Human Communication Disorders 8th Editio
Human Communication Disorders 8th Editio
Chapter 2
Chapter Overview
Chapter Summary
This chapter introduces basic concepts and terminology important for an understanding of human
communication processes and provides a brief description of the normal development and interaction of
communication, language, and speech. Communication is defined, and the importance of language, speech
and nonlinguistic cues in the acquisition and use of communication is addressed.
Personal Perspective
Communication
This section describes the process of communication and its different aspects.
Communication – a dynamic process of exchanging information and ideas between and among
individuals
It is active; that is, it involves:
- Encoding
- Transmitting
- Decoding intended messages
It may be influenced by
- the context of the message,
- the way in which the message is formed, and
- preconceived notions, perceptions, and skills of each participant;
- thus, the probability for miscommunication or message distortion is high.
It includes speech and language as well as paralinguistic codes and nonlinguistic and
metalinguistic cues.
- Paralinguistic mechanisms refer to intonation, stress or emphasis, speed or rate
of delivery, and pause or hesitation superimposed on speech to signal attitude or
emotion.
- Nonlinguistic cues refer to gestures, body posture, facial expression, eye contact,
head and body movement, and physical distance or proxemics of speakers.
- Encoding refers to the act of translating a concept in the mind of the speaker into
linguistic form, which is then transmitted to the listener.
Development of Communication
Communication is believed to begin at birth. Early communication does not depend on
the use of language or speech.
Language
This section defines language and its distinct but interrelated components and describes the
development of language.
The primary purpose of Language is to code transmissions between and among
individuals.
Language is:
- A social tool
- A composition of arbitrary symbols
- Rule-governed
- A generative system (productive, creative)
Dialects are sub-categories of parent languages that share some, but not all, rules
Different languages use different symbols and rules.
Components of Language
There are three major components:
- Form (syntax, morphology, phonology)
- Content (semantics)
- Use (pragmatics)
Content
Semantics – rules that govern meaning or content of words and word
combinations.
Semantic features are aspects of meaning that characterize a
word.
Selection restriction prohibits certain word combinations and
identifies items as meaningless or redundant based on specific
word characteristics.
Synonyms refer to words with identical features
Antonyms refer to words with opposite features
Use
Pragmatics – rules that govern the cohesion and coherence of
conversations including
turn-taking
opening, maintaining, and closing a conversation
establishing and maintaining topic
giving and receiving feedback
establishing and maintaining a role
making relevant contributions to the conversation
These aspects of language and related language disorders are described further
in chapters 6, 11, 12, and 13.
Summary
Language Development
The role of the child’s communication partner is crucial.
Development is rarely linear across the five aspects of language.
All aspects of language are intertwined in development.
Language development is related to cognitive development.
A summary of some of the general patterns of behavior, which characterize the stages of language
development, follows:
Infant Pre-language:
- Begin to detect patterns or regularities of language and make generalizations
that are important for symbol and rule learning.
- Show sensitivity to intonational stress (rising and falling of intonational patterns,
word boundaries)
- Discriminate own language from that of others with the same prosodic pattern
- Use prosodic and phonotactic clues to discern individual speech sounds
- Exhibit comprehension that is highly context-dependent
- Avoid Exceptions – Language rules are easier to learn and more frequently used
than language exceptions.
- Word Order is a Guide - The S-V-O word order in English serves as a guide for
sentence comprehension and formation.
- Avoid Deviation from or Interruption of Standard Word Order.
- Caregivers Modify (or Reformulate) Conversations to Maximize Child
Participation.
- All Aspects of Language are Intertwined in Development.
Narrative development typically begins at age 2. By age 3 children can
sequence events in a narrative.
Speech
Speech and the classification of English phonemes are described. The acquisition and classification of
speech sounds are summarized.
Note- In English, all vowels are voiced, but consonants may be either voiced or
voiceless.
For additional information on how and where speech sounds are formed see
chapter 3.
Cognates: two phonemes which have the same manner and place of articulation but differ
in voicing.
Coarticulation is the co-occurrence of production characteristics of two or more
phonemes. It demonstrates the dynamic nature of speech.
Development of Speech
Table 2.6 provides an overview of the developmental changes in speech from birth
through age eight.
(Generalizations about the acquisition of speech sounds across languages are listed in this
chapter.)
