ENG 346: Aspects of the English Language

ENG 346: Aspects of the English Language

Lesson 13: Language Acquisition
Week: April 14-20, 2003

Place: Dial 147

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to do each of the following:

  • Describe the stages by which humans learn language.
  • Define relevant terms.

Assignments

Read Chapter 12 of Contemporary Linguistics before you come to class on Monday.

Activities

Think Fast: Analyze the sample of speech I assign you in class.

 

Presentation: Language Acquisition (Professor Canada)

 

Cooperative Learning:  Respond to questions 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 at the end of Chapter 3 of Contemporary Linguistics.

 

Discussion: During this time, we will discuss the insights and questions that have emerged during our “Think Fast” exercise, my presentation, and cooperative learning.

 

Workshop:  Pair up with a partner and take turns quizzing each other on concepts covered in this course.

 

Conferences: During these one-on-one conferences, I will review some of your writing, orally quiz you on lesson objectives, and field your questions.

 

Announcements: We will wrap up this lesson with announcements regarding upcoming lessons, as well as other relevant subjects.

Terms

Make sure you know the meaning and significance of each of the following terms:

  • babbling
  • critical period
  • holophrases
  • one-word stage
  • overextension
  • overgeneralization
  • telegraphic stage
  • two-word stage

Resources

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language contains information on language acquisition.

 

An Introduction to Language contains extensive information on language acquisition.

Updated January 7, 2003
© Mark Canada, 2003
mark.canada@uncp.edu
 

Introduction

In our last lesson, we studied psycholinguistics.  In this lesson, we turn to language acquisition.

Discussion

Language Acquisition

By now, you probably have a new appreciation of the astounding complexity of language.  Despite this complexity, which challenges even the brightest college students, children acquire the skill of using their language by the time they are about four years old.  How does this learning occur?  That is the subject of this lesson.  As you work through the material, you will want to focus on the major stages of child language acquisition, as well as the common problems that occur in the process.

Practice

Below are some activities designed to help you master the knowledge and skills covered in this unit.  

1.                      How do children learn language? Support your argument with specific examples. What are the major stages of language acquisition? 

2.                      What do errors such as "I goed to the store" reveal about children's understanding of language? 

3.                      Explain the "innateness hypothesis." What evidence supports this hypothesis? 

4.                      What is "universal grammar"? What evidence do we have that it exists? 

Conclusion

In this lesson, we have examined language acquisition.  In our next lesson, we will look at sociolinguistics, the study of language use in society.