3.5 - Communication and Language Development

Language and Thought

• Language: The way we communicate meaning using spoken, written, or signed words.

• Phonemes: The smallest distinctive sound units in a language. Example: The word "cat" has 3 phonemes: /k/ /æ/ /t/

Language Development

• Building Blocks of Language:

  • Phonemes: Smallest distinctive sound units.

  • Morphemes: Smallest units that carry meaning (words, prefixes, suffixes).

  • Words: Meaningful units.

  • Phrases: Two or more words combined.

  • Sentences: Many words combined with proper grammar.

• Language Rules:

  • Grammar: The system of rules governing language structure.

  • Semantics: Rules for understanding meaning.

  • Syntax: Rules for arranging words into grammatically correct sentences.

Stages of Language Development

• Rapid Language Acquisition: Children typically learn language at an astonishing pace.

1. Babbling Stage (4 months): Infants produce a variety of sounds, unrelated to household language.

2. One-Word Stage (around 1 year): Children start using single words to communicate.

3. Two-Word Stage (before 2 years): Children speak in two-word phrases, often called "telegraphic speech" because it resembles a telegram (e.g., "Want juice").

4. Longer Phrases (after 2 years): Children begin using longer phrases with correct syntax.

Theories of Language Acquisition

• B.F. Skinner (Behaviorist View): Language is learned through operant conditioning (association, imitation, reinforcement).

Language and Thought

• Chomsky's Theory:

  • Key Idea: Language is innate (inborn). We have a built-in predisposition to learn language.

  • Evidence:

    • Children learn language rapidly and effortlessly, suggesting it's not just learned through experience.

    • Universal Grammar: An underlying structure shared by all human languages.

    • Language Acquisition Device (LAD): A hypothetical brain mechanism that allows children to acquire language quickly.

• Statistical Learning: Even before their first birthday, infants can identify word boundaries by analyzing which syllables tend to go together in speech.

The Connection Between Language and Thought

• Linguistic Determinism (Whorf's Hypothesis): Language strongly determines how we think and perceive the world.

• Language's Influence on Thought: Having words for concepts helps us think about them more clearly. Example: Distinguishing between shades of blue if your language has different words for them.

• Thinking Beyond Language: We can also think in images and perform actions without words (like riding a bike).

• The Brain's Role: Brain imaging shows that imagining an activity activates similar brain regions as actually performing it.

Conclusion: Language and thought are interconnected, with language shaping our thinking and our thinking shaping our language.