Manual and Test questions
to accompany
An Introduction to Children with Language
Disorders
Fourth Edition
i
, Chapter 1 Language and Human Communication
An Overview
Objectives
The objectives for this chapter suggest that you would want your students to be able to discuss:
Communication, language, and speech, and understanding the differences between them.
Extralinguistic aspects of communication, including paralinguistics, nonlinguistics, and metalinguistics.
The phonological, semantic, syntactic, morphological, and pragmatic components of oral language.
Various communication modes.
Several of the biological, cognitive, and social bases of human communication.
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to serve as an overview of the foundations of human communication and other topics
that provide a platform for discussing children’s language disorders. The author discusses the terms communication,
language, speech, and extralinguistic elements of communication, and looks at the different components of language
and the relationship between understanding and using language. The author also considers different communication
modes. Finally, there is a review of some of the biological, cognitive, and social bases of human communication.
Lecture Outline
Role of Human Communication
Role of listener
Role of speaker
Differentiation of Speech and Language
Language
Code or symbolic system
Expressive and receptive
Written and oral
Speech
Oral expression of language
Neurological control of movement of the articulators
Extralinguistic Aspects
Paralinguistics
Stress
Pitch
Intonation
Nonlinguistics
Nonverbal communication
Proxemics
Kinesics
Metalinguistics
Use language to think
Monitor and clarify messages
Components of Language
Phonology – speech sounds and the rules for sound sequences
Semantics – meaning
Syntax – set of rules of how words are to be used together
Morphology – rules for using grammatical markers or inflections
Pragmatics – function of language
1
,Comprehension and Production
Receptive skills – decoding
Expressive skills – encoding
Communication Modes
Auditory – Oral System: Hearing and Speech
Visual – Graphic System: Reading and Writing
Visual – Gestural System
Manual
Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC)
Biological, Cognitive, and Social Bases of Human Communication
Biological Bases
Hearing and Listening
Speech and Talking
The Nervous System
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Cognitive Bases
Definition of cognition
Relationship between cognition and language
Information processing
Metacognition
Social Bases
Infant – Caregiver Attachment
Infant – Caregiver Interaction
Imitation and Reinforcement
Key Terms
Communication Nonlinguistics Syntax Metacognition
Language Metalinguistics Morphology ZPD
Referents Phonotactic Pragmatics
Speech Phonology Strong cognition hypothesis
Paralinguistics Semantics Weak cognition hypothesis
Topics for Discussion
1. In what ways does human communication compare and contrast with animal communication?
2. What evidence is available to support the importance of infant – adult interaction and its impact on language
development and eventual academic performance? How might this interaction differ by culture and socio-
economic status?
3. In what ways would a disorder in one aspect of language (i.e., semantics) impact the other aspects?
4. How might an understanding of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development apply to how a mother scaffolds
her young child’s learning?
2
, Learning Activities
1. Present the class with a number of non-words. Ask students in groups to work out how to say the words and
judge if they can occur in English. Permissible non-words might include: spode, bloot, endine, batorning,
figsaly, droggle. Not permissible non-words might include: sroke, ngeeve, vladick, zhump, etsa, soosd. Ask
students to give reasons for their judgments.
2. Present students with video clips of other cultures communicating with the sound turned off. Discuss how
body language, proxemics, and gesture vary between cultures.
3. Present this sentence and ask students to vary stress to change the meaning at least four ways: “The girl in
green was very naughty.”
4. Ask students individually to write down as many words as they can think of in one minute in the category
“food.” When they have completed this task, have students share their list with their neighbor, noting words
in common and strategies they used to recall the words (categories, etc.). In small groups, have students
look at the lists and sort the foods into superordinate categories (e.g. junk food, breakfast, fruits and
vegetables). Ask students how they could re-categorize their lists (e.g., colors, fat content, where you buy
it).
5. Present students with these phrases (or others you create) and ask them to make several novel sentences
from each set.
the girl the boy saw last week a gorilla when walking laughed at the hippo
While sat quietly big Bobby tiny Tim was running
Discuss the variety of sentences created and then ask students to compare with their classmates. How many
sentences a child of two and a half years with a 300 word vocabulary be able to create?(Note: There are
commercially available sets of magnets with words and phrases that can be used for this activity.)
6. Ask students to find the free (root) and bound (affix) morphemes in the following words: Hippopotamus (1
free), redesign (1 bound, 1 free), blessed (1 free, 1 bound), dentistry (1 free, 2 bound), calculation (1 free, 1
bound), photographer (2 free, 1 bound). Common errors will be counting syllables instead of morphemes
and breaking what appears to be a compound word into two.
7. Divide students into groups of three. Assign each student one of the following roles without letting the
other members know what the roles are: One person is assigned the role of explaining what they did on the
weekend, another is assigned the role of interrupting the other by saying, “What? I don’t understand.” or
“I’m sorry.” The third group member is the observer and should be prepared to report back to the others
(and the whole group if you prefer) on the success of the communication within the group. Allow students
to role play for 2 minutes and then ask the groups to discuss the process. Reassign the roles within the
group. One person has to describe the classroom without using any nouns. The second person is to
participate as a listener and ask questions and respond naturally. The observer should be prepared to report
on the interaction. Let the role play run for about two minutes and then ask the groups to discuss the
process. Lead a class discussion about the exercise focusing on their feelings, frustrations, and the
techniques they used to repair and indicate breakdown.
8. Provide the class with a printed text of a famous speech or document, and have them “translate” it into
“motherese.” Discuss how they decided which elements to maintain and which were omitted.
