Language

Development
WEEK 5 WITH PROF. MCDIARMID
 Ch 6 (select sections), which has
more info on:

What are we learning today? -Illustrative examples

-Individual differences (Box 6.2 &
6.5)
-”Conversational Skills”

Features of language

Language acquisition needs

Phonological dev & speech
perception
Word segmentation
Speech production & word
learning
Discussed during Motor Development
& Learning in Infant lecture last week

What is
Language?
Terminology Cheat Sheet
Comprehension: understanding what others say (or sign or
write)
Production: speaking (or writing or signing) to others
Generativity: the capacity for language to generate an infinite
number of sentences and express an infinite number of ideas
Phonemes: the elementary units of sound used in a language
Phonological Development: the acquisition of knowledge
about the sound system of a language
Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning in a language /d/ /ɒ/ /g/
Semantic Development: learning the system for expressing
meaning in a language, including word learning do
Syntax: rules specifying how different kinds of words (nouns, g
verbs) can be combined in a way that makes grammatical
sense
Syntactical Development: learning about syntax Citations
 Language
Structured, rule-based system of
communication using symbols to
communicate meaning
1) Language is symbolic

Dog. “Dog”
 Language
Structured, rule-based system of
communication using symbols to
communicate meaning
1) Language is symbolic

Chien. “Chien”
 The meaning Language So, the
meaning of a
of a word is
word varies
Structured, rule-based system of
what it
dramatically
represents!
communication using symbols to by context!

communicate meaning
2) Language represents specific
meanings
“That’s
my dog!”
 Language
Structured, rule-based system of
communication using symbols to
communicate meaning
3) Language is generative

“The classy blue

skunk ate orange
spaghetti.”
 Language
Structured, rule-based system of
communication using symbols to
communicate meaning
4) Language is structured/rule-based

“Carl was hit

“Carl hit Ryan
by Ryan with his
with his car.”
car.”
9
 Language
Structured, rule-based system of
communication using symbols to
communicate meaning
4) Language is structured/rule-based

“Colorless green
“Car hit with
ideas sleep
Ryan Carl his.”
furiously.”
10
 Syntax
System of rules specifying
how words are arranged into
sentences in a way that can
be understood by others
speaking the same language
 Dog Dog

Comprehension Production
Understanding what others say, sign or Speaking, signing, or writing
write yourself
Receptive vocabulary: what words Productive vocabulary: what
you’d understand if you encountered words you can spontaneously use
them yourself
Which develops
earlier?
Key Language
Features:
Generativity &
Syntax
Generativity: the capacity for
language to generate an infinite
number of sentences and express
an infinite number of ideas
Unique property of language not found
in the communication of other species
• E.g., Monkeys have predator-specific
alarm calls
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ZG8Dpc8mM

For
reference

What feature of language is present in vervet calls? What feature is

Generativity: the capacity for
language to generate an infinite
number of sentences and express
an infinite number of ideas
Unique property of language not found
in the communication of other species
• E.g., Monkeys have predator-specific
alarm calls
• One for leopards, another for snakes
• Behave differently after hearing each
call
• Super cool evolutionary example of
sophisticated communication
• But no element of generativity!
• Couldn’t say “there is a big female
leopard by that specific tree!”
Communicatio
n
is not the same as
Language
Syntax:
Rules for how different kinds of
words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) can
be combined in a way that will make
sense to another person speaking
the same language
• “The dog bit the cat”
• “The cat bit the dog”
• “The cat was bitten by the dog”

18
Syntactic Development: process of
learning to understand (and later follow)
the syntactic rules of one’s language
• Intuitive, effortless
Universal Grammar: set of highly
abstract, unconscious rules that are
common to all human languages
• There are superficial differences
• At a fundamental level, have same innate Noam Chomsky
concepts (subjects, verbs, objects, tenses)
“Colorless green
• A “nativist” view; widely debated
ideas sleep
furiously”
19
 http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/

Generativity: the capacity for

language to generate an infinite
number of sentences and express an
infinite number of ideas

“Attention and intention are the

mechanics of manifestation.”
“Transcendence is a modality of
visible knowledge”
Deepak Chopra
“Self-power is mirrored in
spontaneous, abstract beauty.”

20
21
 http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/

Generativity: the capacity for

language to generate an infinite
number of sentences and express an
infinite number of ideas

“Attention and intention are the

mechanics of manifestation.”
“Transcendence is a modality of
visible knowledge”
Deepak Chopra
“Self-power is mirrored in
spontaneous, abstract beauty.”

