Christie+Notes

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Notes from the reading:

Language acquisition theories

 * 1) Behaviorist perspective
 * Nurture plays the dominant role in children's language development. Through imitation and reforcement
 * 2 basic processes--classical conditioning; operant conditioning and imitation
 * 1) Nativism
 * inborn ability to learn language (Noam Chomsky in this camp)
 * language acquisition device (LAD) triggered by language in the child's environment
 * 1) Social Interactionism
 * Lev Vygotsky (1978)
 * child plays intentional and active role in language acquisition & constructing meanings
 * interaction with more knowledgeable people confirm construction of language (from early age)
 * 1) Biological
 * neurological activity responsible for language acquisition, starting with newborns
 * supports elements of other 3 theories

Key terms

 * [|phonology] : units of sounds
 * [|prosody] : stress, intotation
 * [|morphology] : units of meaning (ex. cats has two-- cat + s)
 * lexical: the individual meaning that a word carries
 * bound: units of sound that hold meaning but must be attached to something else, like prefixes and suffixes
 * derivational and inflectional: usually suffixes that change the class of the word, like dust-->dust**y**
 * compound: two words together, like football, rainbow
 * idiom: expression that has a meaning different from its individual words
 * syntax: how morphenes, or words, are arranged in a sentence
 * semantics: deals with the slight differences that language allows for, such as: happy, content, thrilled, pleased, etc...
 * pragmatics: how to use language, how to engage in conversation, cues on tact, etc...

Language development

 * 1) Birth to 1 month -- crying, different types for different messages--high-pitched, throaty, whining, fussy
 * 2) 2 to 3 months -- make sounds in response to stimulus, control voice, mimic tongue/mouth movement of others
 * 3) 3 to 6 months -- make cooing sounds, mimic nonverbal language, range of sounds, sound play, most vowels/consonants
 * 4) 6 to 9 months -- [|echolalia], or babbling that sounds like conversation, goal-oriented language such as "dada"
 * 5) 9 to 12 months -- speaking, listening and comprehending, responding to basic questions
 * 6) 12 to 18 months -- building vocabulary
 * 7) 18 to 24 months -- building sentences
 * 8) 24 to 36 months -- still using approximations for words, "I lub you" "I want ride bise"

Influential conditions

 * Gender differences in language acquisition? Some evidence says girls talk earlier than boys, but may be social
 * Socio-economic conditions may hinder language acquisition, if there is less linguistic input from family
 * cultural influences: Some cultures utilize more non-verbal language and may influence a child's language development

Medical concerns

 * congenital language disorders--physical or neurological disorders, sometimes ear damage
 * disfluency: rate of speech affected, such as stuttering or speaking too slowly
 * otisis media: when there is something wrong with the ear canal that results in damaged hearing
 * pronunciation: lisps, etc...

Guiding questions:

 * How can parents facilitate oral language development? By scaffolding their language, encouraging them to tell narratives, read stories
 * Initiation, response, evaluation (IRE) class talk: teacher asks, student answers, teacher accepts or rejects. Problematic because it does not present as many opportunities to talk and develop rich oral language.
 * Group activities, learning centers and drama promote oral language acquisition by creating language content
 * Language-rich play can be encouraged with themed props, culturally relevant props, being involved with play, and have long play periods
 * Sharing and show-and-tell is a valuable language activity by allowing children to tell narratives, encouraging questions and answers
 * Teachers can assess language through interaction and observation while child is engaged in language activity
 * Teachers can encourage bilingual and second language learners by giving them opportunities to use language, tell narratives, ask questions, etc...

Vocabulary:

 * active listening
 * anecdotal record: brief note describing a child's behavior
 * checklist: observation tool for teachers to check off when a certain behavior is observed
 * dramatic play: children take on roles and act out stories
 * imitation, response, evaluation (IRE): pattern of classroom talk, teacher asks, students answers, teacher accepts/rejects
 * metalinguistic awareness: making connections with the forms of the words, for example, a child notices that two words rhyme
 * metaplay language: specific language used in dramatic play "I'll be the driver, and you be the biker"
 * personal narrative: story about someone told by that person (I was in Texas last year...)
 * pretend language: words used to take on a role: "mooo! moooo!)
 * rubric: scoring tools for teachers to evaluate proficiency
 * scaffolding: temporary assistance from teacher, parent to help a child when they could not do it on their own

Home talk

 * a child's natural learning environment, supported by parents, siblings
 * encouraging personal narratives
 * Expanding child's language skills
 * Child says "Kitty eat," parent responds with "Kitty is eating his food," or "Kitty is hungry"
 * Reading storybooks, repetition especially effective, allows for evaluation and reflection
 * open-ended questions
 * TV as a language tool: programming appropriate, active viewing (watch television together)

School talk

 * teacher discourse -- some problems:
 * too much time talking to children, rather than with them
 * dominate discussion by controlling who gets to talk and about what
 * children spend most of the time listening to teacher
 * children talk as response to teacher's questions, usually closed questions with one right answer
 * three recommendations:
 * allow for reciprocal conversations
 * activity centered language opportunities, where students accomplish something
 * language activities that draw attention to one specific aspect of language
 * context for encouraging language:
 * group activities
 * learning centers -- computer labs, going to the zoo to learn about animals
 * dramatic play, acting out situations, stories, etc...
 * play settings: stick with what they know. Children love to play house, or with baby dolls, domestic scenes
 * language-centered activities
 * sharing, show-and-tell: allows for speaking in front of class or in smaller groups with participation. Something with a good narrative behind it, something homemade with explanation or description; something funny or interesting that requires explanation
 * storytelling: retelling stories, make-believe stories, make up stories to go along with pictures, link storytelling and writing
 * language play: messing around with language, humor, trying it out
 * three suggestions:
 * allow play to flourish, teacher and students can laugh together
 * serve as a model by sharing
 * value each child's contribution
 * songs and finger plays
 * using song to encourage language, repeated choruses, repeated phrases, sound effects, tell stories, ask questions

Older children

 * cooperative learning groups:
 * need to communicate to accomplish goal
 * taught to encourage one another
 * students are interdependent
 * frequent groups allows for more language opportunities
 * redundancy--students learn if they speak repeatedly on the same topic
 * developmentally appropriate
 * feedback rich
 * dramatic simulations
 * different forms of media

ESL students

 * teachers must adjust their own speech
 * provide context for language learning, rich with materials and objects aiding in learning
 * create opportunities such as reciprocal questions
 * acknowledge and allow for mistakes, provide feedback
 * be sensitive to cultural differences, allow native language as way to express oneself