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 were not talking about that here. We correct childrens errors sometimes. Does it help?
Nobody dont 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] 2 syllable words Early mastery of intonation contours (even in non-tone languages) Perception comes before production (fis or fish?)
Phonological Processes

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

5,000 per year, 13 words a day

But Dont Animals Know Words, Too?

Yes, butwhat 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. Shortened copula: as in Hes a bear came before the shortened progressive: Hes walking.

Negative Formations
Negatives 1st stage - attach no/not to beginning of sentence (sometimes at end) 2nd stage negatives appear between subject and verb (dont stayed at beginning in imperatives, but not cant) 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. Or

John cans 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 arent

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

Todays 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?