How can a sentence “make sense” as a sentence, but mean nothing? 22

 Ch 6 (select sections), which has
more info on:

What are we learning today? -Illustrative examples

-Individual differences (Box 6.2 &
6.5)
-”Conversational Skills”

Features of language

Language acquisition needs

Phonological dev & speech
perception
Word segmentation
Speech production & word
learning
What do you
need for
language
learning?
Needed: A Human Brain
• Language is species-
specific and species-
universal.
• Nonhuman primate
communicative systems
• E.g., Kanzi
 Kanzi the Bonobo
• Learned to use lexigrams as researchers
attempted to teach his mother, Matata
• Symbolic vocabulary of over 300 words!!!
• Astounding receptive vocabulary (words he
recognizes when prompted)
• But, Kanzi doesn’t spontaneously produce
language the way baby humans do
• Kids describe their world continuously
• Can follow complex verbal instructions
• Understands verbal symbols (spoken words) in
addition to lexigrams
• But does he understand syntax? Likely not
Needed: A Human Brain
• Language is species-
specific and species-
universal.
• Nonhuman primate
communicative systems
• E.g., Kanzi
• Non-primate response to
spoken language
• Rico (dog)
• Alex (parrot)
Needed: Rich Environmental Input
• Infant-directed speech (IDS): Distinctive mode of speech that adults adopt
when talking to babies and very young children; preferred by infants and used
by virtually all cultures
• Features:
• Warm, positive emotionality
• Higher pitch, slower enunciation
• ‘Swooping’ between high and low
• Accompanied by exaggerated facial expressions
• Benefits:
• Draws infants’ attention to speech
• Highlights/clearly contrasts phonemes
• Improves infant word recognition
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5VCHnIFmPs

For
reference
 3. Well-Timed Exposure
Time during which language learning
happens rapidly and effortlessly
• From birth until sometime in
middle childhood (exact end may
vary)
• An experience-expectant
process
After this window, language
acquisition still possible, but not
quite the same
L1: Native language(s)
• More difficult, more effortful
• Likely won’t achieve same level of
L2: Second
 Myth: Infants should only be taught one
language as learning more than one could
slow their development
Fact: Infants are language sponges and
can learn many languages in parallel
with no significant drawbacks!
Multilingualism is awesome!
 Ch 6 (select sections), which has
more info on:

What are we learning today? -Illustrative examples

-Individual differences (Box 6.2 &
6.5)
-”Conversational Skills”

Features of language

Language acquisition needs

Phonological dev & speech
perception
Word segmentation
Speech production & word
learning
 Speech Perception (For Reference)
Term Definition

Prosody The characteristic rhythm, tempo, cadence, melody, intonational

patterns, etc., with which a language is spoken

Categorical The perception of speech sounds as belonging to discrete

perception categories

Voice onset time The length of time between when air passes through the lips and
(VOT) when the vocal cords start vibrating

Word segmentation The process of discovering where words begin and end in fluent
speech

Distributional The phenomenon that, in any language, certain sounds are more
properties likely to appear together than are others
 Phonemes
Smallest units of speech
that can be perceived by the
speakers of a given language

/d/ + /ɒ/ + /g/

/b/ + /ɒ/ + /g/
Different languages use
different phonemes!
 Processing Others’ Speech
Adults bad at distinguishing between
phonemes we don’t often hear/produce
• Arabic speakers might struggle with /b/
and /p/, distinct phonemes in English
• But English speakers struggle with /h/
and /x/ (“velar fricative” found in Arabic)
Why?
• We learn to categorize different speech
sounds, lumping some sounds together
while distinguishing between others
• Every language does this differently!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOqSPW2QVhA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIDRMamBvk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU7H_aiG-kc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euRbmOchIXE
 Categorical Perception
Humans perceive sounds as belonging to different categories
• In English, /b/ and /p/ are both bilabial sounds (made using the lips)
• We distinguish between them based on their voice onset time
(VOT)
• Time between air passing lips and vocal chords vibrating
b p

Both adults and infants

notice when two sounds
are on either side of this
boundary
0 ms 25 ms
 Categorical Perception
Humans perceive sounds as belonging to different categories
• In English, /b/ and /p/ are both bilabial sounds (made using the lips)
• We distinguish between them based on their voice onset time
(VOT)
• Time between air passing lips and vocal chords vibrating
b p When two sounds have
the same difference in
VOT but cross this
boundary…
Infants under 1
actually outperform
25 ms adults!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew5-xbc1HMk

For
reference
Werker & Lalonde (1988)
Werker & Lalonde (1988)

*Change
in
sound*
Werker & Lalonde (1988)

/d/, /d/, /d/,

ʤ …

Another
English
phoneme

10-month-olds
Werker & Lalonde (1988)

/d/, /d/, /d/,

ɖ…
(No reaction)

Not an English
phoneme

10-month-olds
 Sensitive Period
Werker & Lalonde (1988) Window when the brain
highly attuned to certain
experiences and stimuli,
allowing for specific skills
(Notices
/d/, /d/, /d/, and knowledge to develop
ɖ…
change!)
rapidly and effortlessly

