first language acquisition
语言习得
• 错误分析区分了错误（error）和失误 （mistake）。 • 错误是学习者语言能力不足造成的，出 现规律，学习者无法进行自我纠正。 • 失误是学习者有能力避免但因为粗心等 原因造成的，学习者能自我纠正。
• 错误的类型主要有： • 添加（additions）：句中出现不必要的 成分，如Does he can dance? • 省略（omissions）：句中缺少必不可少 的成分，如I happy。 • 顺序错误（misorderings）：句中成分位 置错误，如I to the cinema came。
一、第一语言习得
• First language acquisition • 语言学家提出了很多假说来解释第一语 言习得，其中比较著名的是行为主义论 或先天主义论。
1.行为主义论
• Behaviourist view. • 行为主义论认为语言的习得像人的其他行 为一样是通过刺激——反映过程进行模仿， 进而形成习惯的。具体而言，就是学习者 不断模仿、操练正确的语言形式直至形成 习惯。我们常用的句型练习就是受到这种 模式的影响而提出的。
《教程》p. 143
• Generally speaking, there are mainly three different theories concerning how language is learned, namely the behaviorist, the innatist, the interactionist view.
• 考点：理解术语的含义，识别基本的错 误类型。
阅读
• • p.143-157 • p.159-173
练习
• 《人文知识》p. 175-177。
4. 输入假说 （input hypothesis）
英语语言学课件Chapter 16 First Language Acquisition
sentence
The two-word stage
• Around 18 to 20 months • occurrence of two separate words • A variety of combinations such as baby
Pre-language stages
Cooing stage: --3 months old --with velar consonants and high vowel
present Babbling stage: --6 months old --contains syllable-type sounds
• Throughout this sequence, individual children may produce ‘good forms one day and ‘odd' forms the next.
• Overgeneralization --foots and mans --boyses and footses --goed and comed
• In term of hyponymy, the child first uses the ‘middle’ level term such as animal-dogpoodle
• Antonymous relations are acquired fairly late (after the age of five)
• Stage 3: the incorporation of other auxiliary forms such as didn’t and won’t
chapter11.language acquisition
The one-word or holophrastic stage
Characterized by speech in which single terms are uttered for everyday objects. Already extending their use Most verbs and nouns, infrequent function words
Pre-language stages
Cooing:3months old the first recognizalble sounds with velar consonants such as [k] [g] as well as high vowels such as [i] [u] Babbling:6months old fricatives, nasals, syllable type sounds 9months old recognizable intonation patterns,combination 10-11months old use vocalizations to express emotions and emphasis
Imitation and practice alone cannot explain some of the forms created by children.
Children appear to pick out patterns and then generalize or overgeneralize them to new contexts. They create new forms or new uses of words.
Chapter 11 Language Acquisition
First Language Acquisition 母语习得
Drawbacks of the Behaviorist Approaches
1 The abstract nature of language and integral relationship between meaning and utterance were unresolved. 2 It does not account satisfactorily for the generalization process that is inferred in the theory. 3 It does not account for the creativity evident in even a young child’s ability to comprehend and produce novel utterance.
Four steps for a child to acquire his/her L1:
Imitation →reinforcement →repetition →habituation 模仿 强化 重复 成形 positive negative good habit bad habit
positive reinforcement: praise or reward negative reinforcement: corrections good habit: correct performance bad habit: errors
Criticisms of behaviorist learning theory
It can not adequately accounts for the capacity to acquire language; for language development itself; for the abstract nature of language; for a theory of meaning.
Modern First Language Acquisition Theory现代母语习得理论
Modern First Language Acquisition Theory现代母语习得理论Language is closely related to the human mind. The human mind, however, is very difficult to study, as it cannot be observed directly. But it leaves its traces everywhere, particularly in language. Language has been a window of the mind. Many people have tried to discern the workings of the mind from the growth of children. Psycholinguists are concerned with the mental processes that are involved in learning to speak, and are also interested in the underlying knowledge and abilities which children must have in order to use language and to learn to use language in childhood. Is language innate or is it learned after birth? Is there any biological foundation for language? How do children acquire their first language? These and other issues have the focus of interests and research to applied linguists, psycholinguists and language teachers. L1 acquisition theories are the attempted explanations for these unanswered questions.1. Major Modern First Language Acquisition Theories现代主要母语习得理论How do children acquire language is at the center of the debate. Learning theorists such as Skinner maintained （1957）that language is acquired through reinforcement. Chomsky （1959 ）argued that language was far too complex to be learned so completely in such a short space of time, by cognitively immature toddlers（baby, child）, merely by reinforcement. He argued that the neonate婴儿arrives equipped with a LAD. This contains a set of rules common to all languages and allows children to learn any language which they are exposed to. Slobin (1985) suggested a similar innate device---the LMC (language making capacity). The interactionists perspective suggests that a combination of biological and cognitive factors plus linguistic environment are all necessary for the acquisition of language.Basically we shall discuss two schools of thoughts on the issue of language acquisition here. The question of how children acquire their first language is answered quite differently by the two schools of theories. The school of behavioristic theory believes that the infant‟s mind at birth is a blank slate to be written on by experience. With regard to language, it claims that children acquire their L1 through a chain of stimulus-response-imitation-reinforcement. The other school of thoughts is based on the innateness hypothesis. People who hold the cognitive view believe that human babies are somewhat predisposed 有倾向to acquire alanguage. They say that there are aspects of linguistic organization that are basic to human brain and that make it possible for human children to learn a language with all its complexity with little or no instruction from family or friends. The nature of language acquisition is still an open question and people are still probing the nature of the innateness of infant‟s mind.2. Brief History of Modern L1 Acquisition Research现代母语习得研究简史1．Modern research on child language acquisition dates back to the late 18th when the German philosopher recorded his observation of the psychological and linguistic development of his young son. 2. Most of the studies carried out between the 1920s and 1950s were limited to diary like recordings of observed speech with some attempts to classify word types, and simply accounts of changes from babbling to the first word and descriptions of the growing vocabulary and sentence length. 3. Most observers regarded language development as a matter of imitation, practice, and habituation. 4. It was not until the 1960s that the study of L1 acquisition received a new major …impetus促进largely because of the Chomsky‟s revolution and the creation of the generative grammar. Researchers began to analyze child language systematically and tried to discover the nature of the psycholinguistic process that enables every human being to gain a fluent control of the exceedingly极度complex system of communication. 5. In a matter of(about) a few decades of language some giant strides were taken, especially in the generative and cognitive model of language, in describing the nature of child language acquisition and the acquisition of particular languages, and in probing universal aspects of acquisition.3. L1 Acquisition Theories: A Behavioristic Perspective行为主义母语习得理论L1 acquisition theories can roughly be divided into two major groups: behavioristic and cognitive.Behaviorists contend主张that language is a fundamental part基本部分of total human behavior. Behaviorists learning theories describe and explain behavior using a SR model.The basic tenet原则of behaviorism is that human beings can not know anything they have not experienced and children and adults learn language through a chain of …stimulus-response reinforcement‟. Since one can not look inside a living organism, one can not observe its internal states. Hence one can not know anything about them. Any statements one makes about internalstates or process are meaningless. Each organism is regarded as a black box that can not be opened for observation. The only meaningful statements one can make about the organism concern what goes into it (stimulus) and what comes out of it (response). The goal of behaviorists, therefore, is to discover and create predictable relationships between stimulus and response. Since they regard language as a basic part of total human behavior, they try to explain L1 acquisition process strictly in accordance with their basic tenet, focusing on the observable aspects of language behavior and their relationships or associations with the objects, events or states of affairs in the world.Some Basic Features of Behavioral Model Pavlov/ Skinner---focus on outwardly observable behavior like structural linguists.---language is a function of reinforcement.---learning is formed through stimili-response-reinforcer.---language is learned through environmental conditioning and imitation of adult models.---language acquisition is a process of habit-formation.--- focuses on the immediately perceptible aspects of linguistic behavior---the publicly observable responses and relationships or associations between those responses and events in the world around.---Children are conditioned to习惯于learn language. Their parents reinforce and model good grammar and vocabulary use.