COMS 3063 chapter 9 &10 Flashcards

Infant-Directed Speech
All cultures have specific ways of interacting with young language learners. In
Western cultures, such as that in the United States, adults speak directly to in-
fants from birth using a unique speech register called infant-directed (ID) speech.
Noticeable characteristics of ID speech include a high overall pitch, exaggerated
pitch contours, and slower tempos than those used in adult-directed (AD) speech.
ID speech effectively attracts and maintains infants’ attention, and infants seem
to prefer it to AD speech (Cooper & Aslin, 1990; Fernald & Kuhl, 1987). In addi-
tion to eliciting attention, ID speech may facilitate language acquisition in several
ways, such as clarifying vowels (Bernstein Ratner, 1986; Kuhl et al., 1997), and
aiding acquisition of words (Fernald, 2000; Fernald & Mazzie, 1991; Golinkoff
& Alioto, 1995). See Chapter 5 for more information on the role of ID speech in
language acquisition.

Dialects
Everyone has a dialect. Dialects are regional or social varieties of language that
differ from one another in terms of their pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
In comparison, accents are varieties of language that differ solely in pronunci-
ation. The second author of this text (L.J.), born and raised in Ohio, speaks the
dialect of English associated with the geographic Midwest, called the Midland di-
alect. However, her father was born and raised in the Cumberland Gap region of
Tennessee, and still has traces of an Appalachian English dialect. By contrast, the
first author of this text (K.T.) was born and raised in the Baltimore area and speaks

Expanding transportation and communication networks can also affect a re-
gional dialect in the same two ways: It may vanish or it may become more pro-
nounced. Such networks have an impact on once-isolated regions, such as small
islands along the eastern seaboard of the United States, which now host tourists
from many dialect regions of the country.

Shifting cultural centers also influence dialect change in the United States. Sub-
urban areas are now becoming influential in the development of dialects, just as
large urban areas once were. One example of how a large nonurban cultural center
can give life to a new regional variety is California English, whose speakers intro-
duced such words as dude and awesome, as well as the discourse marker like to
introduce quoted speech rather than using the word said (I called my dad and he
was like “Hey, what have you been up to?” I was like “Well, I’ve been working and
studying.”). As you study the next section of the chapter, you may be interested to
check out an expansive collection of North American English dialects (including
many audio samples), maintained by Rick Aschmann, a self-proclaimed collector of
dialects, at http://aschmann.net/AmEng/.

Southern Dialects. Southern dialects are among the more recognizable varieties
of American English. Specific southern dialects include Appalachian English, Smoky
Mountain dialect, South Carolina dialect, Texas English, New Orleans dialect, and
Memphis dialect, although the general dialect of the region is southern American di-
alect. Southern American dialect differs in its phonology, grammar, and lexicon from

Northern Dialects. Dialects of the North include New England dialect, Boston
dialect, Maine dialect, Pittsburgh dialect, New York City dialect, Philadelphia dialect,
and Canadian English. You are likely familiar with the Boston dialect if you have
heard reruns of the long-running National Public Radio show, Car Talk featuring
brothers,

Midwestern Dialects. Persons from areas such as Chicago, Illinois, Ohio,
St. Louis, Missouri, and Michigan speak midwestern dialects. These dialects,
which some people erroneously claim to be accent free or most typical of a
“standard” American dialect, actually have phonological, grammatical, and lexi-
cal features that differentiate them from other regional dialects. With respect to
phonology, midwestern dialects tend to merge the vowel sounds in the words
Don–Dawn, hot–caught, dollar–taller, sock–talk into a single vowel sound, ren-
dering the words “Don” and “Dawn” virtually indistinguishable. Because of the

Western Dialects. Because the western United States was settled more recently
than other regions of the country were, the western dialect area remains largely
undefined (Conn, 2006; W. Labov, Ash, & Boberg, 2005). In some respects, western
dialects share features with their northern and southern counterparts. Phonologi-
cally, many western dialects have a single vowel for the words caught and cot, as
do midwestern dialects. Some western dialects, particularly in California, exhibit
fronted back vowels, so that totally sounds like “tewtally” and dude sounds like
“diwd” (Conn, 2006). Other western dialects include Utah dialect; Portland, Oregon
dialect; and Arizona English.

American English Sociocultural Dialects
Sociocultural dialects differ from geographical dialects of the West, Midwest, North,
and South in that they transcend region. Instead, persons from certain socioeco-
nomic classes and cultural orientations speak these dialects. Three examples of so-
ciocultural dialects are African American Vernacular English, Chicano English, and
Jewish English.