Perceptual
Narrowing
Not an English As we learn the important
phoneme sound categories in our
language, we start
lumping together sounds
6-month-olds from within a category and
lose the ability to
 Phonological Development:
the acquisition of knowledge
/b/ /p/ about the sound system of a
language

≠ • What sounds does my language

use?
• In what order do these sounds
typically occur in my language?
• In English, a /z/ sound followed by
a /w/ sound isn’t really a thing In
Polish, no sweat!
• E.g., bezwzględny (‘ruthless’)
The bulk of this learning occurs in the first
few years of life! 45
 Ch 6 (select sections), which has
more info on:

What are we learning today? -Illustrative examples

-Individual differences (Box 6.2 &
6.5)
-”Conversational Skills”

Features of language

Language acquisition needs

Phonological dev & speech
perception
Word segmentation
Speech production & word
learning
Word Segmentation: The Problem
Words are distinct when written down,
but when spoken aloud, humans
don’t leave much space between
words
“Lookattheprettybaby!”
“Haveyoueverseensuchaprettybaby?”
How do infants segment continuous
strings of sounds into their component
words?
Word Segmentation: The Solutions

Solution 1: Attend to prosodic cues

• Prosody: the characteristic rhythm and
intonational patterns in a spoken language
• E.g., stress patterns
• In English, often at the beginning of words
• ENG-lish, CARD-board
• In Canadian French, at the end
• gui-TARE, ber-ET
• Infants learn what’s typical of their
language
Word Segmentation: The Solutions
Solution 2: Attend to the distributional
properties of speech sounds
• Certain sounds are more likely to occur
together
• Infrequent pairings a cue for the transition
from one word to another

bidakupadotigolabubidak
bidakupadotigolabubidaku
bidakupadotigolabubidaku
Statistical
u…… Learning!
p = .33 p = 1.0
Word Segmentation: The Solutions
“It’s Jerry’s
John’s
cup!”
“It’s Jerry’s
John’s
Solution 3: Using contextual cues cup!”
and other known words to direct “It’s Jerry’s
John’s
their attention cup!”

• Important early cue: an infant’s own

name!
• Quickly learn words paired with own name
• Less quickly with other names

Jerry
 Ch 6 (select sections), which has
more info on:

What are we learning today? -Illustrative examples

-Individual differences (Box 6.2 &
6.5)
-”Conversational Skills”

Features of language

Language acquisition needs

Phonological dev & speech

perception
Speech production & word
learning
Precursors to Production
Starts with simple vocalizations/sounds
• After birth: Crying
• 6-8 weeks: cooing, grunts, raspberries
Babbling: repetitive production of
speech/signs early in language development
(6-10 months)
• Consonant–vowel sequences (“bababa . . .”)
• Hand movements (for learners of sign languages)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UCK4XCrvoc
Precursors to Production
Starts with simple vocalizations/sounds
• After birth: Crying
• 6-8 weeks: cooing, grunts, raspberries
Babbling: repetitive production of
speech/signs early in language development
(6-10 months)
• Consonant–vowel sequences (“bababa . . .”)
• Hand movements (for learners of sign languages)
Other signs of growing communication skills
• Gestures/pointing
• Joint attention/gaze following
• Turn-taking
First Words
New task: figure out what words map
onto which things in the world (i.e.,
referents)
• Word learning occurs throughout the first
year
• Word production starts between 10-15
months
Holophrastic Period
• Window in which children use single words to
communicate whole ideas
• “Drink!” – I’m thirsty can I have some juice?
• “Ow!” … “Eye!” – Yo Mom my eye hurts
 First Words
Common errors:
Overextension: using a newly-learned word more generally that one
should
Underextension: using a newly-learned word more generally that one
should
Mispronunciations, e.g.:
• Substituting an easily produced phoneme
for a difficult-to-pronounce one
• Omitting sounds (often first or last)
• Shortening words (might drop middle sound)
“Juice! “Kitt
” y!”
Word Learning
Fast Mapping
• Rapidly learning a new word simply from hearing the
contrastive use of a familiar and the unfamiliar
word Cup Well, then this
! must be
Pragmatic Cues “spatula”!
• Using social information (e.g., eye gaze) to learn
words
Syntactic Bootstrapping
• Syntax: the underlying structure of sentences
• Using the grammatical structure of whole
sentences to figure out the meaning of new words
• “The duck is kradding the bunny!”
•
First Sentences
Telegraphic speech
• Early sentences, often only two words, featuring
only the core elements of the intended
communication
• “Eat cookie”, “Brody sleep”
• Word order reflects emerging knowledge of
syntax
Overregularization
• Using newly learned grammatical rules/modifiers in
new or irregular circumstances where they aren’t
entirely correct
• “Look! Mooses!”
• “I eated a cookie”