---A behaviorist might consider effective language behavior to be the production of correct responses to stimuli. If a particular response is reinforced, it then becomes habitual, or conditioned.Two Main Representatives of BehaviorismClassic Behaviorism (Ivan Pavlov)Classic conditioning: the learning process consisted of the formation of associations between stimuli and reflexive responses.Neo-behaviorism(Skinner’s Operant Conditioning)Operant conditioning refers to conditioning in which the organism( a human being) emits a response, or operant( a sentence or utterance), without necessarily observable stimuli; that operant is maintained( learned) by reinforcement. I t is learning from the consequences.Operant behavior is behavior in which one operates on environment “Operant” is used because the subject operates or causes some changes in the environment, producing a result that influences whether it will operate in the same way in the future. So verbal behavior is controlled by its consequences.Reinforcement can be defined as a stimulus or event that affects the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. The nature of the reinforcement depends on the effect it has on the leaner.Criticisms of Behavioristic Theory of Language Acquisition行为主义母语习得理论评述No one denies the fact that behaviorism has made its due and early contributions to the development of child language acquisition theory. It emphasized the important and necessary roles of imitation, reinforcement, repetition, and practice in the process of language acquisition. But abstract nature of language shows that it not only contains verbal behaviors but an underlying and rule-governed system. First, in language acquisition, child often creates his own linguistic rules. The best example is that child over generalizes the grammatical rule of forming past regular verbs with ed and extends it to all irregular verbs and creates verbs like goed, comed, breaked, which, of course, are not the result of imitation of the adult‟s language. Child‟s generation of rules indicates that he creates his own rules and has his hypotheses tested in his LAD. Secondly, what child acquires is abstract language system, i.e. competence rather concrete performances to which he is exposed. There is no doubt that any sentence contains both surface and a deep structure. Although sometimes, surface structures of two sentences are the same, the meaning of the deep structures is completely different. The same surface structure and different meanings prove that a child can never understand the difference in meaning by imitating the two surface structures unless he goes deep into the underlying structures. Thirdly, since language is difficult and complicated, a child has to learn its structures and build his communicative competence. Adults can never teach the communicative functions of the language to the child. The drawbacks of the behavioristic acquisition theory are obvious; linguists are still in search of a theory that provides an overall and effective explanation to the child language acquisition.1. L1 Acquisition Theories: A Cognitive Perspective认知主义母语习得理论Behaviorism, with its emphasis on empirical 经验主义，实验observation and the scientific experimentation, can not account for a vast domain of language acquisition that can only be explored by a deeply probing approach---the cognitive approach. Cognitive theory of L1 acquisition emphasizes the mental and psychological process and importance of cognition, thus opening a new horizon for L1 acquisition study.(1) Innateness Theory 心灵主义“先天”论This theory, also known as the nativist approach“先天”论, is representedby Chomsky, Mcneill and Lenneberg. Chomsky attacked behavioristic theory of language learning and reasserted the mentalist views of L1acquisition. Chomsky stressed the active contribution of the child and minimized the importance of imitation and reinforcement. Nativists strongly held that language acquisition is innately determined, that human beings are born with a build-in device of some kind that predisposes us to language acquisition, resulting in the construction of an internalized system of language. The child is born with the innate knowledge of language. This innate knowledge, according to Chomsky, is embodied in a “little black box” of sorts which Chomsky called language acquisition device or LAD. He assumes that the LAD probably consists of three elements---linguistic universals, a hypothesis making device, and an evaluation procedure. The so-called LAD has a number of linguistic universals, or universal grammar (UG) in store. It also has a hypothesis-making device, which is an unconscious process and enables the child to make hypotheses about the structure of language in general, and about the structure of language learning in particular. The hypotheses that the child subconsciously sets up are tested in its use of language, and continuously matched with the new linguistic input that the child obtains by listening to what is said in his immediate environment. This causes the child’s hypotheses about the structure of language to be changed and adapted regularly, through the evaluation procedure, and through a process of systematic changes towards the adult rule system.This view of the language learning process stresses the mental activities of the language learner himself and strongly questions the relevance恰当of such external factors as imitation, frequency of stimulus and reinforcement. A child learns not through imitation but by creative hypothesis testing.For example, he hears a lot of hypotheses but only chooses what he needs and creatively produces the language of his own.Contrasting Child Language Input and OutputUtterances a child hears Utterances a child produces1.Pass me the milk.2.Give me the milk.3.Get me the milk.4.Want some milk.5.Drink some milk. 1. Mommy, milk.6.Take the milk.7.Taste the milk. 2. Milk.8.There is no milk.k, over there.k, please.Some Basic Features of Innateness Theory / Nativist Approach Chomsky, Mcneill and Lenneberg---Language acquisition is innately determined, that we are born with a unique, biologically based ability of some kind that predisposes us to language acquisition---to a systematic perception of language around us, resulting in the construction of an internalized system of language.---Children are born with a special language learning mechanism in their brain called LAD.---Children can acquire grammatical rules subconsciously, with which they can generate an infinite number of sentences with new meanings.A Summary of Innateness Theory / Nativist ApproachIn summary, mentalist views of L1 acquisition posited the following points:1. language is a human-specific faculty.(ability)2. language exists as an independent faculty in the human mind.Although it is part of the learner’s total cognitive apparatus设备,it is separated from the general cognitive mechanismsresponsible for intellectual development.3. the primary determinant of L1 acquisition is the child‟s acquisitiondevice, which is genetically endowed and provides the child with a setof principles about grammar.4. the acquisition device …atrophies萎缩with age.5. the process of acquisition consists of hypothesis-testing, by whichmeans the grammar of the learner‟s mother tongue is related to theprinciples of the universal grammar.But there are still some problems of Innateness Theory / Nativist Approach to L1 acquisition. The problem is that we could not prove the existence of LAD and the generative rules only deal with the forms of language and fail to account for the functions of language.Three Contributions of Nativistic Theories of L1 AcquisitionNativistic theories of child language acquisition have made at least three important contributions to the understanding of the L1 acquisition process. First, they accounted for the aspects of meaning, the abstractness of language, and the creativity in the child‟s use of language.Secondly, they have freed L1 acquisition study from the restrictions of the so-called “scientific method” of behaviorism and begun to explore the unseen, unobservable, underlying, invisible, abstract linguistic structures being developed in the child in the L1 acquisition process. Thirdly, it has begun to describe the child‟s language as a legitimate, 合理rule-governed, consistent system. Psychological and linguistic experiments have found that one-week old babies can distinguish sounds in Frenchfrom those in Russian. The reason that linguistic competence is based on human genes is asserted, and this finding seemed to support Chomsky’s hypothesis of LAD existence.(2)．Cognitive Theory. 