CHAPTER
OUTLINE
I. Mastering language
A. What Must be Mastered?
1. Language-- communication system of limited
sounds, letters, gestures,
combined in agreed upon rules and produces
infinite number of messages
2. Key aspects of language to be mastered
a. phonology-- sound system of language
(phonemes)
b. morphology-- rules for formation of words
from sounds
c. syntax-- rules of language, including
formation of sentences
d. semantics-- meaning of words or symbols of a
language
necessary
for interpreting sentences and paragraphs
e. pragmatics-- rules specifying appropriate use
of language
f. non-verbal communication skills (e.g., tone
of voice, gestures)
g. intonation-- variation in loudness, pitch,
timing
B. The Course of Language Development
1. Before the first words
a. can distinguish phonemes prior to speaking
b. sensitive to placements of pauses in speech
c. early sensitivity to phonology and rules of
grammar
d. early sounds include cries, burps, grunts
e. early vocalization exercises vocal chords
f. parents tend to respond as if infant
attempting to genuinely
communicate
g. nonverbal “dance” between infant and
caregiver related to later
attachment
h. cooing-- repeating vowel-like sound “aaah”
i. babbling-- consonant-vowel combination
“baaah”
j. deaf children show delay in language
development
k. intonation patterns learned during infancy
l. comprehension precedes expression
m.
joint attention-- infant and parent attend to vocalization and visual
image at same time
n. infants tend to assume that word refers to
whole object rather than part
of an object
2. The first words
a. holophrases-- single words convey many things
tone
of voice and gestures help
b. early language focuses on naming, questioning,
requesting and
demanding acquired
c. use of symbols (including gestures) begins
d. most words are nouns (e.g., objects and
people)
e.
vocabulary spurt around 18 months
18
months (30-50 words), 24 months (300 words)
f. overextension-- use word too broadly (e.g.,
“dog” for all 4-legged
animals)
g. underextension-- use word too narrowly (e.g.,
“dog” for only the family
pet and no other dogs)
over-
and underextension due to small vocabularies
h. large individual variations
i. referential
style-- lots of nouns
ii. expressive--
lots of personal pronouns and social routines
i. culture exerts influence on language
infants
learning Korean produce more verbs
3.
Telegraphic speech
a. 18 to 24 months combine two or three words in
simple sentences
i. sentences
contain critical content and omit frills
ii. follow systematic rules
b. functional grammar-- emphasizes semantic
relationship between words
c. major advancement between ages 2 and 5 years
d. overregularization-- applying rules to
exceptions
says
foots or goed
e. transformational grammar-- rules of syntax
for sentence forms
f. rules for questioning
i. two- or three-words sentences with rising
intonation
ii. use auxiliary or helping verbs
iii. move auxiliary verb ahead of subject
g. by age 5-6 children’s sentences become more
adult like
C. Later Language Development
Changes
in adolescences and beyond
a. improved pronunciation, sentence complexity, vocabulary,
ability to manipulate language
b. decontextualized language-- can move beyond
present to past and
future
c. metalinguistic awareness-- increased knowledge of language itself
d. knowledge of phonology and grammar usually
retained in adulthood
e. knowledge of semantics (word meaning)
continues well into adulthood
f. refinement of linguistic pragmatics (ability
to adjust language to fit
social situations) in adulthood
D. How Language Develops
1. The learning perspective
a. Bandura-- observation, imitation
b. Skinner-- language acquisition dependent on
reinforcement
i. explains why children speak with regional
accent
ii. explains
why children learn the language spoken to them
iii.