- Reflexive, suck-swallow pattern: the Newborn
- Cooing: 2-3 months
- Babbling: 4-6 months
- Reduplication Babbling: 6-10 months
- Phonetically Consistent Forms: 11-14 months
- First Words and Phoneme Acquisition
(Detailed in the chapter)
- Order of acquisition of phonemes reflects the increasing speed and precision of
the speech mechanism. The sequence of sound acquisition is not universal, but
some generalized observations are included in the chapter.
- Articulatory changes in adult speech are also explained.
Summary
Study Questions
Selected Readings
Chapter 2 - Development of Communication, Language and Speech
2.6) A language milestone appearing during the infant pre-language stage of development
a) Sensitivity to rising and falling intonation patterns
b) Occurrence of rapid and dramatic language changes
c) Use of over-extended word meanings
d) Ability to understand idioms
2.10) The utterance “The girls are playing with blocks” contains
a) 6 morphemes
b) 3 morphemes
c) 9 morphemes
d) 27 morphemes
True/False (10)
2.1) The development of communication begins at birth.
2.2) During the preschool period of language development, function follows form.
2.5) The traditional approach to describing speech sounds is based on place and manner of articulation.
2.6) Place of articulation refers to the type of air released during speech production.
2.10) Describing the arrangement of words in a verb phrase relates to language syntax.
2.4) Describe the stages of speech sound acquisition from birth to 18 months.
Multiple Choice:
2.1) C
2.2) A
2.3) A
2.4) C
2.5) D
2.6) A
2.7) B
2.8) C
2.9) B
2.10) C
True/False:
2.1) True
2.2) False
2.3) False
2.4) False
2.5) True
2.6) False
2.7) False
2.8) True
2.9) True
2.10) True
Supplemental Materials
Additional Readings
Bedore, L., Pena, E., Gillam, R., & Ho, T. (2010). Language sample measures and language ability in
Spanish-English bilingual kindergarteners, Journal of Communication Disorders, 43, 498-510.
Berko Gleason, J. (2004). The Development of Language (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
Bowen, C. (1998). Speech and language development in infants and young children. Available from
www.speech-language-therapy-com/devel1.htm.
Choi, S., & Gopnik, A. (1995). Early acquisition of verbs in Korean: a cross-linguistic study. Journal of
Child Language, 22, 497-529.
Fagen, M. (2009). Mean length of utterance before words and grammar: longitudinal trends and
developmental implications of infant vocalizations. Journal of Child Language, 36, 495-527.
Furey, J. (2010). Production and maternal-report of 16- and 18-month olds’ vocabulary in low-and middle-
income families. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, (PMID: 21060116).
Retrieved from MEDLINE database.
Glennen, S. (2008; Dec. 16). Speech and language myth busters for internationally adopted children. The
ASHA Leader. Retrieved from www.asha.org/Publications/leader.
Justice, L. (2010). Communication Sciences and Disorders: A Contemporary Perspective (2nd ed.).
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Klein, H., Moses, N., & Jean-Baptiste, R. (2010). Influence of context on the production of complex
sentences by typically developing children, Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools,
41, 289-302.
Lovelace, S. & Stewart, S. (2009). The effects of robust vocabulary instruction and multicultural text on
the development of word knowledge among African American children. American Journal of
Speech-Language Pathology, 18, 168-179.
Oetting, J., Newkirk, B., Hartfield, L., Wynn, C., Pruitt, S., & Garrity, A. (2010). Index of productive
syntax for children who speak African American English. Language, Speech, and Hearing
Services in Schools, 41, 328-39.
Pancsofar, N., Vernon-Feagans, L., & the Family Life Project (2010). Fathers’ early contributions to
children’s language development in families from low-income rural communities. Early Child
Research Quarterly, 25, 450-463.
Pearson, B., Velleman, S., Bryant, T. and Charko, T (2009). Phonological milestones for African American
English- speaking children learning mainstream American English as a second dialect. Language
Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 40, 229-244.
Redford, M. and Gildersleeve-Neumann, (2009). The development of distinct speaking styles in preschool
children. Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 52, 1434-1448.
Scott, K., Roberts, J., & Krakow, R. (2008). Oral and written language development of children adopted
from China. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 17, 150-60.
Film
Howard, R. & Grazer, B. (Producers), & Howard, R. (Director). (1989). Parenthood. [Motion Picture].
United States: Universal Pictures.
Web Resources
Kids Health
http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/communication/not_talk.html