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) comprises the English dialects
that many descendants of enslaved persons speak. AAVE dialects emerged during
the period when persons from Africa arrived in the United States. Persons speaking
the same African languages were often separated to prevent uprisings. In addition,
once the enslaved persons arrived in the United States, they were not permitted
to attend schools. As a consequence of these practices, African Americans began
to form pidgins (discussed later in the chapter), which were combinations of their
African languages and the European languages they were exposed to, so they could
communicate with their owners and with other enslaved individuals.

Pidgins
A pidgin is a simplified type of language that develops when speakers who do not
share a common language come into prolonged contact. Pidgins have no native
speakers; instead, people use them as a second language, particularly when they are
conducting business with one another (Southerland, 1997). Pidgins typically use the
lexicon of the more dominant of the two languages, and the phonology and syntac-
tic structure of the less dominant language, as is the case for the Hawaiian Pigdin
English that Philippine laborers in Hawaii spoke prior to the 1930s (­Southerland,
1997). Hawaiian Pidgin English included lexical items of the more dominant lan-
guage (English), and syntactic structure of the less dominant language (Philippine
languages)—for example, by omitting the copula to be verb when describing a per-
manent attribute of a person or an object (e.g., “Da man tall”; “Da lady short”

Creoles
Pidgins become creoles when speakers pass them down through generations as a first
language. Creoles continue to evolve and become more elaborate and stable with
each new generation of native speakers. Some creoles remain nondominant in their
community, whereas others gain status as official languages. See Language Diversity
and Differences: Nicaraguan Sign Language for a discussion of how Nicaraguan Sign
Language evolved among a group of people who did not share a common language.

Bilingualism
Bilingualism is a term that describes the process whereby children essentially acquire
two first languages. Many young children around the world acquire more than two
first languages. The term used to describe this process is multilingualism. However,
for the sake of simplicity, in this text we use the more common term bilingualism to
describe children who acquire two or more first languages. Some children acquire
two or more first languages from birth, whereas others acquire them sequentially.

Simultaneous Bilingualism
With simultaneous bilingualism, a child acquires two or more languages from birth,
or simultaneously. Simultaneous bilingual children usually receive language input in
two or more forms from their parents, grandparents, other close relatives, or child
care providers. Simultaneous bilingualism occurs in one of two contexts: A child
is part of a majority ethnolinguistic community, or he or she is part of a minority
ethnolinguistic community (Genesee et al., 2004). Bilingual children from these two
types of communities may experience different degrees of success in acquiring and
maintaining proficiency in their two first languages.

A majority ethnolinguistic community is a group that speaks a language the
majority of people in an area (e.g., country, state, province) value and assign high
social status. The language the majority ethnolinguistic community speaks may be
an official language in the community, or it may be the unofficial standard in the
community. In general, persons from a majority ethnolinguistic community share
cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Examples of majority ethnolinguistic communi-
ties include Standard American English (SAE) speakers in the United States, French
speakers in France, and German speakers in Germany.

In contrast to a majority ethnolinguistic community, a minority ethnolinguistic
community is a group that speaks a language few people in the community speak
or value. Languages that people in minority ethnolinguistic communities speak
may have lower social status, and may receive little or no institutional support.
Historically, Spanish was considered a minority ethnolinguistic community in the
United States, although in many communities that is certainly not the case. For
instance, in the Laredo, Texas, metropolitan area, 92% of people speak a lan-
guage other than English at home—which, in 99% of the cases, is Spanish

Sequential Bilingualism
Sequential bilingualism is similar to simultaneous bilingualism in that a child
acquires two first languages. The difference is that the child learns the two first
languages in succession, usually within the first 3 years of life, before developing
proficiency with only one of the languages. Children may acquire two or more
languages sequentially rather than simultaneously for two reasons. First, some par-
ents prefer to use a single language from birth and wait to introduce an additional
language. Second, input from one language may not be available immediately after
birth. For example, a child may start to attend child care with a provider who
speaks a different language, or a child’s grandparents, who speak a different lan-
guage, may move to the area after the child has begun to acquire one language.
Children who acquire two or more languages sequentially experience the same
advantages and setbacks children who acquire multiple languages simultaneously
experience, depending on their status in a majority or minority ethnolinguistic
community.