功能主义“认知”论The cognitive theory, represented by Slobin, Piaget and Bloom, attempted to account for the linguistic knowledge of the child by a more general theory of cognitive development.Slobin provides a more detailed account of the language acquisition process with the broad outlines of cognitive theory of language development. He suggests that language acquisition is in the same order with the conceptual development of the child. Language development is paced by the growth of conceptual and communicative capacities, operating in connection with innate schema of cognition. Cognitive development has great impact on the linguistic development, which, in turn, will affect conceptual formation.Jean Piaget is another cognitive psychologist who made a thorough renovation to the concept of children‟s development of language and thought. In fact, he developed the experimental methodology for exploring children’s thought and stud ied systematically thought and logic of children. His study proved that the differences in thought between children and adults are of quality rather than of quantity.According to Piaget, language ability never develops earlier than cognitive ability. Human beings has two organizations 机制, one is functional invariants, 不变量，in Piaget’s terminology, which determine how man and his environment react mutually and how man learns from environment. Another is cognitive structure, which is the outcome of the mutual reaction between functional invariants and environment. It is the functional invariants that are the central part of language acquisition. Many research findings proved that two facts are evident in the child language acquisition.Some Basic Features of Cognitive Theory---Child language growth is paced with the cognitive development of the concept and communicative ability---Linguistic and cognitive development keeps up the same pace and has interdependence.---emphasize the interaction of the child‟s p erceptual and cognitive development with linguistic and nonlinguistic events in his environment.We can never study the L1 acquisition thoroughly without considering the mental development of children in the first place. The formation of concept reflects the degrees of mental maturity. L1 acquisition depends on mental development. With the acquisition of concept, language acquisition enters fromsingle-word phase to double-word phase, and later on to discourse. Intellectual development enables children to discard consciously what is unacceptable in a language community and assimilate what is acceptable. Finally children establish an internalized acceptable grammar system.Tips from child first language acquisition:1. A man is bound to acquire a new language only if he is physically normaland grown up in a proper speech community.2. Adults learn a second language in much the same way as a child acquireshis mother tongues.3. In language teaching, practice must be emphasized, sometimes reinforcedpractice needed.( pattern drills , rehearsal ,substitution exercises etc. are necessary.)4. Language learning appears a matter of imitation, but imitation alone isinadequate for acquiring a language.5. There is a natural order in acquiring a language.Stages of Child‟s Acquis ition of First LanguageDuring the process of L1 acquisition, child develops his native language in a more or less stage-like pattern. Different children of different nations usually undergo 4 similar and general phases of language development. Babbling, single-word utterance, double-word utterance and discourse. The numbering of these stages is quite arbitrary and varies from author to author. Based on the newest internet research data, child L1 development can be divided into 6 stages.1. Pre-linguistic Period --- the Babbling Stage (前语言期---呀呀学语阶段)Crying is the child‟s earliest vocalization. 发声法a. cooing, crying (heard by 3 months )---a velar软鹗consonants such as /k/ and /g/---high vowels 元音such as /i/ and /u/b. babbling (heard by 6 months )---long sequences of consonants and vowels---syllables 音节can be identified---intonation 声调语调pattern can be heard---not linked to immediate needs---often uttered in isolation for pleasure---provides practice for later speech2. Acquisition of Concept of the World---a child sees the world as the link between sound and meaning---words vary in the pronunciation: sounds which differ most are learnt first;consonants which are similar are learned last.3. Holophrastic Stage ---the Single Word Stage （独词句期---单词句阶段）---single words become more than just labels---intonation may be of question, command, request…4. Telegraphic Stage--- the Double Utterance Stage and the Stage ofDeveloping Grammar (18 months )---words have been multiplied considerably and are beginning to appear in combination with each other to form two-word and three-word “sentences”.5. Linguistic Behavior and Speech Capacity ( about age 3 )---comprehend an incredible quantity of linguistic behavior---speech capacity expands---use of logical connections---become a “fluent” speaker---form good communicative skills6. Social Functions of Language ( school age)---learn how to use language appropriately---learn to use language in social contexts。
应用语言学First Language Acquisition
• The Nativist Theory • representative:Chomsky
• main point: • the importance of the innate or languagespecific capacity of the language learner at the expense of environment; • the innate language is embodied by LAD and UG;
• •
First Language Acquisition
• (3) the continuum of behavioristic, nativistic, and functional approaches; •
• Behavioristic Approaches • representative: Skinner
• Combine generative linguistics and mediation approach;
• Limitations: • (1) abstract nature of language;
• (2) ability to comprehend and produce novel utterances;
• • • •
main point: stimulus-response； response and enviroment; reinforcement and habitual/conditioned;
• Three Stages: • Operant Conditioning;
• Mediation Theory: the linguistic stimulus elicits a “mediating” response that is selfstimulating;
First Language Acquisition
GRAMMAR All languages have:
A grammar Basic word order (in terms of SOV, etc.) Nouns and verbs Subjects and objects Consonants and vowels
“Universal Grammar”
An innatist view of child language acquisition
N. Chomsky (1928- ):an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, historian, political critic, and activist LAD: Language Acquisition Device Universal Grammar Innateness approach (from the 1960s onwards): The ability to acquire a human language is born and biologically built in the human brain, linked in some manner to physiological maturation, with some degree of weakening after the time of puberty (e.g., along with the process of lateralization).
A behaviorist view of child language acquisition B. F. Skinners(1904 –1990): an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher Behaviorism; imitation and practice Habit forming Behaviourism (most influential before the 1960s): Language learning is like any other form of human behavior, being a process of habitformation characterized by stimulus-response and imitation-reinforcement relationship.
自考英语语言学Chapter_10_Language_Acquisition
Chapter 10 Language Acquisition语言习得一、本章纲要二、本章重点Language acquisition is concerned with language development in humans. In general, language acquisition refers to children’s development of their first language, that is, the native language of the community in which a child has been brought up. The development of a first or native language (L1)is called first language acquisition (FLA), and then second language acquisition (SLA). L1 and L2 development do not seem to involve identical processes. 语言习得关注的是人类语言能力发展。
语言习得一般指儿童母语的发展。
有些孩子除了习得母语外，还要继续习得第二语言或外国语。
习得母语或第一语言称为第一语言习得，除了母语再习得另一门语言或外语称为第二语言习得。
The study of language acquisition enables linguists, psychologists and applied linguists to better understand the nature of human language and developmental processes of language acquisition.1.First language acquisition第一语言习得Whatever their culture, all normal human beings acquire their native language at a given time of life and in an appropriate linguistic environment that provides sufficient language exposure.(2004, 2007, 判断) It is an established understanding among linguists that the capacity to acquire one’s first language is a fundamental human trait that all human beings are equally well possessed with.No one is more successful than others in acquiring a first language. Children follow a similar acquisition schedule of predictable stages along the route of language development across cultures, though there is an idiosyntactic variation in the amount of time that takes individuals to master different aspects of the grammar. 儿童在习得母语时虽然会有个性差异，但是正常儿童只要有正常的交际环境和正常的母语输入都可以成功地习得母语，他们习得母语的过程也非常相似。
first language acquisition 大学英语语言学课件
Once the LAD is activated, children are able to discover the structure of the language to be learned by matching the innate knowledge of basic grammatical principles (UG) to the structures of the particular language in the environment.
Cognitive factors in child language
development 儿童语言发展过程中的认知因素
The cognitive factors relate to language acquisition mainly in two ways:
Firstly, language development is dependent on both the concepts children form about the world and what they feel stimulated to communicate at the early and later stages of their language development.
Children learn language spontaneously and speak creatively.
Innatism: 天生主义语言习得观
语言学 第一语言习得
The term acquisition: the gradual development of ability in a language by using it naturally in communicative situations. The term learning: applies to a conscious process of accumulating knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of a language, particularly through formal instruction. Mathematics, for example, is learned, not acquining theory (popular in the 1950s and 60s)
1. B.F. Skinner: the best-known advocator of behaviorist approach.
2. Viewpoint
Like other forms of human behavior, language is learned by a process of habit-formation. There is nothing linguistic in the mind of the newborn infant. The child imitates the speech around it , using a process of trial and error. It is reinforced in these imitations
stimulus → organism → response ↓ ↓ ↓ language input the learner imitation e.g. ‘This is a pencil → ‘This is a pencil’.
