Language Acquisition Dr. Jenny Kuo
Infant speech perception Phonological Development Production: The prelinguistic Period Learning to pronounce Learning sounds and sound patterns Theories of the acquisition of phonology
Infant speech perception Infant speech perception
Infants are born with the ability to 3-day-old infants can identify their own discriminate the phonetic contrasts of any of mothers’voices. the world languages. 4-day-old infants can distinguish With exposure to their own language, they between utterances in their maternal begin to focus on those contrasts that are language and those of another relevant for that particular language and to language. lose the ability to perceive certain contrasts 4.5-month-old infants can recognize not found in their native language. their names.
Production: High amplitude sucking the prelinguistic period
The infant is given a pacifier to suck 1. Reflexive vocalization (0~2 months) on that is connected to a sound 2. Cooing and laughter (2~4 months) generating system. Each suck causes a noise to be generated. 3. Vocal play (4~6 months) Infants suck less frequently after 4. Canonical babbling (6 months~) repetition of the same noise. 5. Jargon stage (10 months~) They suck more in response to their interest in a new and different sound.
1 Language Acquisition Dr. Jenny Kuo
Sounds of babbling Babbling and speech
0~6 months: vowels, back consonants Children in the late stages of babble ([k],[g]), front consonants ([m], [b]. prefer to sound like the people around [d]) them. Children’s phonological patterns in 6~12 months: sound repertoire early meaningful speech are directly expands, similar across languages expands, similar across languages linked to the babbling patterns. Stops, nasals, glides > fricatives, Stops, nasals, glides > fricatives, Early speech usually coexists with affricates, liquids babbling for several months.
Regularity in children’s renditions of adult words Voicing change
Feature change Child A Cluster reductions Suprasemental-segmental interactions pot [](“bot”) back [] (correct) Assimilation top [](“dop”) day [] (correct) cat [](“gat”) game [] (correct)
Voicing change Place change
Child A Child B
pot [ ] (correct) back [ ](“bat”) pot [](“bot”) back [] (correct) top [ ] (correct) day [ ] (correct) top [](“dop”) day [] (correct) cat [ ](“tat”) game [ ](“dame”) cat [](“gat”) game [] (correct)
2 Language Acquisition Dr. Jenny Kuo
Suprasemental- Cluster reduction segmental interactions
tomato “mato” 1 2 3 dessert “zert” bread [](“bed”)[](“buh-RED”)[](“bwed”) supposed “posed” blue [](“boo”)[](“buh-LOO”)[](“bwoo”) telephone “tefone” elephant “efent”
Assimilation 1 Assimilation 2 Set 1 Initial labial stops became [] when the target word ended with a bump [] (correct) velar stop. down [] (correct) Set 3 bug [](“gug”) gone [] (correct) big [](“gig”) book [](“gook”) bike [](“gike”) Initial unvoiced stop usually showed correct position but pig [](“gig”) incorrect voicing. Set 2 Initial alveolar stops and s + stop clusters also became [] when the target word ended with a velar stop. pipe [](“bipe”) Set 4 toad [ ](“dode”) dog [](“gawg”) Doug [](“gug”) car [](“gar”) duck [](“guck”) stick [](“gick”)
Assimilation 3 Accuracy of perception
Initial alveolar stops and s + stop clusters Children who fail to pronounce became [b] when the target word ended particular sounds correctly may have with a labial stop. failed to perceive them correctly. Set 5 But, usually children with normal tub [](“bub”) hearing are able to discriminate top [ ](“bop”) sounds. Child A might be able to point step [](“bep”) correctly to a coat and a goat even stop [](“bop”) while calling them both “goat.”
3 Language Acquisition Dr. Jenny Kuo
Rule origin Optimality account
They cannot be faithful to the adult They can not yet produce more phonological form because they cannot yet accurate match to the adult target overcome their constraints against the sound. sounds or sound sequences that the adult word demand. They continue to apply the old rules. Bernhardt and Stemberger (1998): the child Imperfectly coordinated articulatory has strengthened the connections between the way she remembers the sound of the movements. word and the incorrect way she has been Natural processes saying it, to the point she can’t simply substitute the correct sound for the incorrect one.
Canonical forms and word Instrumental analyses of templates children’s speech
How to say a word is generated to Children may be making inaudible but other similar words correct distinction. Abstracted patterns of words (p.84) The distinction is detectable only by Children’s words can be described as laboratory measurement of the sound several canonical forms plus a handful waves they produce. of other words, usually phonological idioms.
Strategies in learning to Change over time pronounce
Conservative Trial and error One word at a time Progressive phonological idioms Approximate whole phrases with much Generalization less clear or consistent pronunciation Overgeneralization The frequency of sounds in the Word segmentation ambient language may also be an Gradually replacement (p.87) effect.
4 Language Acquisition Dr. Jenny Kuo
Progressive phonological Regression idioms
The pronunciation particular words got Many children acquire a word or two worse over time. who pronunciation is much closer to down (correct) “noun” the adult model than that of their other words. stone “doan” “noan” Daniel had initial [h] only in hi and beans “means” hello. All other adult words beginning dance “nance” dance “nance” with [h] were produced without [h].
Strategies for temporary Cognitive approaches solutions
Problem solving approach Avoidance of difficult sounds or sound The child is seen as a somewhat sequences intelligent creature actively trying to Exploitation of favorite sounds solve a difficult problem: how to talk Replacement like the people around her do (Macken Rearrangement & Ferguson, 1983). One word at a time Internal feedback
Characteristic component Cognitive approach of problem solving
Trial and error Internal reward Generalization Children get external rewards whatever they perform. overgeneralization Deaf children miss internal feedback. The child is innately disposed to feel pleasure with behavior that he apprehends as successful emulation of adult or peer models.
5 Language Acquisition Dr. Jenny Kuo
Development after three Atypical Development years
By three, most of children can Some children fail to acquire their pronounce all the vowels and nearly all phonological system in the typical manner. the consonants. In most cases, these children exhibit The sounds are pronounced correctly delayed development. in at least a few words. Indicator: intelligibility In most cases, correct production of Speech pathologists are trained to assess all sounds is achieved by around 7 phonological disorders and to provide years of age. treatment when needed.
Parental role in phonological development
Parents seem to improve their precision of articulation. Mothers clarified their pronunciation of initial consonants in speech to children at the one-word stage but not to the prelingual children or older the ones. Mothers clarified vowel production as modeling words that the child is currently learning.
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