Two Systems or One?
Researchers disagree as to whether bilingual children have two separate language
systems from the start or begin with a single language system that eventually splits
into two. Some time ago, Volterra and Taeschner

Code Switching
A common phenomenon among bilingual individuals is code switching, or code
mixing. In this process, speakers who have more than one language alternate
between the languages. The character, Gloria on the TV show, Modern Family uses
code switching when she incorporates words and phrases from her native lan-
guage, Spanish

When the alternation occurs within a single utterance, it is called
intrautterance mixing (or, within one sentence, intrasentential mixing). These
two examples were produced by Isabella, a 3-year-old Spanish–English bilingual
speaker (Arias & Lakshmanan, 2005):

Second language acquisition

Transfer is the influence of one’s L1 on his or her L2 development. For ex-
ample, with respect to phonology, Spanish speakers learning English may exhibit
spirantization, whereby the stop sound in the English word caddy sounds more
like the fricative sound in the word Cathy. With respect to syntax, Spanish speak-
ers learning English may reverse the order of adjectives and nouns, consistent with
Spanish word order (e.g., the store new instead of the new store). In some cases,
greater similarity between an L1 and L2 can lead to greater transfer of L1 features
to the L2 (including syntax, semantics, phonology, morphology, and pragmatics). In
other cases, greater similarity between an L1 and L2 may lead to less transfer of L1
features to the L2 (possibly because the learner does not believe certain structures
work similarly in the L1 and L2), so research has not been fully conclusive as to the
predictability of language transfer.

During the process of L2 acquisition, speakers create a language system called
an interlanguage that represents the learner’s evolving second language knowl-
edge, patterns, and rules. Other terms that characterize an L2 learner’s developing
language system include learner language, approximative system, and idiosyncratic
dialect (Hummel, 2014). The interlanguage includes elements of the L1 and the L2,
as well as elements found in neither of the two languages (Gass & Selinker, 2001).
For example, evidence of L1 phonology and syntax in the L2 is often evident in
the interlanguage (see Table 9.2). In addition to phonology and syntax, one’s in-
terlanguage is also evident in morphological, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of
language. Depending on a person’s exposure to and education in the L2, linguistic
forms of the interlanguage may stabilize with time.

Language stabilization occurs
once the interlanguage stops evolving and L2 learners reach a plateau in their lan-
guage development. Gass and Selinker (2001) cautioned that because of a lack of
research on the extent to which L2 learners experience temporary or permanent
plateaus in their development, practitioners should avoid using the term language
fossilization. To say a student’s language has become fossilized conveys that the
student is no longer making progress in his or her L2 acquisition, or that that stu-
dent is permanently trapped in the interlanguage

Overgeneralization is a developmental process we discussed in Chapter 5, with
regard to word learning. Overgeneralization also occurs in second language acquisition
and refers to situations when a learner incorrectly overextends or applies rules in the
L2, such as using the past tense ending -ed with irregular verbs as in, “We drinked it.”

Avoidance is another common developmental process in L2 acquisition and de-
scribes when a learner avoids using sounds, words, or grammatical constructions he
or she finds to be difficult or does not know. For example, although the first author
(K.T.) studied Spanish in classroom settings for more than 10 years, she still avoids
using the subjunctive mood (which expresses doubt, uncertainty, and conveys sub-
jectivity) in conversations because she does not have as strong of a grasp on the
subjunctive as the indicative mood (which expresses factual information, certainty,
and conveys objectivity).

Attitudes and Policies Regarding Dual Language Instruction
Dual language instruction has been an important consideration throughout history.
In ancient times, when written materials were scarce, students who wanted to read
widely had to learn more than a single language (Lessow-Hurley, 1990). Ancient
societies thus valued and endorsed dual language instruction. In later times, dual
language instruction became important for religious purposes. For example, Latin
remained the language of worship for Catholics, and Hebrew persisted as the lan-
guage of worship for Jews, well after people ceased to use these languages in their
homes and communities. In more modern times, dual language instruction has en-
dured in most areas of the world, especially in countries with official bilingualism,
such as Canada, Israel, and Belgium.

English as a Second Language
Learning English as a second language (ESL) occurs when a person who speaks
a first language other than English then learns English in the context of an En-
glish-speaking country, such as England or the United States. Sometimes people re-
fer to learning English as an additional language (EAL) when a person who speaks
two or more languages subsequently learns English. Within U.S. schooling, the term
English language learner (ELL) or English learner (EL) is often used to describe
children identified as having limited English proficiency.

Principles. Language structures are language units, or forms one can observe
directly. The contrastive analysis hypothesis posits that a learner will acquire lan-
guage structures easily when the structures are similar in the two languages and
will experience difficulty acquiring language structures when they differ in the two
languages. This process is called L1 interference. Because the contrastive analysis
hypothesis is a nurture-inspired theory, proponents believe L1 acquisition and L2
acquisition are similar processes, both of which benefit from imitation, practice,
repetition, and reinforcement of language behavior.

