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Language
a largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols, suchas words or gestural signs, in rule-based ways to create meaning
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Phonemes
the categories of sounds our vocal apparatus produces
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Morphemes
the smallest units of speech that are meaningful (think “M” for meaningful)
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Syntax
the grammatical rules that govern how we compose words into meaningful strings
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Morphological Markers
grammatical elements that modify words by adding sounds to them that change their meaning (e.g. adding “–s” for plural in English)
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Dialects
language variations used by groups of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background
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Extralinguistic information
elements of communication that aren’t part of the content of language but are critical to interpreting its meaning
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Phonesthemes
similar-sounding words that have related meanings
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Bilingual
proficient and fluent at speaking and comprehending two distinct languages
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High-amplitude sucking procedure
places a pacifier in an infants mouth and allows the infant to suck freely. The pacifier is hooked up to a computer that measures the rate and intensity of sucking.
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Babbling
intentional vocalization (not crying, burping, sighing, or laughing) that lacks specific meaning. E.g. “bababadaabada”
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Comprehension precedes production
key principle characterizing early word learning in which children learn to recognize and interpret words before they can produce them
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Production constraints
limitations on how easily children can coordinate their vocal apparatus to produce sounds
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Dyspraxia
more pauses, slower speech, more effortful speech, and more variable pronunciation of words due to motor planning and coordination difficulties
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Stuttering
repeated articulation of the same sounds, prolonged pronunciation of some sounds, and sudden spurts of speech
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Holophrases
single-word phrases used early in language development to convey an entire thought “more juice”
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Imitation account
children learn language through imitation.
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Language is generative
allowing an infinite number of unique sentences to be createdby combining words in novel ways
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Nativist account
children come into the world knowing how language works(idea that children are born with syntactic rules)
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Language acquisition device
hypothetical organ in the brain in which nativists believe knowledge of syntax resides
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Social pragmatics account
suggests that particular aspects of the social environment help structure language learning. Children infer what words and sentences mean from context and social interactions.
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General cognitive processing account
proposes that children’s ability to learn language is a result of general skills that children apply across a variety of activities.
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