1. I) Lang Dev - A process
   1. 1.1 A complex, biologically constrained process
      1. through which humans acquire a symbolic system (language)
         1. to communicate
         2. regulate thought
         3. shaped by
            1. innate predispositions
            2. environmental input
   2. 1.2 influenced by both
      1. 1 innate biological predispositions
      2. 2 environmental factors
   3. 1.3 stages from
      1. prelinguistic
         1. to advanced linguistic competence
   4. 1.4 Questions? : Studying Language acquisition-
      1. 1. What do children have to know to be able to use language?
      2. 2 how do children acquire this knowledge?
2. II) Nature of Language
   1. 2.1 Purpose and Use
      1. Humans
         1. as social beings
            1. needing communication
      2. language
         1. Flexible symbolic system:
            1. words ==> represent objects, actions, feelings
         2. Universal across cultures,
            1. though specific languages vary.
      3. communicating
         1. External
            1. Sharing information with others.
         2. Internal
            1. "Inner voice"
            2. for self-regulation
            3. Action/ Thoughts
            4. (e.g., talking through tasks).
   2. 2.2 Biological and Evolutionary Roots
      1. Unique human trait:
         1. Beyond survival signals
            1. (e.g., monkey predator warnings).
      2. New evidence: Apes chat socially
         1. (BBC, *The Life of Mammals*).
      3. Primates’ communication
         1. complexity tied to genetic similarity to humans.
      4. Bonobo chimps:
         1. Advanced abilities (Rumbaugh & Savage-Rumbaugh, 1994).
      5. Language tied to consciousness:
         1. Reflective (on their actions) species
            1. have linguistic skills.
3. III) Essential Knowledge for Language
   1. 3.1 Phonetic Understanding
      1. Recognition of phonemes
         1. (basic sound units).
      2. English: 45 phonemes; other languages up to 60.
   2. 3.2 Semantic Awareness
      1. 1 how these phonemes are combined to form words
         1. Phonemes form morphemes
            1. (meaningful word units).
      2. 2 what these words mean
         1. Understanding word meanings and their combinations.
   3. 3.3 Morphemes
      1. the smallest grammatical unit of speech
         1. meaningful Unit
      2. Eg: "Worker" contains two morphemes:
         1. "work" and "-er".
   4. 3.4 Syntactic Knowledge
      1. Rules for sentence structure
         1. (e.g., grammar).
      2. Example: Word order in English vs. other languages.
   5. 3.5 Pragmatic Understanding
      1. Contextual language use
         1. (e.g., tone for kids vs. adults).
      2. Examples: Polite requests vs. confessions; varies by audience (tutor, friends).
4. IV) Challenges in Studying Lang Dev
   1. 4.1 Methodological Difficulties
      1. Reliance on language-based methods
         1. limits preverbal study.
      2. Comprehension may precede production
         1. (e.g., infants understand but can’t speak).
      3. Risk of assuming no understanding if no speech.
   2. 4.2 Research Tools
      1. Habituation techniques:
         1. Test preverbal understanding
         2. Example: Infants distinguish words; open to interpretive bias.
      2. Parental diaries:
         1. Supplement data but prone to bias
         2. (e.g., exaggeration).
      3. Snapshots vs. continuous observation:
         1. Limits full picture.
5. V) Developmental Stages
   1. 5.1 Prelinguistic Period 0-12 months
      1. Innate Tendencies
         1. Newborns prefer language sounds (Butterfield & Siperstein, 1974).
         2. Preferential sucking:
            1. Suck harder to hear speech.
         3. Tune to native language in days (Mehler et al., 1986).
      2. Vocal Progression
         1. Crying:
            1. Innate reflex,
            2. then fake cries for attention (Wolf, 1969).
         2. Cooing (1-2 months):
            1. Vowel repetition.
         3. Babbling (3-4 months):
            1. Adds consonants (e.g., "lalalala").
         4. Phonemic contraction (9 months):
            1. Limits to native phonemes (Mehler & Dupoux, 1994).
      3. Biological Limits
         1. Large tongue, limited dexterity
            1. restrict sound production.
         2. Improves by 3 months with vocal tract changes (Oates & Grayson, 2004).
      4. Semantics
         1. First word comprehension ~7 months (e.g., names; Harris et al., 1995).
      5. Abilities at 8-18 Months
         1. a) Comprehesion
            1. comprehension spurt
         2. b) Production
            1. physical limitations
      6. Ability to identify individual words
         1. then - to link words with their referents
      7. some understanding of the grammatical rules
      8. pragmatics
         1. tend to vocalise
            1. when another person is speaking.