英语语言学课件Chapter 16 First Language Acquisition
• The issue of “innateness”: Noam Chomsky • The linguistic production of young children
Pre-language stages
Cooing stage: --3 months old --with velar consonants and high vowel
present Babbling stage: --6 months old --contains syllable-type sounds
“cookie”, “milk”. • a single form functioning as a phrase or
sentence
The two-word stage
• Around 18 to 20 months • occurrence of two separate words • A variety of combinations such as baby
receiving sound signals in a language • American Sign Language for deaf infants
The Acquisition Schedule
• All normal children ,regardless of culture, develop language at roughly the same time, along much the same schedule.
Pre-language stages
About First Language Acquisition(一语习得)
First Language Acquisition1. Some fundamental Distinctions(1). First language (L1): The language that an individual learns first, we called it native language or mother tongue.But in multiracial countries, every ethnic group have their own language, so people in such countries have to learn a non-native language for communication, that is the second language (L2).It is learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas.Foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to.The difference L2 & FL: social functions and social environment. In pedagogy, a distinction is often made between ‘second language’ and foreign language, the latter being learned for use in an area where that language is not generally spoken.Similarities and differences between L2 and L1X L2 L1 speed NA acquisition is rapidstages systematic stages of development systematic stages of developmenterror correction not directly influential not involved depth ofknowledgebeyond the level of input beyond the level of inputsuccess (1) not inevitable (possiblefossilization*)inevitablesuccess (2) rarely fully successful successful(2) Language acquisition vs. language learningThere is an important distinction made by linguists between language acquisition and language learning. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first language. They get a feel for what is and what isn‘t correct. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication. The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form.Language learning, on the other hand, is not communicative. It is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your young learners. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge. They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page. Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing. A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to succeed on a standardized test of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.a) what the process of acquisition is.b) why learned information is not accessible in the same way as acquired information(3). Competence & Performance. This fundamental distinction is discussed by Chomsky in his Aspect of the theory of petence refers to one‘s underlying knowledge about the system of rules. It similar to Langue. Performance refer s to the actual use of language in concrete situations, it similar to parole.Langue & parole. Langue refers to the linguistic competence of the speaker, the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community. Parole refers to the actual phenomena or data of linguistics, the realization of language in actual use(4). Deep structure & surface structure. In TG grammar, a deep structure is generated by phrase structure rules. It is abstract and decides the meaning of a sentence. A surface structure is derived from its corresponding deep structure by transformational rules. It is relatively concrete and decides the actual from of a sentence.Phrase structure rules & transformational rules. In TG grammar, phrase structure rules can generate the deep structure of a sentence; transformational rules are applied to derive the surface from its deep structure.(5). Classical Conditioning & Operant conditioningWhen dealing with behavior (learning or modifying) we are dealing with Operant Conditioning and Classical Conditioning. So some understand of both will help.Classical Conditioning: This describes an involuntary, or automatic, response to a stimulus. This type of conditioning is sometimes referred to as respondent conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning as a result of Dr. Pavlov‘s famous experiments with dogs early in the 20th century. Classical conditioning is what happens when an animal learns associations among things. Learning associations means learning that things go together.Classical conditioning, in contrast to operant conditioning, is where responses that are usually reflexive (and thus elicited) are brought under the control of stimulus events that precede the response. This is also called Pavlovian conditioning after Ivan Pavlov, who worked out its fundamental principles through his studies of salivation in dogs, which he found could be elicited by neutral stimuli, such as a tone, that had been repeatedly presented before the presentation of food. Another name for this form of learning is respondent conditioning.Operant Conditioning: is a set of principals that describe how an animal learns to survive in its environment through reinforcement (consequences). This is learning in which behaviors are altered by the consequences that follow them.It is a form of learning in which responses that are usually voluntary (and thus emitted) come to be controlled by their consequences. It is also called Skinnerian conditioning after B.F. Skinner,who worked out its fundamental principles. Another name is instrumental conditioning, since the learned responses, which operate on the environment, are instrumental in either attaining some subsequent desirable reward or avoiding-escaping some subsequent aversive/punishing event.Within Operant Conditioning there are four possible consequences to behavior. They are:1. Positive Reinforcement: Your dog does something you like, you give your dog something he likes. This will increase the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. ―Positive reinforcement is the basis of all conditioning.‖2. Negative Reinforcement: Involves the removal of a bad consequence when the response is performed. For instance, you say ―sit‖ and apply upward pressure on the leash which tightens the choke chain around your dog‘s neck, your dog sits, and you stop choking him with a choke chain. The release of the choke chain reinforces the ―sit.‖ This also serves to increase the likelihood of the behavior in the future. However, it can be (and often is) argued, that this is technically a punishment. It is not pleasant and the dog learns to sit to avoid being choked.3. Positive Punishment:Involves the presentation (adding) of a bad consequence when the response is performed. For instance, you say ―sit‖, your dog lies down, and you jerk him onto his feet with the leash. This serves to decrease the likelihood of the response in the future. We see positive punishment a lot: child hit brother, parent spanks child; person drives after drinking, person ends up in jail; puppy pees on floor, puppy gets hit with rolled up newspaper.4. Negative Punishment: Involves the removal of a good consequence when the response is performed. For instance, you say ―sit‖, your dog lies down, and you eat the treat you were about to give the dog. You begin to pet your dog and he begins to paw and mouth on you, you STOP petting and ignore him. This also serves to decrease the likelihood of the response in the future; the dog‘s behavior causes what he wants and likes (your petting) to go away.(6). The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (SWH) states that there is a systematic relationship between the grammatical categories of the language a person speaks and how that person both understands the world and behaves in it. This controversial hypothesis is named after the linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir and his colleague and student Benjamin Whorf.Strong version: A possible argument against the extreme version of this idea, that all thought is constrained by language, can be discovered through personal experience: all people have occasional difficulty expressing themselves due to constraints in the language, and are conscious that the language is not adequate for what they mean. Perhaps they say or write something, and then think ―that‘s not quite what I meant to say‖ or perhaps they cannot find a good way to explain a concept they understand to a novice. This makes it clear that what is being thought is not a set of words, because one can understand a concept without being able to express it in words.Weak version: The opposite extreme — that language does not influence thought at all — is also widely considered to be false. For example, it has been shown that people‘s discrimination of similar colors can be influenced by how their language organizes color names. Another study showed that deaf children of hearing parents may fail on some cognitive tasks unrelated to hearing, while deaf children of deaf parents succeed, due to the hearing parents being less fluent in sign language.2. Theories of language Acquisition(1). Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. Language acquisition usually refers to first language acquisition, which studies infants‘ acquisition of their native language, rather than second language acquisition, which deals with acquisition (in both children and adults) of additionallanguages.The capacity to acquire and use language is a key aspect that distinguishes humans from other organisms. A major concern in understanding language acquisition is how these capacities are picked up by infants from what appears to be very little input. A range of theories of language acquisition has been created in order to explain this apparent problem including innatism in which a child is born prepared in some manner with these capacities, as opposed to the other theories in which language is simply learned.