hard to account for acquisition of
syntactical rules
iv. saying “repeat after me” to a child not a
good idea
2. The nativist perspective
a. language acquisition device (LAD)-- area of
the brain assisting in
acquisition of universal features of
language
i. Broca’s area in frontal lobe controls speech
ii. Wernicke’s area controls speech recognition
b. supporting evidence includes rapid rate of
acquisition of language and
similar stages of progression
c. fact that some primates have primitive
language skills supports idea of
genetic component
d. ideas based on three assumptions that may be
inaccurate
i. only
requirement of language is exposure to speech
ii. highly
powerful brain needed to detect subtle distinctions that
underlie
language
iii. adults provide little feedback on language
competence
3. The interactionist perspective
a. combination of learning and nativist position
(not unlike that taken by
Piaget)
i. biological competence critical
ii. maturation
of cognitive abilities critical
iii. social experience critical
iv. adults create supportive learning environment
b. child-directed speech-- style of speech used
by adults when talking
with children
i. simple
short sentences
ii. repetition
and high pitch voice (with exaggerated emphasis on
words)
iii. infants pay attention to high-pitched sounds
and varied
intonation
patterns
c. ability to pick up grammar requires more than
exposure
d. expansion-- adult method for improving
language by encouraging \ children
to expand on their verbalizations
also provide subtle corrective feedback
4. A critical period for language?
a. complete mastery best with early exposure to
language
b.
second language learned best if exposure
occurs before puberty
language
processing area of the brain may be shaped by early
experience,
but no “hard-and-fast” critical period for language
II.
The infant
A. Mastery Motivation-- Intrinsic (Internal)
Motivation to Succeed
1. Infants intrinsically motivated to master
environment
2. Key influences on mastery motivation
a. sensory stimulation
b. responsive environment that teach child they
can control environment
returning
smiles, promptly responding to cries
3. Early mastery affects later achievement
B. Early Education
1. No need to provide special early childhood
experiences
too
much early stimulation may be detrimental
more
anxious, negative attitudes toward school, less creative
2. Early childhood program can be especially
beneficial to disadvantaged children
a. best programs offer mix of play and academic
skill building
i. Abecedarian Project-- fulltime infancy
educational program
ii. show improvement during and after program
b. best programs get parents involved with their
children
III.
The child
A. Achievement Motivation
1. Mastery orientation-- drive to succeed
despite challenge
a. blame failure on external factors
b. credit success to internal factors
2. Learned helplessness-- tendency to avoid
challenges (give-up)
a. blame failure on internal factors
b. credit success to external factors
3. Age differences
a. before age 7
i. unrealistic
optimism even after poor performance
ii. equate
hard work with success/gains in intelligence
iii. adopt learning goals-- drive to learn new
things to improve
ability
b. older children
i. performance
goals-- emphasis on proving ability rather than
improve
ability
ii. focus
on learning goals continues to be beneficial
4. Parent contributions
a. key to stress independence and self-reliance
b. emphasize importance of doing well
c. provide cognitively stimulating home
d. lack of involvement, nagging, lack of
guidance, bribes for good grades,
and criticizing bad grades detrimental
5. School contributions
a. overemphasis on academics (grades) may
undermine achievement
motivation
b. learning goals better than performance goals
c. school impact enhanced or hindered by at-home
environment
d. school climate can impact achievement
greatest
benefit when schools encourage family involvement
B. Learning to Read-- Critical as it Underlies
Acquisition of Other Academic Skills
1. Mastering the Alphabetic principle-- idea
that printed letters represent words
Ehri’s
four-step process
i. prealphabetic
phase-- memorize specific visual cues (e.g.,
specific
words)
ii. partial
alphabetic phase-- learns shapes and letter sounds
(phonological
awareness-- sensitivity to sound system of a
language
(helps decipher new words)
iii. full alphabetic phase-- phonological
awareness of a language’s
sound
system (includes sight reading)
iv. consolidation alphabet phase-- letters
regularly occurring
together
become grouped as a unit
2. Emergent literacy-- developmental precursors
of reading skills (knowledge,
skills, attitudes)