3
to accompany
An Introduction to Children with Language
Disorders
Fourth Edition
i
, Chapter 1 Language and Human Communication
An Overview
Objectives
The objectives for this chapter suggest that you would want your students to be able to discuss:
Communication, language, and speech, and understanding the differences between them.
Extralinguistic aspects of communication, including paralinguistics, nonlinguistics, and metalinguistics.
The phonological, semantic, syntactic, morphological, and pragmatic components of oral language.
Various communication modes.
Several of the biological, cognitive, and social bases of human communication.
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to serve as an overview of the foundations of human communication and other topics
that provide a platform for discussing children’s language disorders. The author discusses the terms communication,
language, speech, and extralinguistic elements of communication, and looks at the different components of language
and the relationship between understanding and using language. The author also considers different communication
modes. Finally, there is a review of some of the biological, cognitive, and social bases of human communication.
Lecture Outline
Role of Human Communication
Role of listener
Role of speaker
Differentiation of Speech and Language
Language
Code or symbolic system
Expressive and receptive
Written and oral
Speech
Oral expression of language
Neurological control of movement of the articulators
Extralinguistic Aspects
Paralinguistics
Stress
Pitch
Intonation
Nonlinguistics
Nonverbal communication
Proxemics
Kinesics
Metalinguistics
Use language to think
Monitor and clarify messages
Components of Language
Phonology – speech sounds and the rules for sound sequences
Semantics – meaning
Syntax – set of rules of how words are to be used together
Morphology – rules for using grammatical markers or inflections
Pragmatics – function of language
1
,Comprehension and Production
Receptive skills – decoding
Expressive skills – encoding
Communication Modes
Auditory – Oral System: Hearing and Speech
Visual – Graphic System: Reading and Writing
Visual – Gestural System
Manual
Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC)
Biological, Cognitive, and Social Bases of Human Communication
Biological Bases
Hearing and Listening
Speech and Talking
The Nervous System
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Cognitive Bases
Definition of cognition
Relationship between cognition and language
Information processing
Metacognition
Social Bases
Infant – Caregiver Attachment
Infant – Caregiver Interaction
Imitation and Reinforcement
Key Terms
Communication Nonlinguistics Syntax Metacognition
Language Metalinguistics Morphology ZPD
Referents Phonotactic Pragmatics
Speech Phonology Strong cognition hypothesis
Paralinguistics Semantics Weak cognition hypothesis
Topics for Discussion
1. In what ways does human communication compare and contrast with animal communication?
2. What evidence is available to support the importance of infant – adult interaction and its impact on language
development and eventual academic performance? How might this interaction differ by culture and socio-
economic status?
3. In what ways would a disorder in one aspect of language (i.e., semantics) impact the other aspects?
4. How might an understanding of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development apply to how a mother scaffolds
her young child’s learning?
2
, Learning Activities
1. Present the class with a number of non-words. Ask students in groups to work out how to say the words and
judge if they can occur in English. Permissible non-words might include: spode, bloot, endine, batorning,
figsaly, droggle. Not permissible non-words might include: sroke, ngeeve, vladick, zhump, etsa, soosd. Ask
students to give reasons for their judgments.
2. Present students with video clips of other cultures communicating with the sound turned off. Discuss how
body language, proxemics, and gesture vary between cultures.
3. Present this sentence and ask students to vary stress to change the meaning at least four ways: “The girl in
green was very naughty.”
4. Ask students individually to write down as many words as they can think of in one minute in the category
“food.” When they have completed this task, have students share their list with their neighbor, noting words
in common and strategies they used to recall the words (categories, etc.). In small groups, have students
look at the lists and sort the foods into superordinate categories (e.g. junk food, breakfast, fruits and
vegetables). Ask students how they could re-categorize their lists (e.g., colors, fat content, where you buy
it).
5. Present students with these phrases (or others you create) and ask them to make several novel sentences
from each set.
the girl the boy saw last week a gorilla when walking laughed at the hippo
While sat quietly big Bobby tiny Tim was running
Discuss the variety of sentences created and then ask students to compare with their classmates. How many
sentences a child of two and a half years with a 300 word vocabulary be able to create?(Note: There are
commercially available sets of magnets with words and phrases that can be used for this activity.)
6. Ask students to find the free (root) and bound (affix) morphemes in the following words: Hippopotamus (1
free), redesign (1 bound, 1 free), blessed (1 free, 1 bound), dentistry (1 free, 2 bound), calculation (1 free, 1
bound), photographer (2 free, 1 bound). Common errors will be counting syllables instead of morphemes
and breaking what appears to be a compound word into two.
7. Divide students into groups of three. Assign each student one of the following roles without letting the
other members know what the roles are: One person is assigned the role of explaining what they did on the
weekend, another is assigned the role of interrupting the other by saying, “What? I don’t understand.” or
“I’m sorry.” The third group member is the observer and should be prepared to report back to the others
(and the whole group if you prefer) on the success of the communication within the group. Allow students
to role play for 2 minutes and then ask the groups to discuss the process. Reassign the roles within the
group. One person has to describe the classroom without using any nouns. The second person is to
participate as a listener and ask questions and respond naturally. The observer should be prepared to report
on the interaction. Let the role play run for about two minutes and then ask the groups to discuss the
process. Lead a class discussion about the exercise focusing on their feelings, frustrations, and the
techniques they used to repair and indicate breakdown.
8. Provide the class with a printed text of a famous speech or document, and have them “translate” it into
“motherese.” Discuss how they decided which elements to maintain and which were omitted.
3
