 9th Edition. Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2011, 324-374.

Fromkin, Victoria, Stephen Krashen, Susan Curtiss, David Rigler Fromkin, Victoria, Stephen Krashen, Susan Curtiss, David Rigler and Marilyn Rigler. “The Development of Language in Genie: A and Marilyn Rigler. “The Development of Language in Genie: A Case of Language Acquisition beyond the `Critical Period’” Case of Language Acquisition beyond the `Critical Period’” (Clark, 588-604).(Clark, 588-604).

Groch, A. “Joking and Appreciation of Humor in Nursery School Groch, A. “Joking and Appreciation of Humor in Nursery School Children.” Children.” Child DevelopmentChild Development 45.4 (1974): 1098-1102. 45.4 (1974): 1098-1102.

Heath, Shirley Brice. “Teaching How to Talk in Roadville: The First Heath, Shirley Brice. “Teaching How to Talk in Roadville: The First Words” (609-625).Words” (609-625).

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Hyams, Nina. Hyams, Nina. Language Acquisition and the Theory of ParametersLanguage Acquisition and the Theory of Parameters. New . New York, NY: D. Reidel Publishers, 1986.York, NY: D. Reidel Publishers, 1986.

Lenneberg, Eric. “Developmental Milestones in Motor and Language Lenneberg, Eric. “Developmental Milestones in Motor and Language Development (Clark, 556-559).Development (Clark, 556-559).

McGhee, Paul E. McGhee, Paul E. How to Develop Your Sense of Humor: An 8-Step Humor How to Develop Your Sense of Humor: An 8-Step Humor Development Training ProgramDevelopment Training Program. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1994.. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1994.

McGhee, Paul E. McGhee, Paul E. Humor and Children’s Development: A Guide to Practical Humor and Children’s Development: A Guide to Practical ApplicationsApplications. New York, NY: Haworth, 1989.. New York, NY: Haworth, 1989.

McGhee, Paul E. McGhee, Paul E. Humor Log for the 8-Step Humor Development Training Humor Log for the 8-Step Humor Development Training ProgramProgram. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1994.. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1994.

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Miller, George and Patricia Gildea. “How Children Miller, George and Patricia Gildea. “How Children Learn Words” (Clark, 580-587).Learn Words” (Clark, 580-587).

Moskowitz, Breyne. “The Acquisition of Language Moskowitz, Breyne. “The Acquisition of Language (Clark, 529-555).(Clark, 529-555).

Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. “Acquisition Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. “Acquisition of a Sense of Humor.” of a Sense of Humor.” Encyclopedia of 20Encyclopedia of 20thth Century Century American HumorAmerican Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000, . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000, 9-11.9-11.

Pines, Maya. “Genie: A Postscript” (Clark, 605-608).Pines, Maya. “Genie: A Postscript” (Clark, 605-608).