LIN 201

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LIN 201

• Fall 2005
• Lecture XII (12)
• Language acquisition VI

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Agenda

• 1. Secret of a Wild Child (concl.)
• 2. Genies and Chelseas language the Critical
  Period Hypothesis.
• 3. Second language acquisition.
• 4. Lingua francas pidgin and creole languages.
• 5. Evidence for the Critical Period Hypothesis --
  final summary.

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Secret of a Wild Child

• Genie
• Born March, 1957
• Found Nov. 4, 1970, age 13 yrs, 8 mos.
• No speech/language at first.

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Agenda

• 1. Videotape Secret of a Wild Child
  (conclusion) Questions -- pp. 67-69, Course
  Reader.

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Agenda

• 2. Genies and Chelseas language The Critical
  Period Hypothesis

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Genies lg -- knowledge

• Lexicon OK
• Rules (syntax) Problems --
• word order inconsistent.
• function words missing.
• movement rules missing.

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Genies syntax -- word order inconsistent

• Example (FR, p. 343)
• Man motorcycle have.
• The man has a motorcycle.

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Genies syntax -- function words missing

• Examples (FR, p. 343)
• Genie bad cold live father house.
• Want Curtiss play piano.
• Open door key.

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Genies syntax -- movement rules

• Sammy (3 yrs old)
• What do you think Cookie Monster eats ___?
• Genie (4 yrs after discovery)
• What red blue is in?

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Genies lg -- Brain

• Dichotic listening Linguistic stimuli showed
  left-ear dominance. Which hemisphere?
• Other tests showed results compatible with the
  dichotic listening results.

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Genie -- summary

• Lexicon OK but syntax impaired.
• Brain processes language much more in the right
  hemisphere than it does in normals.

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Chelsea

• Born deaf, didnt attend school.
• Not diagnosed as deaf until age 31 fitted with
  hearing aids underwent language therapy.
• Speech similar to Genies language processed in
  both hemispheres.

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General notion of a Critical Period

• A critical period is a period in the life of an
  organism during which a particular behavior can
  be acquired and before which and after which it
  cannot be acquired. The beginning and end of a
  critical period are abrupt. Example The
  critical period for the acquisition of birdsong
  in the chaffinch (FR, p. 55).

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Critical period for language acquisition

• Claim There is a critical period in human
  beings for language acquisition. It lasts from
  birth to puberty.
• Ev (1) The wild children -- Victor and Genie
  (socially isolated until after puberty) -- did
  not fully acquire language nor did Chelsea, deaf
  until age 31.

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The Content/Function submodules

• Claim Content and function words/morphemes
  constitute separate submodules of the language
  module.
• Ev (1) The count the Fs test (FR, p. 74)
• Ev (2) Slips of the tongue.
• Ev (3) Aphasia.
• Ev (4) Telegraphic stage of normal
  first-language acquisition.
• Ev (5) Post-Critical-Period first-language
  acquisition.

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Agenda

• 3. Second language acquisition.

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A distinction

• Second language acquisition Acquisition of a
  second language once a first language is already
  established.
• Bilingual language acquisition Simultaneous
  acquisition of two languages beginning in infancy.

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Second language acquisition (1)

• Children can acquire native knowledge of any
  number of languages.
• People past puberty seldom (if ever) achieve full
  native knowledge of a second language.

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Second language acquisition (2)

• Post-pubertal second language learners have
  particular problems with completing the
  acquisition of function words/morphemes,
  syntactic structures and pronunciation
  (phonology) fewer problems with acquisition of
  lexicon.

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Second language acquisition (3)

• There is more right brain activity during use of
  a second language acquired after puberty than
  during use of a first language.

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Sensitive Period Hyp.

• Claim There are sensitive periods for the
  acquisition of certain aspects of linguistic
  knowledge.
• Evidence (2) Child vs adult second language
  acquisition.

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Sensitive vs Critical Period

• Sensitive periods begin and end gradually.
• Critical periods begin and end abruptly.

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General pattern of second language acquisition by
age

• Older children and adults generally progress
  quickly in acquiring a second language at first
  but then fossilize.
• Young children progress more slowly in the early
  stages of acquiring a second language, but then
  they complete acquisition (they do not fossilize).

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Critical/Sensitive period(s)

• Claim There is a critical period (/are
  sensitive periods) for the acquisition of
  language.
• Evidence
• 1. Wild children.
• 2. Child vs adult second language acquisition.

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Agenda

• 4. Lingua francas pidgin and creole languages

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Lingua franca

• A lingua franca is a language that is used by
  common agreement for the purposes of commercial
  or social interaction among groups of people who
  speak different native languages.

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Pidgin languages (1)

• 1. Origin Two social groups dont share a
  language need to communicate mix their
  languages to create a pidgin. One group usually
  more powerful than the other.

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Pidgin languages (2)

• Lexicon limited in size. Usually taken from
  language of more powerful group.
• grass belong face beard
• lamp belong Jesus sun

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Pidgin languages (3)

• Syntax simple but systematic. Usually simplified
  form of the syntax of the language of the less
  powerful group. No movements, no sentences
  within sentences few verb and noun endings.

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Pidgin languages (4)

• Acquisition Always a second language acquired
  primarily by adults.
• Social attitudes Attitudes toward pidgins are
  generally negative. Social discrimination.

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Pidgins (5) -- example

• Tok Pisin (New Guinea)
• Now onefella master belong company, him
  he-catch-im me, me cook belong him again. Now a
  boss at the company, he caught me and I became
  his cook again.

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Creole languages (1)

• Origin Result of children acquiring a pidgin as
  their first language.
• Lexicon More extensive than a pidgin.
• Syntax Richer devices than a pidgin.

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Creole languages (2)

• Acquisition By children as a first language.
• Social attitudes Generally negative.

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Critical age/period

• Claim There is a critical period for the
  acquisition of language.
• Evidence (3) Pidgin languages are simpler than
  creole languages.

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Agenda

• 5. Evidence for the Critical Period Hypothesis --
  final summary.

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Critical/Sensitive period(s)

• Claim There is a critical period (/are
  sensitive periods) for the acquisition of
  language.
• Evidence
• 1. Wild children.
• 2. Child vs adult second language acquisition.
• 3. Pidgins vs creoles.