Language and thought

Language
• Language is our primary means of communicating thought.
• it is universal:
• Every human society has a language, and every human being of
normal intelligence acquires his or her native language and uses it
effortlessly.
• Some people can read, and others cannot; some can do arithmetic,
and others cannot; some can play chess, and others cannot. But
virtually everyone can master and use an enormously complex
linguistic system. In contrast, even the most sophisticated
computers have severe problems in interpreting speech,
understanding written text, or speaking in a productive way. Yet
most normal children perform these linguistic tasks effortlessly.
Thus learning language is among the fundamental puzzles of
human psychology.
• Essentially, language is a term for any
complex communication system used by
humans that consists of words and phrases
that, when combined, can create infinite
variable utterances
• According to Leondes (2005) language is
shared, structured system of communication
• A system of communication has to meet certain
criteria in order to be considered a language
• Symbols are key to language as “a system of
symbols and rules that enable us to
communicate”
• Psychologist David Premack, in his 2004 article, Is
Language the Key to Human Intelligence, asks if
language , the symbol system that “evolved only
in humans”, makes us the most special (Premack,
2004).
 The Structure of Language
• KEY POINTS
• The five main components of language are phonemes, morphemes,
lexemes, syntax, and context. Along with grammar, semantics, and
pragmatics, these components work together to create meaningful
communication among individuals.
• A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that may cause a change
of meaning within a language but that doesn’t have meaning by
itself.
• A morpheme is the smallest unit of a word that provides a specific
meaning to a string of letters (which is called a phoneme).
• A lexeme is the set of all the inflected forms of a single word.
• Syntax is the set of rules by which a person constructs full
sentences.
• Context is how everything within language works together to
convey a particular meaning.
1. Phonemes
• A phoneme is the basic unit of phonology. It is the smallest unit of sound
that may cause a change of meaning within a language, but that doesn’t
have meaning by itself. For example, in the words “bake” and “brake,” only
one phoneme has been altered, but a change in meaning has been
triggered. The phoneme /r/ has no meaning on its own, but by appearing
in the word it has completely changed the word’s meaning!

• Phonemes correspond to the sounds of the alphabet, although there is

not always a one-to-one relationship between a letter and a phoneme
(the sound made when you say the word). For example, the word “dog”
has three phonemes: /d/, /o/, and /g/. However, the word “shape,”
despite having five letters, has only three phonemes: /sh/, /long-a/, and
/p/. Through the process of segmentation, a phoneme can have a
particular pronunciation in one word and a slightly different pronunciation
in another.
 2. Morphemes
• Morphemes, the basic unit of morphology, are the smallest
meaningful unit of language. Thus, a morpheme is a series of
phonemes that has a special meaning. If a morpheme is altered in
any way, the entire meaning of the word can be changed.
• Some morphemes are individual words (such as “eat” or “water”).
These are known as free morphemes because they can exist on
their own.
• Other morphemes are prefixes, suffixes, or other linguistic pieces
that aren’t full words on their own but do affect meaning (such as
the “-s” at the end of “cats” or the “re-” at the beginning of “redo.”)
Because these morphemes must be attached to another word to
have meaning, they are called bound morphemes.
 3. Lexemes
• Lexemes are the set of inflected forms taken by a single
word. For example, members of the lexeme RUN
include “run” (the uninflected form), “running”
(inflected form), and “ran.” This lexeme excludes
“runner” (a derived term—it has a derivational
morpheme attached).
• Another way to think about lexemes is that they are
the set of words that would be included under one
entry in the dictionary—”running” and “ran” would be
found under “run,” but “runner” would not.
 4. Syntax
• Syntax is a set of rules for constructing full sentences out of words and
phrases. Every language has a different set of syntactic rules, but all
languages have some form of syntax. In English, the smallest form of a
sentence is a noun phrase (which might just be a noun or a pronoun) and
a verb phrase (which may be a single verb). Adjectives and adverbs can be
added to the sentence to provide further meaning. Word order matters in
English, although in some languages, order is of less importance. For
example, the English sentences “The baby ate the carrot” and “The carrot
ate the baby” do not mean the same thing, even though they contain the
exact same words.

• Rules for combining words make it possible to produce and understand

millions of sentences (if not an infinite number of them). This property of
language is called ‘productivity’.
 5. Context
• Context is how everything within language works
together to convey a particular meaning. Context
includes tone of voice, body language, and the words
being used. Depending on how a person says
something, holds his or her body, or emphasizes
certain points of a sentence, a variety of different
messages can be conveyed. For example, the word
“awesome,” when said with a big smile, means the
person is excited about a situation. “Awesome,” said
with crossed arms, rolled eyes, and a sarcastic tone,
means the person is not thrilled with the situation.
 Stages of language development
• 6 Stages of Language Development and Why They're Important
• Effective language development is critical to a child's ability to function in society
because it helps them learn and socialize. Knowing the phases of language
development ensures that you can identify and correct any issues that arise during
each stage.
• 1. Pre-linguistic stage
• Also known as the pre-linguistic stage, the first stage of language development
often occurs between zero and six months. Children in this phase don't have
developed language skills, so they communicate with sounds. They cry, make
cooing sounds and utter nasal murmurs as their vocal tracts develop. Infants can
also recognize voices and sounds in addition to facial expressions and voice tones.

