chapter 9

Which one of the following is the best example of pragmatics in language?

Julie waits until her friend has finished talking before she begins to speak.

Two 15-year-olds, John and Martha, are deeply engaged in conversation. If typical gender differences in language hold true for John and Martha, we would expect that:

John would focus on providing information in a fairly blunt manner, whereas Martha would focus on maintaining the relationship through tact and courtesy.

Which one of the following aspects of language development is evident even in 6-month-olds' behavior?

Turn taking

Roger uses the word ball only to refer to his favorite red ball with white stars on it. In doing so, Roger is showing:

Underextension

Three of the following aspects of language development appear during the elementary school years or even earlier. Which one are we not likely to see until youngsters are in junior high or high school?

Understanding proverbs

Considering what we have learned from research regarding cognitive and linguistic development, we should expect elementary school children to have the greatest difficulty understanding the meaning of which one of the following words?

however

Which one of the following statements is consistent with a nativist view of language development?

"Although children can learn the specific vocabulary and syntax of their native language only by hearing the people around them speak it, they seem to have some built-in knowledge of the form that any language should take."

Which one of the following best illustrates babbling as developmental theorists typically use the term?

"Buh-buh-buh-buh."

Which one of the following statements is consistent with a sociocultural view of language development?

"Children initially use language primarily in their interactions with other people, but increasingly they also use it to help them think more effectively."

Which one of the following statements is consistent with a functionalist view of language development?

"From a very early age, children are motivated to learn how to speak, because speech enables them to interact with other people and, ultimately, to get what they want."

Which one of the following remarks addressed to 18-month-old José best illustrates infant-directed speech?

"José want juice?"

Early explanations of language development rested heavily on the roles of modeling and reinforcement in learning language. Which one of the following children's utterances casts doubt on the idea that modeling and reinforcement are sufficient to explain how children acquire language?

"No do dat no more!"

Which one of the following statements is consistent with B. F. Skinner's view of language development?

"To foster children's language development, parents and other adults praise them first for making speechlike sounds ('Da-da'), later for saying recognizable words ('More!'), and still later for forming understandable sentences ('Can I have candy?')."

Which one of the following statements best illustrates telegraphic speech?

"Want cookie."

Which one of the following is the best example of playing the dozens?

"Your sister's so fat that the circus uses her for a trampoline."

Latisha correctly understands the sentence "The girl who was pushed off the slide by the bully has a broken arm." Considering trends in language development, you can guess that Latisha is probably at least:

10 years old

Which one of the following statements most accurately describes what developmental theorists mean when they talk about a language acquisition device?

A built-in mechanism that makes language learning especially easy for human beings

Given what we know about children's language development, which one of the following problems is typical for the grade level?

A first grader pronounces the word rabbit as "wabbit."

Reuben says "Jooz!" as he stretches his arms in the direction of his juice bottle. Reuben's utterance can best be described as an example of:

A holophrase

Three of the following children are behaving in ways consistent with what information processing theorists have learned about children's early language capabilities. Which one is not behaving consistently with what researchers have learned about what children can and cannot do in the first few years of life?

Alec, who is 3 weeks old, seems more intrigued by classical music than by his mother's voice.

At what age do children begin to realize that what people say may not be the truth?

Ages 3-6

Ms. Mills holds up a picture of a dog and asks her first graders, "What letter does this word start with?" Most of the students yell out, "D!" "You're absolutely right," Ms. Mills responds, "the word dog begins with a D." This interaction can best be described as:

An IRE cycle

Imagine you are a high school teacher who has several students who speak a dialect other than Standard English. If you follow the textbook's recommendation for handling this situation, you will:

Ask them to use Standard English in formal situations (e.g., persuasive essays) but encourage them to use their own dialect in other situations.

A child says to you, "My momma she be happy about my good report card." This child appears to:

Be using African American English, a dialect with some grammatical constructions different from those of Standard English

When children are born with severe hearing impairments, they are often taught American sign language or some other manual language. Some parents regularly use a manual language to communicate with these children. When a manual language is used regularly in the home, children with hearing impairments show language development that:

Closely resembles the typical sequence and timing of spoken language development in hearing children

Given what we know about the language development of elementary school children, three of the following errors might be observed in a class of second graders. Which one is not likely to be observed?

