Chapter 6

Sentence forms: questions

*Yes/no questions: can be answered with yes or no. Creation: "Mommy is scared" --> "Is mommy scared?" First step (first stage): intonation (Daddy is sleepy?) Reach adult like pretty early. They do this at a pretty early age. * Wh- questions (& how) To construct these: Ex. "Where" "The cat is location" -> The cat is ___:--> "The cat is where?" --> They start with this "Where the cat is?"--> Common mistake; kids don't know to switch the verb and noun "Where is the cat?"

Describe holistic and analytical children masterin ggrammatical development.

- how different children learn grammar -Holistic: memorizing whole chunks then breaking it down to small pieces -Analytical: look at small pieces and apply it to a whole - Looking in individual differences in childs grammar. Holistic: clusters in words. Analytical is just one word that they know and do not cluster.

Telegraphic speech. Why?

1. Don't realize that you need them? No - At 18 months notice when incorrect in others. 2. Not stressed by adults (almost dropped so kids don't hear them as often) 3. Not needed for meaning (they can get meaning without them) 4. Memory load (dont have enough memory load)

The _____ of acquisition of morphemes is ______. So much s we can judge child's development based on the understanding of these grammatical morphemes.

order, consistent

Morpheme Example: The boys played catch on Friday. Words= ____ Morphemes = ______

six, eight. See example on paper. Note: English has weak system of mrphemes in that when changing in tense the word generally stays the same or has the same number of morphemes (he arrived, she arrived, they arrived) Other languages change the whole word.

Relational meaning:

the order of words provides meaning beyond the words themselves. Examples: Possessive, Descriptive

Missing grammatical morphemes

word and word endings that mark grammatical relations

Interactions

work together, extension and feedback

continued: NOT

A noun phrase requires a determiner and a noun with optional adjectives (not because I'm following a rule but because I've never heard that association before) - So actual knowledge of verbs and nouns necessary for correct grammar. NO RULE KNOWLEDGE-- ALL ASSOCIATIONS.

Word order strategies

Agent then action if its not like that then it can cause confusion. Includes order of mention strategies: We will go to the playground and then to the store. We will go to the playground after the store = potential problem. Kids use this and sometimes overuse this to where sentences aren't correct.

Productivity

Apply grammatical rules to new words and situations starting at the two word stage. (Jackson spin example f her niece)

What are the arguments that children have syntactically based grammar compared to semantic based grammar? How do nouns and verbs differ in this aspect? What is the verb island hypothesis?

Brown: All grammar is semantic: agent action object Tomasello: Verb Island: nouns are abstract: verbs are semantic and learned individually-- not able to extect -- usage based Semantically: Rules over meaning based catagories Syntactically: rules over formal categories

Bound morpheme

Cannot stand alone, is bound to a stem (ex: -s, -ed, -ing, pre-, post-)

Nativists

Chompsky- innate

2. Unanalyzed combinations

Chunk together words to have one meaning - "Iwanna" or "elemeno" - Not three words with distinct meanings combined "I want a" or 4 words " L M N O"

We care about how children learn ________ language, or the grammar used to communicate in one's environment not ________ language, which is learned in grammar class.

Descriptive, prescriptive Me and him ain't never been there. (ok) Me there him been and ain't (not ok) OR (very late) He was walk to the store.

How is productive syntactic development normally studied?

Diaries and transcripts

What is the difference between asking if grammar can be innate compared to if it is necessary?

Dogs have behaviors that are genetics.

Overregularization

Evidence of productivity. A. Applying a rule to a word that is the exception. Examples: Go-ed, braked, feets, childrens B. Applying rules to completely new situations Example: I have one wug now I have two ____ Correct by age 2 (for nouns)

Principles and parameters (Chomsky)

Grammar consists of a set of principles true for all languages and a set of parameters that define the range of possible differences. - Morphologicaal vs word order - So I have an idea that I want to give relational aspects to my grammar then I can give it morphological or word order. Like a switchboard: what do I pay attention to morphological or word order? Once I figure out what language is then it clicks that it's word order so morphology switches off and word order switches off.

Mean Length Utterance (MLU)

Group of words number of utterances kids say-- what is the mean length of those) - By word (or) -By morpheme The boys played catch Friday. *MLU by morpheme= More predictive of grammatical ability than age or words. - "She walk two dogs" vs. "She walked two dogs."

Behaviorists

Imitation and corrections positive and negative feedback to identify complex. Don't imitate say novel things

What advantages does it have over counting words?

It shows more advanced use of language.

Semantic bootstrapping

Knowledge of semantics provides a grammar system (Steven Pinker) - So children know innately that there are Nouns (agents, object) and Verbs (actions, states of being) from there build syntax-grammar

Later acquired grammatical structures

Longer to learn: - I do not know. - negative - Are we going to the store? - question - The vase was broken. - passive Similarity between these? They are inverted, wrd order is off; verb comes before the noun. Problems are: Word order, Auxiliary words ("helping verb" specifies or slightly varies the meaning of the main verb.

Free morpheme

Morpheme that stands alone and has meaning (cat, run, shoe, help)

Sentence form negation

Negatives need auxiliaries - hard - I did not, should not, can not Initially use marker "no" or "not" - "I no go" vs "I won't go" Next step: single morpheme constructions -Can't & don't before can & do (On Exam) -" I swim" and "I don't swim" before "I do swim" - So don't is a single meaning (not "do" and "not") Last step: full meaning: "I do NOT want that" Exam: Learn order of how these progress and why.

