PSY 369: Psycholinguistics
Language Acquisition 1
Acquiring language
Dr. Cutting, language sure
is complicated. How do you
expect us to learn all this stuff?
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Student in my
psycholinguistics
course
Acquiring language
Whadda’ ya mean, mommy.
I can talk.
I can understand what you say.
What’s so hard?

Student in my
psycholinguistics
course

2 year old
Acquiring language

How do we (humans) do it? How do we learn to use
this complex behavior?

Student in my
psycholinguistics
course

2 year old
Overview
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Some of the major issues
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Imitation vs Innateness
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Born to walk
Born to talk?
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How much explicit teaching do we get?
Commonalities across languages and cultures
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Language is complex everywhere
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Sounds, words, syntax, and more
No primitive (simple) languages
Language development is similar everywhere
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Similar stages
In the beginning… and the womb
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Prelinguistic communication
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What was that?
You’re
mumbling.
We experience language before we’re even born
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Normal human language uses sounds between
100 and 4000 Hz
Sound travels through skin and fluids too

In the womb, sounds up to 1000 Hz
 Can’t hear individual words
 But can hear:
 Intonation, durations, rhythm, stress
In the beginning… and the womb
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Prelinguistic communication
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We experience language before we’re even born
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Mahler (mid 80’s, in France)
4 day old babies
Nonnutritive sucking method
Played French or Russian
Sucking pattern changed if language
was switched
Sucking pattern didn’t change if
language wasn’t switched
Babies knew (something about) the
languages
In the beginning… and the womb

Prelinguistic communication

We experience language before we’re even born
Fetal heart monitor
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DeCasper, et al (1994)
In the beginning… and the womb

Prelinguistic communication

We experience language before we’re even born
Fetal heart monitor
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DeCasper, et al (1994)
Had mothers read stories everyday
to fetuses during 34-38 weeks of
pregnancy
After 38th week, two stories were
played to the fetuses (but mom
couldn’t hear it)
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Same story
Different story
In the beginning… and the womb

Prelinguistic communication

We experience language before we’re even born
Fetal heart monitor

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DeCasper, et al (1994)
Had mothers read stories everyday
to fetuses during 34-38 weeks of
pregnancy
After 38th week, two stories were
played to the fetuses (but mom
couldn’t hear it)


Same story
Different story
In the beginning… and the womb

Prelinguistic communication

We experience language before we’re even born
Fetal heart monitor
DeCasper, et al (1994)
Had mothers read stories everyday
to fetuses during 34-38 weeks of
pregnancy
After 38th week, two stories were
played to the fetuses (but mom
couldn’t hear it)
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Decreased fetal
heart-rate
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Same story
Different story
Baby learned something about
the story
Lecture notes from book
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Prelinguistic communication
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After birth
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Child-directed speech (motherese)
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Phonological differences are key
 Higher in pitch
 More variable in pitch
 More exaggerated intonation
All may help to orient and maintain
attention of infant
May help “bootstrap” later learning
Lecture notes from book
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Prelinguistic communication
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After birth
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Prelinguistic gestures
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Demonstration that the infant is trying to
communicate in some way
 e.g., pointing behaviors
Criteria
 Waiting
 Persistence
 Development of alternative plans
Early phonology
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Eimas et al, (1971)
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Categorical perception in infants (1 month olds)
100
Sharp phoneme boundary
Young infants can
distinguish different
phonemes
% /ba/
0
1 ...
3 … 5 …
7
9:30 mark in video
Early phonology
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Categorical perception in infants
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A number of studies suggest that very young
infants can perceive between a number of
phonemic distinctions (e.g., Kuhl & Meltzhoff, 1997)
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Not limited to their language context
However, as they age/experience their context
language the ability to perceive some of these
distinctions are lost (~10 to 12 months)
Nature/nurture debate:
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Are humans “pre-programmed” to distinguish speech
sounds?
We’re listening
Early phonology
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Eimas et al, (1971)
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Categorical perception in infants (1 month olds)
100
Sharp phoneme boundary
Chinchillas do it too!
% /ba/
Kuhl and Miller (1975)
0
1 ...
3 … 5 …
7
Are they “preprogrammed to
perceive human
speech?
Typical language development
6 Months
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Responds to his name
Responds to human voices without
visual cues by turning his head and
eyes
Responds appropriately to friendly
and angry tones
Early speech production
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The progression of cooing and babbling
follows a universal pattern.
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Babies, until around 6 months old, can produce
sounds/phonemes that their parents cannot
produce or distinguish
 6 - 8 weeks: cooing
 4 - 6 months: babbling
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Clear consonants and vowels are produced
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“da”, “gi”
18:15 mark in video
Early speech production

The progression of cooing and babbling
follows a universal pattern.

Babies, until around 6 months old, can produce
sounds/phonemes that their parents cannot
produce or distinguish
 6 - 8 weeks: cooing
 4 - 6 months: babbling
 6 - 7 months: Reduplicated babbling
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“dada”, “gigi”
Early speech production

The progression of cooing and babbling
follows a universal pattern.