         2. then appears - turn-taking
      9. gesture
         1. to direct people’s attention to objects or events
         2. pointing is often associated with
            1. object labelling.
   2. 5.2 Holophrastic Stage (~10-12 months
      1. “whole phrase”
      2. Single words convey full meanings
         1. (e.g., "teddy" = "I want teddy").
      3. Nouns dominate, some social words
         1. (e.g., "bye-bye").
      4. Gestures clarify intent
         1. (e.g., pointing + "biscuit").
      5. Vocabulary: ~3-4 words at 8 months
         1. ~60 by 18 months (Fenson et al., 1994).
      6. Comprehension spurt:
         1. ~40 words at 8 months, ~200 by 18 months.
      7. Errors:
         1. Underextension
            1. (e.g., "dog" = family pet only)
         2. overextension
            1. (e.g., "daddy" = all men).
      8. syntactic bootstrapping
         1. an implicit understanding of the grammar
      9. semantic bootstrapping (Pinker)
         1. apply their understanding of words to
            1. sentences.
   3. 5.3 Telegraphic Stage (16-20 months
      1. Short phrases omit non-essentials
         1. (e.g., "all-gone juice").
         2. constrained by working-memory limitations
      2. Focus on syntax:
         1. Correct word order
         2. (e.g., "daddy gone").
            1. structurally correct
      3. Context/gestures clarify meaning
         1. (e.g., "mummy sock").
            1. "mummy I want the sock"
      4. Transition to longer phrases ~2 years.
   4. 5.4 Refinement (5+ years
      1. Complex sentences with verb endings, plurals.
      2. Pragmatics:
         1. Tailor speech to listener
            1. (e.g., baby talk to siblings).
      3. Metalinguistic awareness:
         1. Reflect on language (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992).
         2. Examples: Jokes, puns, reformulating speech (~6 years).
      4. Language
         1. becomes non-literal
            1. “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”
   5. Is Lang Dev predetermined?
      1. 1. Nature
         1. genetically programmed
         2. a biological preparedness
      2. 2. Nurture
         1. experience
         2. environmental input is necessary
6. VI) Environmental Influences
   1. 6.1 Baby Talk (Motherese/Parentese
      1. Features:
         1. High pitch, repetition, exaggerated intonation (Jacobsen et al., 1983).
      2. Purpose:
         1. Simplify language (Newport et al., 1997).
      3. Limits:
         1. Not imitated by infants;
         2. no proven benefit;
         3. not universal.
      4. Debate:
         1. Media concerns
            1. (e.g., "Teletubbies" harm).
            2. characters adopt an exaggerated form of “baby-talk”
            3. harming ?
            4. children’s language development
   2. 6.2 Deprivation Effects
      1. Sensitive period:
         1. ~7 years critical for acquisition.
      2. Case Studies:
         1. Isabelle
            1. (age 6, recovered by 7; Davis, 1947).
         2. Genie
            1. (age 13, stuck at 2-year-old level; Fromkin et al., 1974).
         3. Chelsea
            1. (age 31, deaf, limited to 2-year-old skills; Curtiss, 1979).
      3. Brain plasticity:
         1. Early input shapes language areas (Bates, 1994).
   3. 6.3 Special Populations
      1. Deaf Children
         1. Sign language mirrors spoken stages (Newport & Meier, 1985).
         2. Hearing parents’ kids invent gestures (Goldin-Meadow & Mylander, 1984).
      2. Blind Children
         1. Normal milestones sans visual cues (Landau & Gleitman, 1985).
      3. Second Language
         1. Easier before 7,
            1. harder after 7 (Johnson & Newport, 1989).
7. VII) Theories of Language Acquisition
   1. 7.1 Nativist (Chomsky, 1965, 1981
      1. Language Acquisition Device (LAD):
         1. Innate brain structure.
         2. grammatical rules of all languages.
         3. child’s biology is in charge of language acquisition
      2. grammatical features
         1. I) Universal principles
            1. (common grammar)
         2. II) parameters
            1. (language-specific)
            2. not universal
      3. Innate Knowledge
         1. about the structure of language
         2. a set of cognitive and perceptual abilities
            1. specialised for language learning
      4. Passive process:
         1. Exposure triggers parameter setting.
            1. Children Match and Apply the Rules
      5. Evidence:
         1. Loss of non-native grammar recognition (Jusczyk et al., 1988).
   2. 7.2 Behaviourist
      1. Learned via
         1. a) imitation
         2. b) reinforcement
      2. Social shaping:
         1. "dadadada" → "dada" with feedback.
