Language Development

By: Kassem Hajj, Grant Smith, & Tyler Gowans

Introduction
Language: A system of communicating with others using signals that are combined to produce meaningful messages.
Grammar: A set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages.

The Complex Structure of the Human Language

I. Basic Characteristics
Phonemes: The smallest units of sound that are recognizable as speech rather than as random noise.
Every language has phonological rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined to produce speech sound. EX: the initial sound TS is acceptable in German but not in English.

Phonemes are combined to make morphemes (the smallest meaningful units of language).
Syntactical rules: rules that indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences. EX in English every sentence must contain one or more nouns and one or more verbs.

II. Meaning: Deep Structure vs. Surface Structure

Deep structure refers to the meaning of a sentence. Surface structure refers to how a sentence is worded. EX the 2 sentences the dog chased the cat and the cat was chased by the dog have the same meaning (deep structure) even though their surface structures are different.

So to generate a sentence we begin with the deep structure and then we create the surface structure to convey that meaning.
When we comprehend a sentence we do the reverse. Processing the surface structure in order to extract the deep structure. After the deep structure is extracted, the surface structure is usually forgotten.

Language Development
The average 1-year-old has a vocabulary of 10 words, which expands to over 10,000 words in the next 4 years, requiring the child to learn, on average, about 6 or 7 new words every day. Childrens passive mastery of language (ability to understand) develops faster than their active mastery (ability to speak).

Distinguishing Speech Sounds

Infants

start without language, yet by 4 months of age, babies can discriminate speech sounds and engage in babbling- no matter the language. These babbling sounds they make are just the beginning of these early stages of distinguishing speech. Soon enough, they will be learning a few words then later talking in no time at all.

Some research has shown that the earliest learning begins in utero when the fetus starts to recognize the sounds and speech patterns of its mothers voice.

*Usually, productive language is considered to begin with a

stage of preverbal communication in which infants use gestures and vocalizations to make their intents known to others. *According to a general principle of development, new forms then take over old functions, so that children learn words to express the same communicative functions which they had already expressed by preverbal means.

Theories of Language Development

Although we know much about how language develops, what underlies the process has been the source of much controversy among scientists. Theses scientists generally use one of these 3 theories:
1. Behaviorist Theory 2. Nativist Theory 3. Interactionist Theory

The Behaviorist Theory

The Behaviorist Theory says that we learn language the same way as any other skill (through reinforcement, shaping, and extinction). For instance, when a baby says ma-ma, they are likely to receive much more positive reinforcement than if they say something unintelligible like goo-goo.

The Nativist Theory

The Nativist Theory is the view that language development is best explained as an innate, biological capacity. Its supporters assert that languagelearning capacities are built into the brain and are separate from general intelligence. In short, we learn language with ease because we are wired to do so.

The Interactionist Theory

The Interactionist Theory states that although infants are born with the ability to acquire language, social interaction also plays a crucial role in language. One piece of evidence supporting this the study of the development of sign language in Nicaragua. In 1981, deaf children began to attend a school together, and the school did not teach a formal sign language, and the students had not learned any from home. However, the students began creating their own in order to communicate with each other. The social structure of the school created an atmosphere where this new form of (eventually) complex sign language could develop.

Language Development and the Brain

For a mature brain, language processing is concentrated in Borcas area and Wernickes area(the language center of the brain)

Borcas Area:-Is located in the LEFT FRONTAL CORTEX.

-Is involved in the production of the sequential patterns in vocal and sign languages. - Patients with damage in this area will have difficulty in grammatical structures and and speech production.

Wernickes Area:-Is located in the LEFT TEMPORAL CORTEX.

-Is involved in
language comprehensive.

-Patients with
damage in this area will have difficulty in producing a meaningful

Damaging those two area results in Aphasia which is difficulty in producing or comprehending language. Also the right cerebral hemisphere contributes to language processing. It is usually activated during language tasks.

Question
What is the difference between Deep structure and surface structure?