• 2. Babbling stage
• The second stage of a child's language development happens between the ages of
6 and 9 months. Children begin to babble, making noises and syllables that aren’t
yet words. Mouth muscles and teeth grow to prepare children for more advanced
talking.
• 3. Holophrastic stage
• The third phase of language development, also known as the holophrastic
stage, usually happens between the ages of 9 and 18 months. During this
time, their language skills usually have increased enough for them to say
single words that describe objects or identify their basic needs. For
instance, a child in this stage might say "dada" as a way of getting their
dad's attention.

• 4. Two-word stage
• During this stage, the child can speak two-word sentences that usually
have some meaning. They group words together that they learned during
the holophrastic stage. Some examples may include:
• Saying "more food" at the table
• Saying "doggy small" to describe a dog
• Saying "thank mom!" to show appreciation
• 5. Telegraphic stage
• The telegraphic stage occurs between the ages of 24
and 30 months. Children can speak phrases that are
not only longer but also have more than two elements.
For instance, a child might say “The cat stand up on the
table.” Correct grammar still isn’t prevalent in this
stage, but the sentence conveys that the cat is standing
up in addition to being on the table. The child also
develops the ability to understand basic instructions,
including two-part orders like "go to your table and get
your books."
• 6. Multi-word stage
• Beyond 30 months, children enter the multi-
word stage. They build increasingly complex
sentences that allow them to better
communicate their ideas. They also start to
incorporate morphemes to make more
semantically sound phrases. For instance, they
know to use the word “dogs” instead of “dog”
when referring to more than one dog.
 Language use
• Language use has two aspects: production and
comprehension.

• In the production of language, we start with a thought,

somehow translate it into a sentence, and end up with
sounds that express the sentence.

• In the comprehension of language, we start by hearing

sounds, attach meaning to the sounds in the form of
words, and then attach meaning to the combination of
the words in the form of sentences.
 The neural basis of language
• There are two regions of the left hemisphere of the
cortex that are critical for language:

• Broca’s area, which lies in the posterior part of the

frontal lobes, and

• Wernicke’s area, which lies in the temporal region.

• Damage to either of these areas – or to some in

between areas – leads to specific kinds of aphasia (a
breakdown in language).
Theories of language development
• Skinner: Operant Conditioning
• B. F. Skinner believed that children learn language through operant
conditioning; in other words, children receive “rewards” for using
language in a functional manner. For example, a child learns to say
the word “drink” when she is thirsty; she receives something to
drink, which reinforces her use of the word for getting a drink, and
thus she will continue to do so.

• This follows the four-term contingency that Skinner believed was

the basis of language development—motivating operations,
discriminative stimuli, response, and reinforcing stimuli. Skinner
also suggested that children learn language through imitation of
others, prompting, and shaping.
• Chomsky: Language Acquisition Device
• Noam Chomsky’s work discusses the biological basis for language
and claims that children have innate abilities to learn language.
Chomsky terms this innate ability the “language acquisition
device.” He believes children instinctively learn language without
any formal instruction. He also believes children have a natural
need to use language, and that in the absence of formal language
children will develop a system of communication to meet their
needs. He has observed that all children make the same type of
language errors, regardless of the language they are taught.
Chomsky also believes in the existence of a “universal grammar,”
which posits that there are certain grammatical rules all human
languages share. However, his research does not identify areas of
the brain or a genetic basis that enables humans’ innate ability for
language.
• Piaget: Assimilation and Accommodation
• Jean Piaget’s theory of language development suggests that
children use both assimilation and accommodation to learn
language. Assimilation is the process of changing one’s
environment to place information into an already-existing schema
(or idea). Accommodation is the process of changing one’s schema
to adapt to the new environment. Piaget believed children need to
first develop mentally before language acquisition can occur.
According to him, children first create mental structures within the
mind (schemas) and from these schemas, language development
happens.
• When the child encounters a horse, they might assimilate this
information and immediately call the animal a dog. The process of
accommodation then allows the child to adapt the existing schema
to incorporate the knowledge that some four-legged animals are
horses
• Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development
• Lev Vygotsky’s theory of language development focused on
social learning and the zone of proximal development
(ZPD). The ZPD is a level of development obtained when
children engage in social interactions with others; it is the
distance between a child’s potential to learn and the actual
learning that takes place.
• Vygotsky’s theory also demonstrated that Piaget
underestimated the importance of social interactions in the
development of language.
• Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories are often compared with
each other, and both have been used successfully in the
field of education.
 Critical periods
• Like other innate behaviors, language learning
has some critical periods. This is particularly
evident when it comes to acquiring the sound
system of a new language – learning new
phonemes and the rules for combining them. We
have already noted that infants less than 1 year
old can discriminate among phonemes of any
language but lose this ability by the end of their
first year, so the first months of life are a critical
period for homing in on the phonemes of one’s
native language.
• Indirect evidence for the existence of a critical period for language
acquisition can be seen in cases of children who have experienced
extreme isolation. A famous case of social isolation in childhood is
that of Genie, a girl whose father was psychotic and whose mother
was blind and highly dependent. From birth until she was
discovered by child welfare authorities at age 11, Genie was
strapped to a potty chair in an isolated room of her parents’ home.
Before she was discovered, Genie had almost no contact with other
people. She had virtually no language ability. Efforts to teach her to
speak had limited results. She was able to learn words, but she
could not master the rules of grammar that come naturally to
younger children. Although tests showed that she was highly
intelligent, her language abilities never progressed beyond those of
a third-grader .
• In today’s world, many individuals learn a second
language later in life.
• The proficiency of second-language learners does not
only depend on their age at the time of acquisition.
• The more the individual is socially and psychologically
integrated into the new culture, the better the learning
of the new culture’s language will be.
• Not surprisingly, there is also a positive correlation
between motivation and second-language learning.