🫶🏽Psychology of Language Unit 1 – Language Acquisition

Key Concepts in Language Acquisition

• Language acquisition involves the development of skills to communicate through spoken or written language
• Includes the ability to produce and comprehend language across various contexts (social interactions, academic settings)
• Encompasses phonology (sound system), morphology (word structure), syntax (grammar), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (language use in context)
• Requires the development of receptive language skills (listening and reading comprehension) and expressive language skills (speaking and writing)
• Influenced by both innate biological factors (brain development, genetic predispositions) and environmental factors (exposure to language, social interactions)
• Follows a predictable sequence of stages, although the pace of development may vary among individuals
• Facilitated by social interactions and exposure to language-rich environments (parent-child conversations, reading books)

Stages of Language Development

• Prelinguistic stage (0-12 months) involves cooing, babbling, and the production of nonsense syllables
  • Infants learn to discriminate speech sounds and develop an understanding of basic communication patterns
• One-word stage (12-18 months) marks the emergence of first words, often nouns referring to familiar objects or people (mama, dada)
• Two-word stage (18-24 months) involves combining words to form simple phrases (more milk, daddy go)
  • Demonstrates an understanding of basic syntax and the ability to convey meaning through word combinations
• Telegraphic stage (24-30 months) features the use of short, grammatically incomplete sentences that convey essential information (doggie run, me want)
• Later stages involve the acquisition of more complex grammar, expanded vocabulary, and the ability to engage in extended discourse
  • Preschool years (3-5 years) see a rapid expansion of vocabulary and the use of more sophisticated sentence structures
  • School-age years (6+ years) involve the refinement of language skills and the development of literacy

Theories of Language Acquisition

• Nativist theories propose that language acquisition is innate and guided by a language acquisition device (LAD) in the brain
  • Noam Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar suggests that all human languages share a common underlying structure
• Behaviorist theories emphasize the role of environmental stimuli, reinforcement, and imitation in language learning
  • B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning theory suggests that language is learned through reinforcement of verbal behavior
• Interactionist theories highlight the importance of social interaction and the language input provided by caregivers
  • Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes the role of social and cultural contexts in language development
• Cognitive theories view language acquisition as a part of overall cognitive development
  • Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that language emerges as a result of the child's developing cognitive abilities
• Emergentist theories propose that language acquisition arises from the interaction of multiple factors (cognitive, social, environmental)

Biological Foundations of Language

• Language processing primarily occurs in the left hemisphere of the brain, particularly in Broca's area (speech production) and Wernicke's area (language comprehension)
• Genetic factors play a role in language development, as evidenced by the high heritability of language disorders (specific language impairment)
• The human vocal tract and articulatory system (tongue, lips, jaw) are uniquely adapted for speech production
• The auditory system is sensitive to speech sounds from birth, allowing infants to discriminate phonemes (smallest units of sound)
• Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganize and form new connections, is crucial for language learning, especially during early development

Environmental Factors in Language Learning

• Exposure to a language-rich environment, with frequent opportunities for communication and interaction, facilitates language acquisition
• Parent-child interactions, such as joint attention (shared focus on an object or event) and responsive parenting (contingent responses to child's communication attempts), support language development
• The quantity and quality of language input (child-directed speech, or "motherese") influence the rate and complexity of language acquisition
  • Child-directed speech is characterized by simplified grammar, exaggerated intonation, and repetition
• Socioeconomic status (SES) can impact language development, with children from lower SES backgrounds often experiencing a "word gap" (exposure to fewer words)
• Cultural factors, such as the value placed on verbal communication and the structure of conversational interactions, shape language learning

Critical Period Hypothesis

• Proposes that there is a limited window of time (critical period) during which language acquisition is most efficient and effortless
• Typically considered to extend from infancy to puberty, with a gradual decline in language learning ability thereafter
• Supported by evidence from studies of feral children (Genie) and deaf individuals who acquire sign language at different ages
  • Children exposed to language early in life achieve higher levels of proficiency compared to those exposed later
• Neurological evidence suggests that the brain is most plastic and receptive to language input during early development
• While the critical period hypothesis is widely accepted, the exact timing and nature of the critical period remain debated
  • Some researchers argue for multiple critical periods for different aspects of language (phonology, syntax)

Bilingualism and Multilingualism

• Refers to the ability to communicate in two (bilingualism) or more (multilingualism) languages
• Simultaneous bilingualism occurs when a child acquires two languages from birth, while sequential bilingualism involves learning a second language after the first is established
• Bilingual and multilingual individuals often exhibit cognitive advantages (enhanced executive function, metalinguistic awareness)
  • Executive function skills include attention control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility
• Code-switching, the alternation between languages within a single conversation, is a common phenomenon among bilinguals
• Bilingual language development may follow a slightly different trajectory compared to monolingual development (temporary delays in vocabulary, influence of one language on the other)
• Sociocultural factors, such as the prestige of the languages and the attitudes towards bilingualism in the community, impact bilingual language acquisition

Research Methods in Language Acquisition

• Observational studies involve naturalistic observation of children's language use in everyday contexts
  • Language samples are collected and analyzed for various aspects of language development (vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics)
• Experimental studies use structured tasks and manipulate variables to test specific hypotheses about language acquisition
  • Examples include the preferential looking paradigm (measuring infants' looking time to assess language comprehension) and the elicited imitation task (assessing children's ability to reproduce sentences of varying complexity)
• Longitudinal studies follow the same group of children over an extended period to track language development over time
• Cross-sectional studies compare language abilities across different age groups at a single point in time
• Brain imaging techniques (fMRI, EEG) are used to investigate the neural basis of language processing and development
• Computational modeling employs computer simulations to test theories of language acquisition and processing
• Case studies provide detailed examinations of language development in individual children, often those with unique circumstances (e.g., feral children, children with language disorders)