ENG 259 The Chomskian Revolution in Linguistics
Lesson 6 - Language Acquisition
PART 1
Grammar Through Contrast & Comparison
©1999 Edward G. Rozycki
A. Examine the following items and their English Translation:
1.ku nun yong o rul mal han da.
1. He speaks English.
2. jo nun yong o rul mal han da.
2. I speak English
3. ku nun yong o rul mal ha ni 3. Does he speak English?
4. u ri nun yong o rul mal han da.
4. We speak English.
5. ku nam ja nun chung o rul mal ha ni
5. Does that boy speak Chinese?
B. Now translate the following:
1. ku nun chung o rul mal ha ni 1.
______________________
2. u ri nun chung o rul mal han da.
2.
______________________
3. ku nam ja yong o rul mal han da.
3. ______________________
4. ku nam ja yong o rul mal han da.
4.
______________________
5. u ri nun yong o rul mal han da.
5.
______________________
C. Now examine the following, remembering what you learned before:
1. jo nun ku nam ja rul po ta.
2. i nam ja nun jo rul po ta.
1. I see that boy.
2.This boy sees me.
3. yong o rul mal han ku nam ja nun u ri rul po ta.
3.The boy who speaks English sees us.
4. ku yo ja nun u ri rul to wa chu ta.
4. The girl helps us.
5. jo rul to wa chun i yo ja nun yong o rul mal han da
5. This girl who helps me speaks
English.
D. Now translate the following:

1. chung o rul mal han ku nam ja jo rul po ta.
1.
______________________
2. u ri nun yong o rul mal han ku nam ja rul po ni
3. jo rul pon ku nam ja nun yong o rul mal han da.
2.
3.
______________________
______________________
4. jo nun chung o rul mal han ku nam ja rul po ta.
5. u ri nun chung o rul mal han ku yo ja po ta.
4.
5.
______________________
______________________
E. Create a lexicon for this language. Devise some grammar for it.
Prof. G. Steinberg - Language Acquisition
PART 2a
Examine the following utterances from a child's speech over a period of a year. What would you say about the child's language development in terms of morphemes, nonlexical categories, negation, and question formation?
28 months
Play checkers.
Big drum.
I got horn.
A bunny-rabbit walk.
30 months
Write a piece a paper.
What that egg doing?
I lost a shoe.
No, I don't want to sit seat.
32 months
Let me get down with the boots on.
Don't be afraid a horses.
How tiger be so healthy and fly like kite?
Joshua throw like penguin.
34 months
Look at that train Ursula brought.
I simply don't want put in chair.
Don't have paper.
Do you want little bit, Cromer?
I can't wear it tomorrow.
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36 months
I going come in fourteen minutes.
I going wear that to wedding.
I see what happens.
I have to save them now.
Those are not strong mens.
They are going sleep in wintertime.
You dress me up like a baby elephant.
38 months
So it can't be cleaned?
I broke my racing car.
Do you know the lights went off?
What happened to the bridge?
Can I put my head in the mailbox so the mailman can know where I are and put me in the mailbox?
PART 2b
One of the most amazing examples of the uniformity of language acquisition is the order in which children acqure certain grammatical constructions in English. There are 14 grammatical structures that children master in essentially the same order with very little variation. For our purposes, a child is considered to have mastered a construction if the child uses the construction correctly 90% of the time.
NOTE: Children acquire these constructions in the same order but not at the same speed. Some children race through the list in a matter of three months; others take more than a year. Also, children often experiment with constructions long before they master them. So, a child might be experimenting with #10, but have only truly mastered #1 or
#2. The child will still generally master the constructions in the expected order. Keep in mind too that children sometimes learn certain constructions as single words (e.g.,
"That's" as in "That's mine" or "That's pretty"). In such cases, the child has not mastered
#13 but is merely using what to the child is a single word. In addition, children generally master #5 in the proper sequence, but when they master #9, they usually regress with respect to #5 and begin forming irregular past tense verbs according to the rule for regular past tense verbs (e.g., eated ).
Acquisition Order of Select Grammatical Constructions in English
1.
Present progressive verb (the "-ing" form) -- (is) playing, (was) singing
2.
One of the prepositions in or on
3.
The other preposition ________________________________________________
4.
Regular noun plural -- _______________________________________________
5.
Irregular past tense verbs -- ___________________________________________
6.
Possessive noun -- __________________________________________________
7.
Uncontractible copula -- _____________________________________________
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8.
Articles -- ________________________________________________________
9.
Regular past tense verbs -- ___________________________________________
10.
Regular third person singular present tense verbs -- _______________________
11.
Irregular third person singular present tense verbs -- _______________________
12.
Uncontractible auxiliary -- ___________________________________________
13.
Contractible copula -- _______________________________________________
14.
Contractible auxiliary -- _____________________________________________
Consider the following utterances. At what stage of language development does the child appear to be?
Jimmy swim.
Ken book.
Daddy work.
Push baby.
Mommy read.
Now, consider the following utterances. Which grammatical constructions has the child definitely mastered? Which grammatical constructions are still a problem?
Where my blanket?
Go right here, Mommy?
Spilling over!
Here, go here.
No, that mine.
Dinosaur say gronk.
There more.
Now, consider the following utterances. Which grammatical constructions have been mastered and which have not?
Mine name Krista.
Last name Pegit.
Tape right there.
Here Daddy book.
I’m do it. [ = I'll do it.]
He went outside.
Open a gate, please.
Gramma’s house.
Smell flowers.
Shoes on.
Wee boy fell down.
That’s mines ball.
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