      3. Limits:
         1. Can’t explain syntax without overt teaching
            1. (Brown & Hanlon, 1970).
         2. Not simply imitating
            1. often produce grammatically incorrect phrases and sentences
            2. Why?
   3. 7.3 Connectionist
      1. Neural networks learn from feedback,
         1. no innate rules.
         2. no domain-specific learning processes
      2. learned as a result of
         1. interaction with the social environment
      3. Computer models:
         1. Past-tense learning (Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986).
         2. Human Brain
            1. operates
            2. as a computer
      4. Stages: Error-free → rule overgeneralization
         1. (e.g., "goed") → exceptions.
      5. Critique:
         1. Simplified input, unlike human complexity.
   4. 7.4 Representational Redescription (Karmiloff-Smith, 1996)
      1. Domain-specific biases + domain-general learning.
      2. Three phases:
         1. 1: Data-driven, implicit mastery.
         2. 2: Rule-based, internal focus, errors.
         3. 3: Balance internal/external, refined rules.
      3. Example: Overapplying grammar rules, then adjusting.
8. VIII) Neurological Evidence
   1. 8.1 Brain Localization
      1. Left hemisphere dominant for language (Neville et al., 1998).
      2. Early receptivity:
         1. Left temporal lobe (Bates, 1994).
      3. a separate module
         1. linguistic information is processed
   2. 8.2 Plasticity
      1. Early damage recovery:
         1. specific problems with language
         2. Other areas adapt (Reilly et al., 1998).
      2. No fixed module:
         1. Experience shapes
            1. language areas (Maratsos & Matheny, 1994).
      3. Late learning harder:
         1. Neural pathways less flexible post-7.
      4. If Children
         1. significant delays
            1. in language acquisition
         2. other cortical areas
            1. can take over these roles
            2. plasticity of Brain
            3. Contrary to Chomsky's innate Lang Module
            4. as a result of
            5. development
            6. experience
9. IX) Key Learning Processes
   1. 9.1 Semantic Bootstrapping (Pinker, 1984
      1. Syntax aids abstract word learning (e.g., "think").
      2. Builds on innate grammar knowledge.
   2. 9.2 Syntactic Bootstrapping (Gleitman, 1990
      1. Grammar clues word meanings from sentence structure.
      2. Example: "Big Bird turning Cookie Monster" (Hirsch-Pasek et al., 1988).
   3. 9.3 Hypothesis Testing
      1. Word meaning stages:
         1. Underextension → appropriate → overextension → correct (Clark & Clark, 1977).
      2. Innate aids:
         1. Words = objects, not properties (Markman, 1992).
   4. 9.4 Social Feedback
      1. Adults label objects, correct errors (e.g., pointing; Baldwin, 1993).
      2. Expansion of incorrect grammar (Bohannon et al., 1990).
10. Reflections
    1. NO complete explanation
       1. for language acquisition
    2. behaviourist position
       1. meaning of words
          1. learned
             1. in the same way of learning other things
             2. reinforcement of associations between
             3. words
             4. referents
       2. Not account for
          1. relative ease
             1. work out the rules of
             2. syntax
             3. pragmatics
             4. not explicitly taught
             5. Then? role for innate predispositions and knowledge
             6. Explain?
             7. explain the speed of acquisition
    3. The Roles of
       1. domain-general learning mechanisms
       2. domain-specific mechanisms
       3. Piaget
          1. Language Development
             1. Lang Dev - Byproduct of
             2. more general cognitive developments
             3. restricted by
             4. reflects
             5. a child’s cognitive abilities
          2. Think?
             1. children with language problems are)
             2. not necessary cognitively impaired
             3. (or vice versa
             4. NOT occur independently
             5. both cognition and Language involve
             6. the formation of mental representations
    4. Nature or Nurture.
    5. Representational redescription model
       1. Innate - Provides
          1. starting point.
       2. domain-specific, domain-general learning mechanisms
          1. for Lang Dev
       3. learning
          1. three distinct phases
             1. 1) learning is data driven
             2. results from interaction with the external environment.
             3. 2) connections between representations
             4. generation of rules and principles
             5. Internal
             6. over-rule
             7. environment
             8. 3) equilibrium
             9. between external and internal inputs
    6. Children acquire language
       1. at a rapid rate
       2. Neurological evidence
          1. left hemisphere
             1. predisposed to attend to language
             2. domain-specific abilities
       3. connectionist models
          1. a lot more input
          2. Role of domain general processes
             1. Then speed of Lang Acquisition?
             2. domain-specific constraints
             3. on development exist.