(2).The behavioristic approachA behaviorist might consider effective language behavior to be the production of correct responses to stimuli. If a particular behavior is reinforced, it then becomes habitual, or conditioned.a. The respondent conditioning theory:associated with the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov who at the turn the last century conducted a series of experiments in which he trained a dog to salivate to the tone of a bell through a procedure known as classical conditioning. For Pavlov the learning process consisted of the formation of associations between stimuli and reflexive responses.b. The mediation theory: a modified behavioristic theory in which meaning was accounted for by the claim that the linguistic stimulus (a word or sentence) elicits a mediating response that is self-stimulating, a process that is really covert and invisible, acting within the learner.c. The operant conditioning theory: associated with the American psychologist B. F. Skinner.Respondent behaviour = behaviour that is elicited by a preceding stimulusOperant behaviour = behaviour in which one operates on the environmentWhat is important is the consequence of behavior or reinforcerSummary: a. the role of environment is emphasizedb. human learning is equated with animal learningc. language is learned in the same way as other knowledge and skills are learnedd. learning is habit formation(3). The nativist approach: associated mainly with N. ChomskyChomsky contended that the child is born with an innate knowledge of or predisposition toward language, and that this innate property (the LAD or UG) is universal in all human beings. LAD or Language Acquisition Device: a built-in device of some kind that predispose us to language acquisition – to a systematic perception of language around us, resulting in the construction of an internalized system of languageAccording to McNeil, LAD has four innate properties:the ability to distinguish speech sounds from other sounds in the environmentthe ability to organize linguistic events into various classes which can later be refinedknowledge that only certain kind of linguistic system is possible and that others are not the ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system so as to construct the simplest possible system out of the linguistic data that are encountered Summary: a. language learning is species specificb. language learning is determined by LADc. language learning is internalization of linguistic rulesd. the role of environment is not significantUniversal grammar：In linguistics, the theory of universal grammar holds that there are certain fundamental grammatical ideas which all humans possess, without having to learn them. Universal grammar acts as a way to explain how language acquisition works in humans, by showing the most basic rules that all languages have to follow. The most famous theory of the idea of a universal grammar was put forth by the linguist Noam Chomsky in the 1950s. Chomsky held thatthere was a universal grammar hardwired into the brain of all humans, and that all human languages had evolved on top of that universal grammar, and that children learned their native languages using the universal grammar as a support structure.Pivot grammar：In psychology, pivot grammar refers to the structure behind two word phrases often used by children. An example of one of these phrases would be ―all gone‖. Pivot grammar is a part of stage two language developments. Which occurs around the age of 18 months and continues to when the child reaches two years of age. After this the child enters stage three language developments as they learn more words and a more accepted structure of sentences rather than two word utterances.Parallel Distributed Processing：Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) models are a class of neurally inspired information processing models that attempt to model information processing the way it actually takes place in the brain.This model was developed because of findings that a system of neural connections appeared to be distributed in a parallel array in addition to serial pathways. As such, different types of mental processing are considered to be distributed throughout a highly complex neuronetwork.The PDP model has 3 basic principles:1. the representation of information is distributed (not local)2. memory and knowledge for specific things are not stored explicitly, but stored in the connections between units.3. learning can occur with gradual changes in connection strength by experienceConnectionism is a set of approaches in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience and philosophy of mind, that models mental or behavioral phenomena as the emergent processes of interconnected networks of simple units. There are many forms of connectionism, but the most common forms use neural network models.Connectionism is a movement in cognitive science which hopes to explain human intellectual abilities using artificial neural networks (also known as ‗neural networks‘ or ‗neural nets‘). Neural networks are simplified models of the brain composed of large numbers of units (the analogs of neurons) together with weights that measure the strength of connections between the units. These weights model the effects of the synapses that link one neuron to another. Experiments on models of this kind have demonstrated an ability to learn such skills as face recognition, reading, and the detection of simple grammatical structure.(4). The Functional approachForm: the abstract phonological and /or grammatical characteristics of languageFunction: the intended meaning or purpose of language useThe distinction between formalism and functionalism:A formalist description of behavior attempts to discover invariant processes or organismsunderlying the observable data: ―I want milk‖ = subject + verb + objectA functional account of behavior seeks to establish predictive relationships betweenenvironmental or contextual variables and language. The aim of a functional account of language is the prediction and control of verbal behavior in different contexts and individuals Summary: a. interpersonal interaction is emphasizedb. language functions rather linguistic form are emphasizedc. language learning is viewed as a sociolization process.(5). The cognitive approach : associated with Jean PiagetTwo types underlying organization:Functional invariants: the organization which determines the general ways in which humanbeings interact with their environment and learn from it. It includes assimilation & accomodation Cognitive structures: the organization which is the product of the interactionSummary: a. human behavior reflects underlying organizationsb. interaction between genetically transmitted abilities and environment is emphasizedc. language is learned in much the same way as other knowledge and skills are learned3. Issues in First Language Acquisition(1). Competence and performanceIt is not easy to make inference about one‘s competence. This is particularly true for children.(2). Comprehension and productionComprehension competence and performanceProduction competence and performanceComprehension precedes production(3). Nature or nurtureWhat are those behaviors ―nature‖ provides innately in some sort of predetermined biological timetable, and what are those behaviors that are, by environmental exposure –by ―nurture‖, by learning – learned and internalized?(4). UniversalsLanguage is universally acquired in the same manner, and more over, that the deep structure of language at its deepest level may be common to all languages. There is evidence that the learning of the universal features is not affected by input, but the learning the features found specifically in the target language is affected by input.(5). Systematicity and variabilitySystematicity in the learning process: stages and the ability to infer the phonological, structural, lexical and semantic system of language. Variability in the process of learning: verb tenses in child language, dialectal, stylistic variations in adult speech.(6). Language and thoughtThe Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The interactive view(7). imitationIt is one of the important strategies a child uses in the acquisition of language. There are two types: Surface-structure imitation and deep-structure imitation(8). PracticePractice seems to be a key to language acquisition. Frequency of linguistic input plays an important role.(9). InputAdult and peer input is far more important than nativists earlier might have believed. Adult speech seems to shape the child‘s language acquisition. Nurture and environment are tremendously important.(10). DiscourseIn order for successful language acquisition to take place, interaction, rather than exposure, is required; Children do not learn language from overhearing the conversation of others or from listening to the radio, and must, instead, acquire it in the context of being spoken to.。
2. First Language Acquisition
