1st Language Acquisition How do humans acquire speech?

1st Language Acquisition How do humans acquire speech?

Language acquisition We are not born speaking! Language must be acquired. If we think of all that is entailed in knowing a language, it seems quite a challenge. What Does a Baby Hear?

Language instinct? Language is innate – only surface details need be learned? Human brain pre-programmed for language? Language a result of general cognitive abilities of the brain? Neither tells us what specific language to learn or particular structures to memorize.

Language Universals What evidence is there for innate knowledge of certain basic language features present in all human languages? LINGUISTIC UNIVERSALS UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR All languages have: A grammar Basic word order (in terms of SOV, etc.) Nouns and verbs Subjects and objects Consonants and vowels Absolute and implicational tendencies E.g., If a language has VO order, then modifiers tend to follow the head)

“Universal Grammar” Humans then learn to specialize this “universal grammar” (UG) for the particulars of their language. Word order, syntactic rule preferences Phonetic and phonological constraints Lexicon Semantic interpretations Pragmatic ways to converse

Innateness of language? Evidence for innateness of language? The biologist Eric Lenneberg defined a list of characteristics that are typical of innate (preprogrammed) behaviors in animals.

Innate behaviors . . . 1. Maturationally controlled, emerging before they are critically needed 2. Do not appear as the result of a conscious decision. 3. Do not appear due to a trigger from external events. 4. Are relatively unaffected by direct teaching and intensive practice. 5. Follow a regular sequence of “milestones” in their development. 6. Generally observe a critical period for their acquisition

1. Emerge before necessary, cannot be forced before scheduled When is language necessary? When do children usually begin speaking/using language coherently? Is this criterion met?

2. Are not conscious Does a child decide to consciously pursue certain skills? (e.g., walking) Do babies make a conscious decision to start learning a language? Is this criterion met?

3. Are not triggered What would prompt a child to take up soccer? What would prompt a child to begin speaking? Is this criterion met?

4. Cannot be taught We CAN teach prescriptive rules of language. But we’re not talking about that here. We correct children’s errors sometimes. Does it help? – ‘Nobody don’t like me’ In fact, “coaching” seems to hurt rather than help language ability in children. Is this criterion met?

5. Follow milestones In spite of different backgrounds, different locations, and different upbringings, most children follow the very same milestones in acquiring language. Is this criterion met?

6. Observe a critical period What is a critical period? For first language acquisition, there seems to be a critical period of the first five years, during which children must be exposed to rich input. There is also a period, from about 10-16 years, when acquisition is possible, but not native-like. For SLA, the issue is more complicated More on that later. Is this criterion met?

The Critical Period Hypothesis CPH: Proposed by Lenneberg – This hypothesis states that there is only a small window of time for a first language to be natively acquired. – If a child is denied language input, she will not acquire language Genie: a girl discovered at age 13 who had not acquired her L1 (-- Isabelle and Victor) Normal hearing child born to deaf parents, heard language only on TV, did not acquire English L1

More evidence for the Critical Period Hypothesis Second Language Acquisition: – Younger learners native fluency. – Older learners ( 17) never quite make it. ASL Acquisition: – Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) have an advantage over later- learners of ASL in signing Aphasia: – Less chance of recovery of linguistic function after age 5. – Lateralization

So how DO we learn our first language?

L1 acquisition Sound production/babbling Phonological acquisition Morphological/Syntactical acquisition Semantic development

Caretaker Speech A register characterized by: – Simplified lexicon – Phonological reduction – Higher pitch – Stressed intonation – Simple sentences – High number of interrogatives (Mom) & imperatives (Dad) Caretaker Speech

ASL Caretaker Speech Some of the major features: signing on the baby's body (when the location should be on the signer) using the baby's hands to sign on the adult's or child's body placing the child on the lap and facing away from the mother signing on the object signing using the object signing bigger than normal signing repeated more often then normal sign lasts longer than normal signing special “baby” signs rather than adult signs BSL Caretaker Speech

Acquisition of phonetics Few weeks: cooing and gurgling, playing with sounds. Their abilities are constrained by physiological limitations. 4 months: distinguish between [a] and [i], so their perception skills are good. 4-6 months: children babble, putting together vowels and consonants. This is not a conscious process! Experiment with articulation 7-10 months: starts repeated babbling. 10-12 months, children produce a variety of speech sounds. (even ‘foreign’ sounds)

Acquisition of phonology Early stage: Unanalyzed syllables 15-21 months: words as a sequence of phonemes. Mastery of sounds differing in distinctive features (e.g., voicing) Duplicated syllables: mama, dada - CV is main syllable structure. They reduce banana [na.na] na.na 2 syllable words Early mastery of intonation contours (even in non-tone languages) Perception comes before production (‘fis’ fis or ‘fish’?) fish Phonological Processes

Lexicon Begin with simple lexical items for people/food/toys/animals/body functions Lexical Achievement: 1-2 years old 200-300 words (avg) 3 years old 900 words 4 years old 1500 words 5 years old 2100 words 6-7 years old 2500 words High school grad 40,000 – 60,000 words! “5,000 per year, 13 words a day” -- Miller & Gildea

But Don’t Animals Know Words, Too? Yes, but what about ? – Just (very) brilliant vs. just (only) a little dirty vs. a – – – – – – just (right) person Blunt (dull) instrument vs. blunt (sharp) comment I was literally (meaning figuratively) climbing the walls. Clip (on) a pin vs clip (off) hair Cleave (together) vs cleave (apart) Dust (remove) or dust (sprinkle) And what does inflammable mean?