Babies, until around 6 months old, can produce
sounds/phonemes that their parents cannot
produce or distinguish
 6 - 8 weeks: cooing
 4 - 6 months: babbling
 6 - 7 months: Reduplicated babbling
 8 - 9 months: CVC clusters may appear
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“bod”, “tat”
Early speech production

The progression of cooing and babbling
follows a universal pattern.

Babies, until around 6 months old, can produce
sounds/phonemes that their parents cannot
produce or distinguish
 10 or 11 months: Variegated babbling
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Combining “incomprehensible words”
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Intonation patterns
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“dab gogotah”
May reflect phonological rules of spoken language
context
By 12 to 14 months some evidence of language
specific phonological rules
Early speech production
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The progression of cooing and babbling
follows a universal pattern.
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Role of both nature and nurture
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Nature/Biology plays an important role in the
emergence of cooing & babbling.
The form of the child’s vocalization is also
affected by the linguistic environment.
Early speech production
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Transition to speech
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Early words
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Common Phonological processes
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Reduction
 Delete sounds from words
Coalescence
 Combine different syllables into one syllable
Assimilation
 Change one sound into a similar sound within the
word
Reduplication
 One syllable from a multi-syllabic word is repeated
Typical language development
12 Months
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Uses one or more words with
meaning (this may be a fragment
of a word)
Understands simple instructions,
especially if vocal or physical cues
are given
Practices inflection Is aware of the
social value of speech
Typical language development
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18 Months
Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20
words
Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
Some echolalia (repeating a word or
phrase over and over)
Much jargon with emotional content Is
able to follow simple commands
Building our lexicon
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Comprehended words
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12 months
age 2 years
age 6 years
first words
200 words
15,000 words
3000
2500
2000
1500
produced words
1000
500
0
8 m 1y 2y 3y 4y 5y 6y
Building our lexicon
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One word stage
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Early words
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Fast mapping
Over and under extensions
Role of adults’ speech
Holophrases
 Single word that seems to represent an
entire sentence
First words
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Important people
Objects that move
Objects that can be acted upon
Familiar actions
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Nouns before verbs
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Word Extension
The appropriate limits of the meaning
of words
Extension
Underextension
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applying a word too narrowly
Overextension
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applying a word too broadly
Lecture notes from book
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Early grammar
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Measures of syntactic development
Emergence of grammatical categories
Comprehension and production comparisons
Individual differences
Lecture notes from book
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Acquisition of morphology
Later syntactic development
Cross-linguistic differences
Metalinguistics and discourse
Lecture notes from book
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Bilingualism and second-language acquisition
Lecture notes from book
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Using words
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One word utterances
Two word utterances
Development of syntax
Production and comprehension comparisons
Lecture notes
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Later developments in syntax and semantics
Emergence of linguistic awareness
Bilingualism and second-language acquisition
Language and social contexts
Language in the school
Revisit the innateness issue
Typical language development
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24 Months
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Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the
following: in, on, under
Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb
combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
Rhythm and fluency often poor
Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are
often confused
My and mine are beginning to emerge
Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose,
mouth, hair)”
Typical language development
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36 Months
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Use pronouns I, you, me correctly Is using some plurals and past tenses
Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under
Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name
Handles three word sentences easily
Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words
About 90% of what child says should be intelligible
Verbs begin to predominate
Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and
activities
Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason
Able to reason out such questions as "what must you do when you are
sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?"
Should be able to give his sex, name, age
Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he
understands what is expected
Lecture notes from web
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48 MonthsKnows names of familiar animals Can use at least four prepositions or can demonstrate his understanding of their ﾊﾊ
ﾊ meaning when given commands Names common objects in picture books or magazines Knows one or more colors Can repeat
4 digits when they are given slowly Can usually repeat words of four syllables Demonstrates understanding of over and under
Has most vowels and diphthongs and the consonants p, b, m, w, n well established Often indulges in make-believe Extensive
verbalization as he carries out activities Understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a contrast is presented Readily
follows simple commands even thought the stimulus objects are not in sight Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and
even sounds
60 MonthsCan use many descriptive words spontaneously-both adjectives and adverbs Knows common opposites: big-little,
hard-soft, heave-light, etc Has number concepts of 4 or more Can count to ten Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of
articulation problems Should have all vowels and the consonants, m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng,y (yellow) Should be able to repeat
sentences as long as nine words Should be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair) Should be able to
follow three commands given without interruptions Should know his age Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon,
night, day, later, after, while Tomorrow, yesterday, today Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound
and some ﾊﾊ complex sentences Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct
6ﾊ YearsIn addition to the above consonants these should be mastered: f, v, sh, zh, th,1 He should have concepts ofﾊ 7 Speech
should be completely intelligible and socially useful Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a picture, seeing
relationships Between objects and happenings
7ﾊ YearsShould have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the soft g as in George Should handle opposite
analogies easily: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-swims, blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour, etc Understands such terms as: alike,
different, beginning, end, etc Should be able to tell time to quarter hour Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print
many words
8ﾊ YearsCan relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at some time inﾊ the past Complex and
compound sentences should be used easily Should be few lapses in grammatical constrictions-tense, pronouns, plurals All
speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing
simple compositions Social amenities should be present in his speech in appropriate situations Control of rate, pitch, and volume
are generally well and appropriately established Can carry on conversation at rather adult level Follows fairly complex directions
with little repetition Has well developed time and number concepts