Topic 2 First language acquisitionI. Approaches to first language acquisition1.The behavioristic approach to first language acquisitionA behaviorist might consider effective language behavior to be the production of correct responses to stimuli. If a particular behavior is reinforced, it then becomes habitual, or conditioned.1）The respondent conditioning theory: associated with the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov who at the turn the last century conducted a series of experiments in which he trained a dog to salivate to the tone of a bell through a procedure known as classical conditioning. For Pavlov the learning process consisted of the formation of associations between stimuli and reflexive responses.Stimulus Bell (neutral) Food (natural)Response (conditioned) Salivation (normal)2）The mediation theory: a modified behavioristic theory in which meaning was accounted for by the claim that the linguistic stimulus (a word or sentence) elicits a mediating response that is self-stimulating, a process that is really covert and invisible, acting within the learner.Stimulus “Food” FoodOvert response RCovert response Rm food / Sm foodAn illustrationStimuli An igloo is a round dwelling made of ice.Covert response Rm round Rm dwelling Rm ice = the meaning of …igloo‟3)The operant conditioning theory: associated with the American psychologist B. F. Skinner.Respondent behaviour = behaviour that is elic ited by a preceding stimulusOperant behaviour = behaviour in which one operates on the environmentWhat is important is the consequence of behavior or reinforcerSummary: a. the role of environment is emphasizedb. human learning is equated with animal learningc. language is learned in the same way as other knowledge and skills are learnedd. learning is habit formation2.The nativist approach to first language acquisition: associated mainly with N. ChomskyLAD or Language Acquisition Device: a built-in device of some kind that predispose us to language acquisition – to a systematic perception of language around us, resulting in the construction of an internalized system of languageAccording to McNeil, LAD has four innate properties:1)the ability to distinguish speech sounds from other sounds in the environment2)the ability to organize linguistic events into various classes which can later be refined3)knowledge that only certain kind of linguistic system is possible and that others are not4)the ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing linguistic system so as to constructthe simplest possible system out of the linguistic data that are encounteredSummary:nguage learning is species specificnguage learning is determined by LADnguage learning is internalization of linguistic rulesd. the role of environment is not significant3.The cognitive approach to first language acquisition (associated with the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget)Two types underlying organization:Functional invariants: the organization which determines the general ways in which human beings interact with their environment and learn from itFunctional invariants: assimilationaccomodationCognitive structures: the organization which is the product of the interactionSummary:a.human behavior reflects underlying organizationsb.interaction between genetically transmitted abilities and environment is emphasizednguage is learned in much the same way as other knowledge and skills are learned.4. The functional approach to first language acquisitionForm: the abstract phonological and /or grammatical characteristics of languageFunction: the intended meaning or purpose of language useThe distinction between formalism and functionalism:A formalist description of behavior attempts to discover invariant processes or organismsunderlying the observable data: “I want milk” = subject + verb + objectA functional account of behavior seeks to establish predictive relationships between environmentalor contextual variables and language. The aim of a functional account of language is the prediction and control of verbal behavior in different contexts and individualsSummary:a.interpersonal interaction is emphasizednguage functions rather than linguistic forms are emphasizednguage learning is viewed as a sociolization process.II. Issues in first language acquisition1 Competence and performanceIt is not easy to make inference about one‟s competence. This is particularly true for children.2 Comprehension and productionComprehension competence and performanceProduction competence and performanceComprehension precedes production3 Nature or nurtureWhat are those behaviors “nature” provides innately in some sort of predetermined biological timetable, and what are those behaviors that are, by environmental exposure – by “nurture”, by learning – learned and internalized?4 UniversalsLanguage is universally acquired in the same manner, and more over, that the deep structure of language at its deepest level may be common to all languages. There is evidence that the learning of the universal features is not affected by input, but the learning of the features found specifically in the target language is affected by input.5 Systematicity and variabilitySystematicity in the learning process: e.g. stages of development and the ability to infer the phonological, structural, lexical and semantic system of language.Variability in the process of learning: e.g. verb tenses in child language, dialectal, stylistic variations in adult speech.6 Language and thoughtThe Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The interactive view7 imitationSurface-structure imitation and deep-structure imitationChild: Nobody don‟t like me.Mother: No, say “nobody likes me.”Child: Nobody don‟t like me.(eight repetitions of this dialogue)Mother: No, now listen carefully; say “nobody likes me.”Child: Oh! Nobody don‟t like me.8 PracticePractice seems to be a key to language acquisition. Frequency of linguistic input plays an important role.9 InputAdult and peer input is far more important than nativists earlier might have believed. Adult speech seems to shape the child‟s language acquisition10 DiscourseIn order for successful language acquisition to take place, interaction, rather than exposure, is required; Children do not learn language from overhearing the conversation of others or from listening to the radio, and must, instead, acquire it in the context of being spoken to.。
第二讲first language acqusition
By the time they are 1 year old, most babies understand many frequently used words and they may be able to say a few. By the age of two, most children know at least 50 words, and many know a lot more. At this age, they start putting words together into two or three word sentences.
Stage 1: using single words or single two- or three-word sentences with rising intonation
(“Mommy book?” “Where‟s Daddy?”)
Stage 2: using the word order of the declarative sentence (“You like this?” “Why you catch it?”)
Definition of “first language” (L1):
For children, acquiring a language is an effortless achievement that occurs: - without explicit teaching, - on the basis of positive evidence (i.e., what they hear), - under varying circumstances, and in a limited amount of time, - in identical ways across different languages
英语语言学概论第十章笔记
Chapter 10 Language Acquisition 语言习得1.First language acquisition 第一语言习得a)The biological basis of language acquisition 语言习得的生物基础Language acquisition is a genetically determined capacity that all humans are endowed with. Human is biologically programmed to acquire at least one language.Any child who is capable of acquiring some particular human language is capable of acquiring any human language spontaneously and effortlessly.语言习得是全人类均具备的通过遗传而得来的能力。
人生来就具备一种天赋，或一种生物机制，使他们至少能习得一种语言。
儿童只要能习得某种人类语言，它就能本能而轻松地习得任何人类语言。
b)Language acquisition as the acquisition of grammatical rules 语言习得即语法规则的习得Language acquisition is primarily the acquisition of the grammatical system of language. It doesn’t mean that every specific rule allowed by the grammatical system of a language must be acquired. What is actually acquired by young children are some general principle that are fundamental to the grammaticality of speech.语言习得主要是语言的语法体系的习得。
16. First language acquisition
16. First language acquisition16.1 First language acquisition16.2 Basic requirements16.3 The acquisition scheduleSome controversiesCaretaker speechSeveral stages in the acquisition processPre-language stagesThe one-word or holophrastic stageThe two-word stageTelegraphic speech16.4 The acquisition processMorphologySyntaxSemantics16. The First Language AcquisitionFirst language acquisition is remarkable for the speed with which it takes place.By the time a child enters elementary school, he or she is an extremely sophisticated language-user, operating a communicative system which no other creature, or computer, comes close to matching.The speed of acquisition and the fact that it generally occurs, without overt instruction, for all children, regardless of great differences in a range of social and cultural factors, have led to the belief that there is some ‘innate’ predisposition1in the human infant to acquire language. We can think of this as the ‘language-faculty’ of the human with which each newborn child is endowed.16.2 Basic requirements✪ A child who does not hear, or is not allowed to use, language will learn no language.Genie’s case ( Chapter 15)✪The language a child learns is not genetically inherited, but is acquired in a particular language-using environment.‘cultural transmission’ (Chapter 5)✪ The child must also be physically capable of sending and receiving sound signals in a language. In order to speak a language, a chil d must be able to hear that language being used. By itself, however, hearing language sounds is not enough. The crucial requirement appears to be the opportunity to interact with others via language.16.3 The acquisition schedule✷All normal children, regardless of culture, develop language at roughly the same time, along much the same schedule.✷The language acquisition schedule has the same basis as the biologically determined development of motor skills. This biological schedule, it is claimed, is tied very much to the maturation of the infant’s brain and the lateralization process.