The acquisition of morphosyntax At about 12 months, children begin producing words consistently. One-word stage (holophrastic stage): – Name people, objects, etc. – An entire sentence is one word Two-word stage: – Approximately 18-24 months – Use consistent set of word orders: N-V, A-N, V-N – With structure determined by semantic relationships agent action (baby sleep) possessor possession (Mommy book) Telegraphic stage (only content words)

Word Inflections Function word sequences: Plurals: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. -ing Plural –s Possessive –’s 3rd person singular – s Past marker –ed Future marker ‘will’ Verb ‘to be’ (is, are) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. All singular Some irregulars Regular ‘s’ overgeneralized [-ez] for all Only irregulars remain problematic Irregulars memorized

Copulas before Progressives We see another consistent pattern: Copula: am, is, are, as in I am a doctor developed before progressive: am, is, are, as in I am singing. singing Shortened copula: as in He’s a bear came before the shortened progressive: He’s walking. walking

Negative Formations Negatives 1st stage - attach no/not to beginning of sentence (sometimes at end) 2nd stage – negatives appear between subject and verb (don’t stayed at beginning in imperatives, but not can’t) can’t 3rd stage – appearance of nobody/nothing & anybody/anything & inconsistent use of “to be” verb is and auxiliary “dummy” do verb.

Question Formations 1st stage – wh- word placed in front of rest of sentence: Where daddy go? 2nd stage – addition of an auxiliary verb: Where you will go? 3rd stage – subject noun changes places with the auxiliary: Where will you go?

Acquisition of Semantics Concrete before abstract: – ‘in/on’ before ‘behind/in front’ Overextensions: – Using ‘moon’ for anything round – Using ‘dog’ for any four-legged animals Underextensions: – The word ‘bird’ may not include ‘pigeon’, etc

Reviewing Linguistic Stages 6-12 weeks: Cooing (googoo, gurgling, coocoo) 6 months: Babbling (baba, mama, dada) 8-9 months: Intonation patterns 1-1.5 years: Holphrastic stage (one word) 2 years: Two-word stage 2.5 years: Telegraphic stage 3,4 – 11 years: Fluent speech w/errors 12 years : Fluent speech

What about Second Language Acquisition? L2

Second Language Acquisition Differences from L1 acquisition Teaching Methods

Terms/Associations Native Language L1 1st Language, mother tongue, heart language Second Language L2 Target Language or Learner Language Second Language Acquisition (SLA) – Research investigates how people attain proficiency in a language which is not their mother tongue

Differences between L1 and L2 Interlanguage contrasts/similarities – Equal transfer Same word order, words, vowels – 2 to 1, 1 to 2 (splits) English his/her to Spanish su – 1 to 0, 0 to 1 (new items) English must learn to add new determiners: El hombre es mortal, English learners of Spanish must learn to “forget” the English “do” as a tense carrier – Old 1 to New 1 (changes) English must learn new distribution for French nasalized vowels.

Mastering the L2 Is there a critical period for L2? – For authentic accent perhaps (Scovel 1999) Cognitive considerations? – Does formal/abstract thought help or hinder? – Conscious vs. automatic learning Affective considerations? – Self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, extroversion Interference between L1 and L2? – Adult may be more vulnerable to interference from L1, but L1 can also be useful to adults Second Culture Influence? – Culture shock, social distance, policy and politics

Stages of L2 Aquisition Stage 1 – Random errors/wild guesses – The different city is another one in the another two. two Or John cans sing. sing Stage 2 – Emergent – Learner cannot correct errors even when pointed out. L: I go New York NS: You will go to New York? When? L: 1972. NS: Oh, you went to New York in 1972. L: Yes, I go 1972.

Stages of L2 Acquisition Stage 3 – Systematic – Learners can correct errors if pointed out: L: Many fish are in the lake. These fish are serving in the restaurants near the lake. NS: [laughing] The fish are serving? L: [laughing] Oh, no, the fish are served in the restaurants! Stage 4 – Stabilization – Learners can self-correct. – However, often they may not correct errors that aren’t brought to their attention and may manifest fossilization of their L2.

L2 Teaching Methods Grammar-translation – Mother tongue, vocabulary lists, grammar, classical texts, reading important Direct (Berlitz) method – Active oral interaction, spontaneous use, no translation between L1 and L2, little grammar, good for smaller classes Audio-lingual method – Dialogue form, mimicry, set phrases, drills, memorization, tapes, language labs, pronunciation important, little use of mother tongue, popular in military training, short-term effectiveness Today’s approach? – Multiple approaches, customized, interactive

Communicative Competence What is it, and how do we know when we have it? – Pragmatic Competence: Functions of language: – Discourse, sociolinguistic, cultural, contexts of use – Organizational Competence: Grammatical: – Vocabulary, morphology, syntax, phonology, graphology Textual: – Cohesion, rhetorical organization What does it mean to be fluent?