Connectionism

Never acquire rules, just associations. Through experience you pick up on regularities: - "the" is followed by objects, events, things. So if I hear "the" I expect an one of those (or a descriptive followed by one of those) - "The car" or "The blue car" not "the is car"

Two word phrases

Not in arbitrary or random order. (Word from the beginning has meaning-- Brown did this) - "Wash teddy" Different from "teddy wash"

3. "word + jargon" combos

One word embedded in jargon blahdamab blankie bablahda

What are open-class (or lexical categories)

Open-class (lexical class words): New items can be created Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs "a fex" "texting" "i.m.ing"

Syntax

Operates over abstract or symbolic representations. - One set of rules to create all sentences with unites like nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. So for adults syntax is probably more abstract based.

Example: Possessive

Owner + object Daddy shoe, Mommy hat

Hw do overgeneralizations and negative evidence relate to children's grammar acquisition?

Parents give feedback that they said it wrong, parents just repeat the right way.

Sentence Forms

Passive sentences - The plate was broke, the dog was hit - Between 3 1/2 and 5 Earliest forms is when the kid removes himself so that he's not blamed. (takes awhile to develop) * Complex - I want this bike because it's red - Between 2 and 4 of age: after 4 word stage Exam: Learn why they are difficult in kids and how they overcome that difficulty.

Relational Meaning

Understanding words together have greater meaning than individual meanings. 13-15 months. - When do kids understand that word order matters? That even though I talk about all the objects in the scene you have to understand something based on the order in which I say those words? 13-15 months

Word knowledge

Use common sense to determine meaning. Put your shoes on after your socks. Can override other strategies using this one. Kids override this because they know socks go on before shoes but again it doesn't mean they understand the sentence.

To really figure out what children comprehend about grammar we need more complicated experiments:

Preference for normal word order (12 - 14 months) The dog ran to the cat vs. Dog cat the to the ran Even though prosody is removed they prefer normal and correct woord order. English infants noticed word order in English, but not Spanish vice versa.

Stronger versions of innate grammar

Principles and parameters (chomsky)

How does comprehension of syntax compare with production?

Production comes first. Can't describe why they said how they said it Comprehension is what children understand. Response strategies: respond only to the word that they know.

Two-word speech normally follows a standard pattern for children learning English. What are some of the common features of this two-word speech?

Productivity not just repitition - "Mommy sit" --> "Dolly sit" --> "Dolly eat" Length of two word stage varies greatly by child - Ranges from barely a week or so to months (This is not randomly putting two words together)

What is meant by the productivity or generativity of language?

Productivity, or generativity, of language; capacity to produce and understand an infinate number of novel sentences. - Most sentences you say and hear are completely unique and novel to you.

What are the arguments for children having abstract grammar? Productivity in grammar?

Productivity--- Evidence= overregularization

Example: Descriptive

Property + Object Big house, old cup

How do grammatical morphemes develop in terms of RATE and ORDER?

RATE of developing grammatical morphemes varies greatly. So morphology development varies in RATE but not much in ORDER. Rate (age or speed) varies but order does not.

How do repititions, expansions, and prosodic features of language help children acquire grammar?

Repetitions and expantions serve as little language lessons and reveal the component structure. Prosody helps with syntax.

What are comprehension strategies? List 3 Response strategies

Respond with an action based on key words they know (physically respond) Ex: Where are your shoes? vs Who made your shoes?

Characteristics of 3 word speech

Same meanings but filling in words - "Mommy go" or "go store" --> "Mommy go store" Declarative and imperative sentences - Put it table, I watch car Telegraphic Speech Missing grammatical morphemes - So missing features like: articles (the), verb endings (-ing), and prepositions (of)

Semantic Bootstrapping

Use semantics to help with syntax

Hierarchial Structure of language

Sentence= Noun phrase + verb phrase Noun phrase= (article) + (adjective) + noun Verb phrase = verb + (adverb) or (noun phrase) The fat dog ate pretty flowerrs. Noun phrase + Verb phrase Verb + Noun Phrase ate + (the)(pretty)flowers

Closed Class (functional words)

Serve grammatical function, new items can't be added. Articles, prepositions, determiners - "A", "the", "over", "under"

Principles and parameters theory

Set of principle true for all languages and parameters that define the differences in languages.

1. Vertical constructions

Single words that seem to be related (not quite putting two words together) - "ow" "eye" - Pause between and each word has intonation of an isolated word.

Morpheme

Smallest element of language that carries meaning - One dog, two dogs. - I walk, she walked.

Are you learning the dialect around you? Linguists care for descriptive language. Because it means they are developing grammar just fine.

Something like he was walked to the school is not correct and if a 5-6 year old talks like that it means disorder. So as long as you are learning what people are saying and what's in their environment means you don't have a disorder which is why we need to look at descriptive.

What are "transitional forms"? What is the importance of transitional forms for syntactic development?

Starts after the one word phrase. Transition period: Not quite multi-word

What evidence is there that general cogntive processes and language experiences aid in grammatical development?

Statistical learning, social abilities, first born children have more grammatical knowledge.

What is syntax how does it differ from semantics?

Syntax is word order (grammar) whereas semantics is meaning of words.

What is MLU used for?

To see the development of language.

Telegraphic speech:

contains content words, drops most everything else