✧Some controversies①The extent to which the process of language acquisition is genetically predetermined in thehuman speciesThe early environment of a child differs considerably from one culture to the nextcontroversy over ‘innateness’: Language development should be described as ‘language growth’, because the “language organ” simply grows like any other body organ.This view seems to und erestimate what others consid er the importance of environment and experience in the chil d’s development of language.② How should we view the linguistic production of young children?describing the child’s speech in terms of the known units of phonology and syntaxthe child’s view of what is being heard and utter ed at different stages may be based on quite different units.a chil d’s utterance of [dukədæt] may be single unit for the chil d, yet may be treated as having three units, look at that, by an investigator interested in the child’s acquisition of different types of verbs.✧Caretaker speechcaretaker speech / motherese2保姆式语言-the characteristically simplified speech style adopted by someone who spends a lot of time interacting with a young childbaby-talk3-simplified words (e.g. tummy, nana) or alternative forms, with repeated simple sounds, for objects in the child’s environment (e.g. choo-choo, poo-poo, pee-pee, wawa)✹ Features of caretaker speech∙ frequent questions, often using exaggerated intonation∙In the early stages, this type of speech also incorporates a lot of forms associated with ‘baby-talk’.∙ simpl e sentence structures and a lot of repetition◆Pre-language stages-The pre-linguistic sounds of the very early stages of child language acquisition are simply called ‘cooing4’ and ‘babbling5’.The period from about three months to ten months is usually characterized by three stages of6❖ There is substantial variation among children in terms of the age at which particular features of linguistic development occur. So, we should always treat statements concerning development stages such as “by six months” or “by the age of two” as approximate and subject to variation in individual children.❖The one-word / holophrastic7stage-Between twelve and eighteen months, children begin to produce a variety of recognizable single unit utterances.Speech in which single terms are uttered for everyday objects such as ‘milk’, ‘cookie’, ‘cat’ and ‘cup’.Other forms such as [ʌsæ:] may occur in circumstances which suggest that the child isproducing a version of what’s that.So, the label ‘one word’ for this stage may be misleading. Terms such as ‘single-unit’ or ‘single term’ may be more accurate, or we could use the term holophrastic (a single form functioning as a phrase or sentence), if we believe that the child is actually using these forms as phrases or sentences.While many of these single forms are used for naming objects, they may also be produced in circumstances that suggest the child is already extending their use.An empty bed may elicit the name of a sister who normally sleeps in the bed, even in the absence of the name of the person named. During this stage, then, the chil d may be capable of referring to Karen and bed, but is not yet ready to put the forms together to produce a more complex phrase.♦The two-word stage-begins around eighteen to twenty months, as the child’s vocabulary moves beyond fifty distinct words.-By the time the child is two years old, a variety of combinations, similar to baby chair, mommy eat, cat bad, will have appeared.The adult interpretation of such combinations is, of course, very much tied to the context of their utterance.The phrase baby chair may be taken as an expression of possession (= this is baby’s chair), or as a request (=put baby in chair), or as a statement (=baby is in the chair), d epending on different contexts.❹Telegraphic speechBetween two and three years ol d, the child will begin producing a large number of utterances which could be classified as multiple-word utterances.-characterized by strings of lexical morphemes in phrases such as Andrew want ball, cat drink milk, and this shoe all wet.∙ The child has clearly developed some sentence-building capacity by this stage and can order the forms correctly. While this type of telegram-format speech is being produced, a number of grammatical inflections begin to appear in some of the words, and the simple prepositions (in, on) also turns up.∙ By the age of two and a half, the child’s vocabulary is expanding rapidly and the child is actually initiating more talk.∙ By three, the vocabulary has grown to hundreds of words and pronunciation has become closerto the form of the adult language.16. 4 The acquisition process☒As the linguistic repertoire of the chil d increases, it is often assumed that the chil d is, in some sense, being ‘taught’ the language.This view seems to underestimate what the chil d actually does.For the vast majority of children, no one provides any instruction on how to speak the language. Nor should we picture a little empty head gradually being filled with words and phrases.☑The children is actively constructing, from what is said to them, possible ways of using the language.The child’s linguistic production is mostly a matter of trying out constructions and testing whether they work or not.☒It is simply not possibl e that the child is acquiring the language through a process of consistently imitating (parrot-fashion8) adult speech. Of course, the child can be heard to repeat versions of what adults say and is in the process of adopting a lot of vocabulary from their speech.✪However, adults simply do not produce many of the types of expressions which turn up in children’s speech.(In the foll owing extract, the chil d creates a totally new verb to Woodstock)Noah (picking up a toy d og): This is Woodstock.(he bobs the toy in Adam’s face)Adam: Hey Woodstock, don’t do that.(Noah persists)Adam: I’m going home so you won’t Woodstock me.--- Clark, 1993✪ Nor does adult ‘correction’ seem to be a very effective determiner of how the child speaks. Even when the correction is attempted in a more subtle manner, the child will continue to use a personally constructed form, despite the adul t’s repetition of what the correct form should be. (In the foll owing dial og, the child, a four-year-ol d, is neither imitating the adult’s speech nor accepting the adult’s correction.)Child: My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we patted them.Mother: Did you say your teacher held the baby rabbits?Child: YesMother: What did you say he did?Child: She holded the baby rabbits and we patted themMother: Did you say she held them tightly?Child: No, she holded them loosely--- Cazden, 1972The crucial factor in the child’s acquisition process is the actual use of sound and word combinations, either in interaction with others or in word-play, alone.One two-year-ol d, tape-recorded as he lay in bed al one, could be heard playing with words and phrases, I go dis way … way bay … baby do dis bib … all bib … bib … dere (from Weir, 1966).❶Morphol ogyBy the time the child is three years old, he or she is going beyond telegraphic speech forms and incorporating some of the inflectional morphemes which indicate the grammatical function of the nouns and verbs used.The first to appear is usually the–ing form in expressions such as cat sitting and mommy reading book.Then comes the marking of regular plurals with the –s form, as in boys and cats.The acquisition of this form is often accompanied by a process of overgeneralization9. The child overgeneralizes the apparent rule of adding –s to form plurals and will talk about foots and mans.When the alternative pronunciation of the plural morpheme used in houses (i.e. ending [-əz]) comes into use, it too is given an overgeneralized application and forms such as boyses or footses can appear.At the same time as this overgeneralization is taking place, some children also begin using irregular plurals such as men quite appropriately for a while, but then try out the general rule on the forms, producing expressions like some mens and two feets, or even two feetses.The use of the possessive inflection-’s occurs in expressions such as girl’s dog and Mummy’s book and the different forms of the verb ‘to be’, such as are and was, turn up.The appearance of forms such as was and, at about the same time, went and came should be noted. These are irregular past-tense forms which one would not expect to appear before the more regular forms. However, they d o typically precede th e appearing in the child’s speech (e.g. walked, played), then interestingly, the irregular forms disappear for a while and are replaced by overgeneralized versions such as goed and comed.Finally, the regular –s maker on third person singular present tense verbs appears. It occurs initially with full verbs (comes, looks) and then with auxiliaries (does, has).Throughout this sequence there is a great deal of variability. The child is working out how to use the linguistic system while actually using it as a means of communication.❷SyntaxOne two-year-ol d child, specifically asked to repeat what she heard, woul d listen to an adult say forms such as the owl who eats candy runs fast, and then repeat them in the form owl eat candy and he run fast.It is clear that the child understands what the adult is saying. She just has her own way of expressing it.In the formation of questions and the use of negatives, there appear to be three identifiable stages. The ages of children going through these stages can vary quite a lot, but the general pattern seems to that:Stage 1. 18 months ~ 26 monthsStage 2. 22 months ~ 30 monthsStage 3. 