Language

• Language is the communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic rules.
• Language a cognitive ability central to communication.
• Language is closely linked to the way in which we think about and understand the world.
• Without language, our ability to transmit information, acquire knowledge, and cooperate with others would become difficult
• Language is the use of an organized means of combining words in order to communicate with those around us.
• Language also makes it possible to think about things and processes we currently cannot see, hear, feel, touch, or smell.
• Even so, not all communication – exchange of thoughts and feelings – is through language
• Communication encompasses other aspects – nonverbal communication, such as gestures or facial expressions, can be used to embellish or to indicate
• Glances may serve many purposes.
• Communication can also include touches, such as handshakes, hits, and hugs.
• Psycholinguistics is the psychology of our language as it interacts with the human mind. It considers both production and comprehension of language.
• Four areas of study have contributed greatly to an understanding of psycholinguistics:

  -Linguistics

  -Neurolinguistics

  -Sociolinguistics

  -Computation Linguistics
• Linguistics: the study of language structure and change;
• Neurolinguistics: the study of the relationships among the brain, cognition, and language;
• Sociolinguistics: the study of the relationship between social behavior and language
• Computational linguistics: the study of language that focuses on the system or concept that machines can be computed to understand, learn, or output languages
• Grammar is the system of rules that determine how our thoughts can be expressed
• three major components of language:

  -phonology

  -syntax

  -semantics.
• Phonology: is the study of phonemes, the smallest basic units of speech that affect meaning, and of the way we use those sounds to form words and produce meaning.
• Phoneme, in linguistics, smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word (or word element) from another, as the element p in "tap," which separates that word from "tab," "tag," and "tan."
• Phonetics deals with the production of speech sounds by humans, often without prior knowledge of the language being spoken.
• Phonology is about patterns of sounds, especially different patterns of sounds in different languages, or within each language, different patterns of sounds in different positions in words etc.
• Syntax: the ways in which words and phrases can be combined to form sentences.
• Semantics: The rules governing the meaning of words and sentences. Semantic rules allow us to use words to convey the subtle changes in meaning.
• The first step of the development of language is Babbling which occurs from the age of 3 months - 1 year. Even deaf children display their own form of babbling.
• After the age of 6 -8 months, that ability begins to decline. Infants begin to "specialize" in the language to which they are exposed as neurons in their brains reorganize to respond to the particular phonemes infants routinely hear
• After 1 year of age, actual word formation begins.
• In English, these are typically short words that start with a consonant sound such as b, d, m, p, and t-this helps explain why mama and dada are so often among babies' first words.
• Language comprehension precedes language production.
• Then they start producing two-word combinations, the building blocks of sentences, and sharply increase the number of different words they are able to use.
• By age 5, acquisition of language rules is relatively complete.
• Some theorists argue that a critical period exists for language development early in life in which a child is particularly sensitive to language cues and most easily acquires language.
• 3 months - Cooing & gurgling
• 6 months - Babbling
• 12 months - First words
• 18 months - Known to 5 to 40 words
• 2 years - 150 – 300 words

  • 2 -3 word sentences
• 3 years ➢ 900 – 1,000 words and Asks short questions
• 4 years ➢ 2,000 words and 5+ word sentences
• 5 years - Identifies letters, creates longer sentences