Problem 5 1.5
Language
Language building blocks
Phonology – basic sounds of each language
- Phoneme- basic/smallest unit of a sound that affects meaning
Morphology- governs how words are formed in a language (past tense/plurals etc)
- Free morpheme- word on its own e.g. jump
- Bound morpheme- changes the meaning of a word when combined with a free
morpheme e.g. jumped (2 morphemes)
- Morpheme- minimal unit of meaning that cannot be broken down any further
Semantics- meaning of words and sentences. Every word has a set of semantic
features/attributes. Some sentences could never exist due to semantic restriction
Syntax- the way in which words are combined in order to form acceptable phrases/
sentences and structure of language
Pragmatics- principles that underlie effective/appropriate use of language in a social
context
- Sociolinguistic knowledge- culturally specific rules specifying how language
should be structured and used in a social context
Theories of language development
Learning/empiricist perspective- main focus is on imitation (bandura) and
reinforcement (skinner)
- Parent reinforces babbling which increases the probability of repetition, this
leads to repetition of words. The combination of words is reinforced which leads
to the production of sentences
- Parents speak and children imitate the sounds and eventually imitate the
parent’s words, word use and sentences
- X – doesn’t account for the acquiring of syntax (grammar is rarely reinforced)
- X – if children imitate adults why do they make grammatical errors
- X – naturalistic observations don’t support the theory
- X – believes children have a passive role in language learning
Nativist perspective- biologically programmed to acquire language
- Chomsky- people have an inborn language processor which contains the
foundations/universals of grammar which is activated by verbal input (language
acquisition device- LAD)
- Slobin- people have a set of specialised processing skills that allow the child to
analyse speech/ infer phonology (sounds)/ understand meaning (semantics)/
rules (syntax)- Language making capacity (LMC)
- Universal linguistic milestones
- Kids produce their own language- creoles language
Language
Language building blocks
Phonology – basic sounds of each language
- Phoneme- basic/smallest unit of a sound that affects meaning
Morphology- governs how words are formed in a language (past tense/plurals etc)
- Free morpheme- word on its own e.g. jump
- Bound morpheme- changes the meaning of a word when combined with a free
morpheme e.g. jumped (2 morphemes)
- Morpheme- minimal unit of meaning that cannot be broken down any further
Semantics- meaning of words and sentences. Every word has a set of semantic
features/attributes. Some sentences could never exist due to semantic restriction
Syntax- the way in which words are combined in order to form acceptable phrases/
sentences and structure of language
Pragmatics- principles that underlie effective/appropriate use of language in a social
context
- Sociolinguistic knowledge- culturally specific rules specifying how language
should be structured and used in a social context
Theories of language development
Learning/empiricist perspective- main focus is on imitation (bandura) and
reinforcement (skinner)
- Parent reinforces babbling which increases the probability of repetition, this
leads to repetition of words. The combination of words is reinforced which leads
to the production of sentences
- Parents speak and children imitate the sounds and eventually imitate the
parent’s words, word use and sentences
- X – doesn’t account for the acquiring of syntax (grammar is rarely reinforced)
- X – if children imitate adults why do they make grammatical errors
- X – naturalistic observations don’t support the theory
- X – believes children have a passive role in language learning
Nativist perspective- biologically programmed to acquire language
- Chomsky- people have an inborn language processor which contains the
foundations/universals of grammar which is activated by verbal input (language
acquisition device- LAD)
- Slobin- people have a set of specialised processing skills that allow the child to
analyse speech/ infer phonology (sounds)/ understand meaning (semantics)/
rules (syntax)- Language making capacity (LMC)
- Universal linguistic milestones
- Kids produce their own language- creoles language
