| Chapter 5 Language development Behaviorists: language due to reinforcement of word-like sounds Nativists: children make rule-governed grammatical errors; have language acquisition device Interactionists: We're genetically prepared to learn language but we need to be exposed to it All babies coo (vowel sounds at 2 months) and babble (consonant sounds): maturational process At 6 months, start losing ability to discriminate between sounds not heard in native language Bilingualism: start early Benefits: Has no impact on maturational processes Learning grammatical rules in other language is easier Greater metalinguistic abilities Greater ability to focus attention on language tasks Drawbacks: Reach some milestones later as has to differentiate between the languages One parent should always speak the same language around baby Most children don't attain fluency in both languages May increase risks for learning disabilities Child-directed speech is important for kids to pay attention First words at 1 year old; refer to important, active objects Underextension: one name for each thing Overextension: same name for similar things Comprehension develops ahead of speech production Importance of turn-taking games Telegraphic speech between 12-18 months: 2-word sentences Naming explosion between 16-24 months |
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