Connie speaks mostly in one word "sentences."

Which one of the following situations illustrates the phenomenon of overextension in semantic development? In each case, the word in question is in quotes.

Daniel calls a tall sunflower a "tree."

Three of the following are factors that affect children's ability to understand what others say to them. Which one is least likely to affect their listening comprehension?

Early training in correct pronunciation

If you wanted to enhance children's and adolescents' ability to understand what other people say, you might use three of the following strategies. Which one would you be least likely to use?

Encourage them to listen closely to every word and to take other people's messages literally.

Mr. Wong tells a joke in his fourth-grade class: "An eye doctor fell into the lens-grinding machine and made a spectacle of himself." The humor of the joke rests, of course, on the double meaning of the word spectacle. With respect to children's language development, such word play is most likely to:

Enhance children's metalinguistic awareness

When looking at her new baby brother, 2-year-old Martina says, "Baby nap." Her mother responds, "Yes, the baby is taking a nap." Mom's reply is an example of:

Expansion

Sometimes the sociolinguistic behaviors that are expected at school are quite different from the behaviors that children have acquired at home. When this happens, children may initially:

Experience culture shock

Gabrielle asks her mother, "When we go library?" Gabrielle's question is an example of:

Expressive language

As 2-year-old David and his father go into the family garden one day, Dad exclaims, "Look at all the wonderful daisies!" David infers that the only plants blooming in the garden must be called daisies. David's inference is an example of:

Fast mapping

Which one of the following is typically not used with English language learners?

Foreign language instruction

Which of the following will be least effective for children who are learning a second language in traditional foreign language instruction?

Grammatical lessons

Six-year-old Raymond, who is African American, seems to be a very bright boy. He began reading simple picture books when he was four years old, and he can solve many one-digit addition and subtraction problems in his head. Yet on his first day of school, when his new teacher asks him where he lives and whether he has any brothers or sisters, he looks down at his feet and gives his answer. With the textbook's discussion of cultural differences in verbal interaction in mind, identify the most likely explanation of Raymond's behavior.

He has been taught not to look adults directly in the eye.

Valentina receives instruction in her first language during her language arts lessons. She receives instruction in English in her other subjects. Most likely, which of the following approaches has her school chosen to teach a second language?

Immersion

In North America, which approach appears to be most effective for teaching English speakers a second language?

Immerse them in the second language, having them hear and speak it exclusively in all classroom activities.

Three of the following are suggested strategies for promoting children's expressive language skills. Which one is not recommended?

Insist that children never "stretch" the truth in any way.

Three-year-old Robert is visiting the local zoo with his preschool class. When his teacher exclaims, "Look at the giraffe!" Robert first looks at the teacher's face and then follows her gaze to the strange creature she is looking at. Robert's behavior in this situation reflects:

Intersubjectivity

As you work with 3-year-old Effie, you keep track of all the new words she uses. You find that, on average, Effie uses two or three new words every week over a period of several months. Based on this information, Effie's language development:

Is slower than what you would expect for a 3-year-old

Seven-year-old Emma thinks that "Too many cooks spoil the broth" is only about cooking soup. Her inability to recognize the more general meaning of the expression:

Is typical for her age-group

Becky often interrupts other people to finish their sentences for them. Her conversation partners find this behavior annoying. In the terminology of language researchers, Becky:

Is violating the sociolinguistic conventions of her culture

As she watches her grandfather, 3-year-old Audrey asks him, "What you are doing?" Which one of the following most accurately describes the incorrect format of Audrey's question?

It reflects a normal step in the development of question syntax.

Four-year-old Brandon's father is an aeronautical engineer who often talks about his work at home. At preschool, Brandon uses the word trajectory as he plays with a toy racecar track. Although he uses the word correctly, you are fairly certain that he does not fully understand what it means. Brandon's behavior is evidence that:

Language production sometimes precedes language comprehension.