a. reading experience, repetition, critical
b. rhyming stories foster phonological awareness
c. preschool emergent literacy skills provide
fairly accurate idea of later
reading skills
3. Skilled and unskilled readers
a. phonological awareness level critical
b. must first connect sound to letter
c. dyslexia-- reading disability
i. difficulty
distinguishing similar letters
ii. more
problems in auditory perception versus visual perception
iii. show deficiencies in phonological awareness
iv. may be perceptual deficit due to prenatal
brain damage
v. life-long
disability
4. How should reading be taught?
a. phonetic approach (code oriented) versus
whole-word (look-say)
b. phonetics may be more important
i. computer
games focused on distinguishing hard-to-distinguish
sounds
may improve phonetic performance
ii. whole-word method also important
C. Effective Schools
1. Less important factors
a. level of funding
money
directly at classrooms may increase performance
b. average class size
tutoring
or one-on-one may be beneficial
c. amount of time spent in school
d. ability grouping-- segregating high and low
ability students
2. Factors that matter
a. students
i. may be affected by genetic factors
ii. schools with economically advantaged
children do better
iii. high achieving parents provide genes and may
select stronger
schools
b. teachers
better
quality teachers
c. strong emphasis on academics
d. task-oriented but comfortable environment
e. effective discipline
f. supportive parents and communities
g. goodness of fit-- match between learner and
teaching method
i. highly distractible students best with
computer-assisted
instruction
ii. more positive outcomes when teacher and
student share similar
backgrounds
IV.
The adolescent
A. Declining Levels of Achievement
teens
(especially in grades 6-9) tend to become less dedicated to academics
1. Family characteristics impact achievement
a. poorer performance in minority and
single-parent families
b. poorer performance when mom less educated or
has a mental disorder
2. Cognitive growth
more
realistic view of academic abilities
3. Negative feedback
a. increase in criticism contributes to declines
in motivation
b. must learn effort alone is not good enough
4. Peer pressures
a. especially negative impact on academics in
lower-income minority
students
i. thought of by peers as “acting white”
ii. culture may not value academics
b. parental valuing of academics may cancel negative
peer impact
5. Pubertal changes
a. physical and psychological changes may
contribute to difficulty in
school
b. new school more important than time of
transition from one school to
the next
6. Poor person-environment fit
a. most negative impact if child’s developmental
needs do not match well
with school environment
b. declines in performance not inevitable
c. supportive teachers critical
B. Science and Math Education
1. Skills necessary for an industrialized
society
2. Students in the
of math and science ability
3. Poorer cross-cultural showing of US
students mainly due to cultural
differences in attitudes concerning education and academics (especially when compared to Asian students)
a. Asian students spend more time in school
b. Asian students receive more homework
c. Asian parents show strong commitment to
education
d. Asian peers tend to have higher value for
achievement
e. Asian student have strong belief that hard
work will pay off
C. Integrating Work and School
1. Many
2. Working students (at least 20 hours per week)
positive and negative effects
a. greater self-reliance and autonomy from
parents
b. lower GPAs
c. more bored and prone to skip class
d. greater risk for psychological distress
e. disenchanted students more disenchanted when
working more hours
f. working associated with lower levels of
achievement
g. some studies have found few negative impacts
of employment
h. working routine and repetitive jobs that do
not call on academic skills
i. intellectually challenging jobs may be of
some benefit
D. Pathways to Adulthood
1. Choices somewhat constrained by intelligence
levels
2. Dropping out of high school can negatively
impact career path
3. Pathway to “high success” or “low success”
career routes begins in childhood
V.
The adult
A. Achievement Motivation
1. Achievement motivation stable through
adulthood
2. Women with higher levels of education more
likely to be motivated to achieve
career success
3. More affected by changing work and family
contexts than by age
B. Literacy-- Ability to Use Printed Information
to Function
1. 22% of adults in
a. one quarter are immigrants learning English
as second language
b. about two-thirds do not finish high school
c.
2. Literacy important to economic security
3. Programs to raise literacy in adults are
rarely effective
a. problems in motivation
b. do not stay in programs long enough
c. materials often geared toward children
C. Continuing Education
1. Many adults seeking higher education
40%
of college students are 25 or older
2. Older students more likely to be motivated by
internal factors
internal
motivation leads to deeper understanding (better retention)
3. Lifelong education difficult to fit into
schedule