24 months ~ 40 months(It must be emphasized that no precise ages can ever really assigned to these developmental❖QuestionsIn forming questions, the first stage has tow procedures. Simply add a wh- form (where, who) to the beginning of the expression or utter the expression with a rise in intonation towards the end.Where kitty? Where horse go? Sit chair? See hole?In the second stage, more complex expressions can be formed, but the rising intonation strategy continues to be used. It is noticeable that more wh- forms come into use.What book name? Why you smiling?You want eat? See my doggie?In the third stage, the required inversion10of subject and verb in English questions has appeared, but the wh- forms do not always undergo the required inversion. In fact, children entering school may still prefer to form wh- questions (especially in negatives) without the type inversion found in adult speech.Can I have a piece? Did I caught it?Will you help me? How that opened?What did you do? Why kitty can’t stand up?❖NegativesIn the case of negatives, Stage 1. seems to have a simple strategy which says that no or not should be stuck on the beginning of any expression.no mitten not a teddy bear no fall no sit thereIn the second stage, the additional negative forms don’t and can’t are used, and with no and not, begin to be placed in front of the verb rather than at the beginning of the sentences.He no bite you There no squirrelsYou can’t dance I don’t knowThe third stage sees the incorporation of other auxiliary forms such as didn’t and won’t, and the disappearance of the Stage 1 forms. A very late acquisition is the form isn’t, so that some Stage 2 forms continue to be used for quite a long time.I didn’t caught it She won’t let goHe not taking it This not ice creamThe study of the use of negative form by children has given rise to some delightful examples of children operating their own rules for negative sentences.(The foll owing example shows the futility of overt adult ‘correction’.)Child: Nobody don’t like meMother: No, say “nobody likes me”Child: Nobody don’t like me(Eight repetitions of this dialog)Mother: N o, now listen carefully; say “nobody likes me”Child: Oh, Nobody don’t likes me❸SemanticsIt seems that during the holophrastic stage many children use their limited vocabulary to refer to a large number of unrelated objects.One child first used bow-wow to refer to a d og and then to a fur piece with glass eyes, a set of cufflinks11and even a bath thermometer.This process is called overextension12and the most common patterns is for the child to overextend the meaning of a word on the basis of similarities of shape, sound and size, and, to a lesser extent, of movement and texture.∙ ball❸ all kinds of round objects, including a lampshade, a doorknob and the moon∙tick-tock (a watch) ❸ a bathroom scale with a round dial∙fly (the insect) ❸ specks of dirt / crumbs of bread.∙sizo (scissors) ❸ all metal objects.⑥The semantic development in a child’s use of words is usually a process of overextension initially, followed by a gradual process of narrowing down the application of each term as more words are learned.✧Although overextension has been well documented in children’s speech production, it isn’t necessarily used in speech comprehension.✹One two-year-ol d child, in speaking, used apple to refer to a number of other round objects like tomatoes and balls, but had no difficulty picking out the apple, when asked, from a set of such round objects.✧ One interesting feature of the young child’s semantics is the way certain lexical relations are treated.✹ In terms of hyponymy, the child will almost always use the ‘middle’ level term in a hyponymous set such as animal – dog – poodle.✷Children first use dog with an overextended meaning close to the meaning of animal.✹Antonymous relations are acquired fairly late (after the age of five).✷ A large number of kind ergarten children in one study pointed to the same heavily laden appl e tree when asked Which tree has more apples?, and also when asked Which tree has less? They just seem to think that the correct response will be the larger one, regardl ess of the difference between the words more and less. The distinctions between a number of other pairs such as before and after, buy and sell, also seem to be later acquisitions.By the age of five, the child has completed the greater part of the basic language acquisition process. According to some, the child is then in a good position to start learning a second (or foreign) language.1predisposition倾向The state of being predisposed; tendency, inclination, or susceptibility.倾向于…的状态；趋势；倾向或敏感性2motherese妈妈语Child-directed speech.小孩式的说话方式3baby talkthe words that a very young child uses, or the words used by adults when they talk to babies4cooing婴儿的细语5babbling (婴儿等)咿哑学语, 说话模糊不清6repertoire全部本领The range or number of skills, aptitudes, or special accomplishments of a particular person or group.某人或某团体的一系列技艺、才能或特殊的成就7holophrastic单独用一个词表达多种涵义的Polysynthetic. 以单词表示全句[短语]的(如命令句Go!)8parrot-fashion鹦鹉学舌般地，机械模仿地If you learn or repeat a piece of text parrot-fashion, you learn or repeat the exact words, usually without understanding them.9overgeneralization过度概括10reversion倒置11cufflink袖口链扣A fastening for a shirt cuff, usually consisting of two buttons or buttonlike parts connected with a chain or shank that passes through two slits in the cuff.一种固定衬衫袖口的东西，通常由两个钮扣或象钮扣的部分组成，这两个部分用链或杆连接在一起并穿过袖口上的两个裂口12overextension过度延伸。
应用语言学chpt4 First Language acquisition
• The study of first language acquisition has great significance in that it can shed light on the origins of human language and language loss, etc.
Stages of First Language acquisition
Telegraphic speech
• • • • •
Cathy build house. Cat stand up table. Daddy like this book. Chair all broken. I good boy today.
• • • • • •
What that? What her name? No sit there. Mummy no play. Me put it back. Baby no eat apple
3. 若一语法系统的语义成分和表现形式之间有 紧密的一一对应关系，它便能更早习得。 e.g. ―-s‖ (as in ‗books, desks‘) vs. ―men‖ & ―feet‖ 4. 当多个屈折方式行使同样的语义功能，且其 形式选择具有任意性时，儿童起初会用简单 的形式来代替一切。 e.g.: ―-ed‖ is used for irregular verbs
Key Issues concerning First Language Acquisition
• • • • Competence or performance Comprehension or production Nature or nurture Imitation or creative hypothesis-testing
第二章first language acqusition
By the time they are 1 year old, most babies understand many frequently used words and they may be able to say a few. By the age of two, most children know at least 50 words, and many know a lot more. At this age, they start putting words together into two or three word sentences.
Stage 4: subject-auxiliary inversion in yes/no questions but not in wh-questions
(―Do you like ice cream?‖ ―Where I can draw?‖) Stage 5: subject-auxiliary inversion in wh-questions, but not in negative wh-questions (―Why can he go out?‖ ―Why he can‘t go out?‖)
Acquisition of Negation
Lois Bloom‟s study (1991) – four stages
Stage 1: ‗no‘ – e.g., ―No go‖. ―No cookie.‖ Stage 2: subject + no – e.g., ―Daddy no comb hair.‖ Stage 3: auxiliary or modal verbs (do/can) + not (Yet no variations for different persons or tenses) e.g., ―I can‘t do it ―, ―He don‘t want it.‖ Stage 4: correct form of auxiliary verbs (did/doesn’t/is/are) + not e.g., He didn‘t go. She doesn‘t want it. But sometimes double negatives are used e.g., I don‘t have no more candies.
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Some questions
Do children have to be “taught” how to speak? Do children generate creative utterances? How long does it take a child to become
Children learn language spontaneously and speak creatively.
Innatism: 天生主义语言习得观
LAD (an imaginary “black box” existing somewhere in the brain):
LAD contains all and only the principles which are universal to all human languages (i.e.. Universal Grammar – UG).
Innatism天生主义语言习得观:
It’s all in your mind
Chomsky argues that behaviorism cannot provide sufficient explanations for children’s language acquisition for the following reasons:
“fluent” in her native language? What does it mean when a child says “I seed
the dog” or “Daddy eated his supper” ?
What is language acquisition?
Language acquisition refers to the child’s acquisition of his mother language, i.e. how the child comes to understand and speak the language of his community.
A. Father: I’d like to propose a toast.
Child: I’d like to propose a piece of bread.
B. Mother: I love you to pieces. Child: I love you three pieces.
C. Are dogs can wiggle their tails?
2. Children are by no means systematically corrected or instructed on language by parents.
Noam Chomsky’s L-A-D
Chomsky’s theory of the LAD (Language Acquisition Device) states that every human is born with innate principles of language.
They are often in charge of the conversati what I say
Children do pick out patterns/rules and then generalize or overgeneralize them to new contexts. e.g.
Innatism 天生主义 (or the Nativist Approach): It’s all in your mind
The Interactionist Position 互动主义 : A little help from my friends
Behaviorism: Say what I say
Skinner: language behavior is the production of correct responses to stimuli through reinforcement.
Language learning is the result of 1) imitation (word-for-word repetition), 2) practice (repetitive manipulation of form), 3) feedback on success (positive reinforcement), and 4) habit formation.
1. The language the child is exposed to in the environment is full of confusing information and does not provide all the information which the child needs.
First language acquisition: First language (L1): The language that an individual learns first
Theoretical Approaches to L1 Learning
Behaviorism 行为主义 : Say what I say
Behaviorism: Say what I say
Children’s imitations are not random: Their imitation is selective and based on what they are currently learning
Their practice of language forms is also selective and reflects what they would like to learn.