Research regarding learning a second language yields which one of the following conclusions?

Learning a second language can lead to higher achievement in reading.

If you were to describe the nature of syntactic development, you would be most likely to say that it involves:

Learning how to put words together into comprehensible sentences

LaWanda understands that a single sentence can sometimes be interpreted in two or more ways. For example, she realizes that the sentence "I know more beautiful women than Miss America" has two possible interpretations: "I know women who are more beautiful than Miss America is" or "I know more beautiful women than Miss America knows." LaWanda's appreciation for the double meanings of some sentences reflects:

Metalinguistic awareness

Which one of the following most accurately describes the development of narratives in children's speech?

Narratives become increasing complex during the elementary school years.

Three of the following statements about infants' early listening abilities are true. Which one is false?

Newborn babies show no preference in listening to languages.

Which of the following pairs of youngsters best illustrates the idea of diversity with respect to different dialects?

Ralph speaks English as it is spoken in rural Mississippi; Kyle speaks the English of inner-city Chicago.

Janis uses the term teddy to refer to all of her stuffed toys, including teddy bears, stuffed bunnies, stuffed birds, and even a stuffed lizard. In doing so, she is showing:

Overextension

After playing in the snow, 5-year-old Raul complains, "My feets are cold." Raul's comment shows:

Overregularization

A fourth-grade teacher wants to do what's best for a student named Lily, who has difficulties with articulation and is sometimes difficult to understand. Which one of the following strategies is most likely to facilitate Lily's language development?

Regularly engage Lily in classroom conversations and ask for clarification when her meaning isn't clear.

When 4-year-old Morris hears his preschool teacher say, "Susan was punched by John," he thinks that Susan was the person who did the punching. Morris's mistaken belief is most likely due to the fact that young children:

Rely heavily on word order in interpreting what they hear

Which strategy is most likely to be effective in promoting semantic development?

Showing several examples of words

Two-year-old Zada always hears the word pretty just before a word that refers to a concrete object (e.g., "pretty flower," "pretty lady," "pretty picture"). Although she does not yet know what an adjective is, at an intuitive level she understands that pretty is a "describing" word. Zada's understanding reflects:

Semantic bootstrapping

Most children in the early elementary grades think that being a "good listener" is:

Sitting quietly and do not interrupt the speaker

Three of the following are differences that teachers and other practitioners may find among children from some cultural backgrounds. Which behavior is probably not the result of a child's cultural background per se?

Some children may be accustomed to "talking back" to authority figures when they disagree.

Tina is an English language learner. She is learning in a regular third grade classroom. Her teacher and her classmates all speak English and she receives no instruction or assistance in her native language. Most likely Tina is learning in which of the following programs?

Submersion

Which of the following is not an approach to teaching a second language?

Subtractive bilingualism

Even though he teaches history rather than English, Mr. Stahl wants to support his seventh-grade students in their syntactic development. Which one of the following strategies, although possibly beneficial in other respects, is least likely to promote his students' syntactic development?

Teach students how to take notes more efficiently by capturing ideas in short phrases rather than complete sentences.

Thirteen-year-old Otto tells his friend, "Your jeans are way awesome, dude." Otto's statement reflects the fact that:

Teenagers sometimes use a distinct dialect when talking with one another.

While playing outside with his 3-year-old son David, Sam Johnson sees a fancy car speed by on their normally quiet street. "Look at that Lamborghini," he says, pointing toward the car. David has never heard that word before. The rules of fast-mapping predict that he will think it refers to:

The whole car

Five-year-old Sarah tells her kindergarten teacher, "We had dinner at Mark's house last night." The teacher has no idea who Mark is but responds, "How nice! Did you have a good time?" This interaction reflects which one of the following developmental trends?

When talking to others, young children often fail to take their listeners' knowledge and perspectives into account.

Zack is a high school student with a speech disorder. Which one of the following characteristics is least likely to be associated with his disability?

Zack shows no interest in contemporary music; in fact, he doesn't even listen to the radio.