Implications for L2 Instruction. Given that L1 interference makes it diffi-
cult for learners to acquire L2 structures, one implication for L2 instruction is a
process called contrastive analysis. Contrastive analysis involves performing a
structural analysis by identifying aspects of the L1 and L2 that differ. The learner
would then focus on practicing the aspects of the L2 that differ so as to avoid
reinforcing behaviors or habits from the L1. The learner would also work to
replace L1 habits with L2 habits. Contrastive analysis was especially prevalent
in the 1950s and 1960s, when behaviorist theories were also more widespread.
Another implication for instruction (which may be more common today) is per-
forming contrastive analysis in a more simplified manner to help identify and
explain errors in a learner’s L2.

What is a Language Disorder?
Practitioners and researchers use many terms to describe language disorders in
children, including language delay, language impairment, language disability, and
language-learning disability. In general, all of these terms are synonyms used to
describe individuals who exhibit significant impairments in the comprehension
and/or production of language in form, content, and/or use. Additionally, this im-
pairment must be significant enough to have an adverse impact on an individual’s
social, psychological, and educational functioning and cannot reflect a language
difference, such as dialectical variation.

Prevalence
Language disorders are the most prevalent (common) type of communication im-
pairment affecting children, and often seem to contribute to other issues as well,
including problems with social well-being (e.g., making friends with others) and
academic achievement, particularly in reading. It is important, therefore, for parents,
educators, physicians, and others to be aware of common signs of language diso

Late language emergence (LLE), which generally equates to having
a slow start in language, occurs in an estimated one in five children (19%;
Zubrick, Taylor, Rice, & Slegers, 2007). Children with LLE, also called late talk-
ers, are usually identified at about 2 years of age. Recall that language pro-
duction really starts to “take off” at around 1 year of age, when many children
produce their first word, and that by 18 months or so, children have acquired a
productive vocabulary of about 50 words and begin to produce some two-word
combinations (mommy go, want baba).

The prevalence of secondary language impairment, language disor-
ders resulting from or secondary to other conditions, is more difficult to es-
timate. Common types of secondary language impairment include intellectual
or cognitive disability and the autism spectrum disorders. Recent estimates
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2015)

Who Identifies and Treats Children
with Language Disorders?
A variety of professionals are involved with the identification and treatment of lan-
guage disorders in children. Some professionals provide direct services, whereas
others provide indirect services. Direct services include diagnosing language disor-
ders and providing treatment to children with disorders through clinical and educa-
tional interventions. Indirect services include screening children for the possibility of
language disorders and referring them for direct services, as well as counseling par-
ents on approaches to supporting language development in the home environment.

Speech–Language Pathologists
Speech–language pathologists, or SLPs, are frequently the lead direct service pro-
vider for children with language disorders. The scope of practice for SLPs as related
to language disorders includes a number of pertinent responsibilities, including

Psychologists also hold important responsibilities in the identification and treatment
of child language disorders, and also conduct research important to our under-
standing of how to identify and treat these disorders. Cognitive and perceptual psy-
chology and developmental psychology are two branches of psychology that conduct
research relevant to child language disorders. These researchers conduct basic and
applied research on human perception, thinking, and memory, with developmen-
tal psychologists emphasizing growth in these capacities over the lifespan. Their
research helps us answer such valuable questions as, “What demographic factors

General Educators
General educators include preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school
teachers. General educators have the important role of identifying children in
their classrooms who may show signs of difficulty with language within the

Special Educators
Special educators have a critical role to play in supporting the educational
progress of children with identified language disorders. The field of special
education has grown as a result of federal legislation mandating the free and
appropriate education of children with disabilities in our nation’s schools. Cur-
rently, there are more than 400,000 special educators teaching the nearly 6 mil-
lion children with disabilities in our nation’s schools (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
2015). Nearly one-fourth of these children with disabilities have disabilities of
speech and language (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educa-
tion Statistics, 2015).

Early Interventionists
Early interventionists (sometimes called child development specialists) are pro-
fessionals with specialization in intervention for infants and toddlers. The field
of early intervention is a new one, growing out of the 1986 reauthorization and
amendment (P.L. 99-457) of the original 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Educa-
tion Act. The original act legislated special education services for children ages
6 to 21, with some support available for preschool programs serving children ages
3 to 5. In light of concerns raised about access to services for children who were
even younger, the 1986 reauthorization provided federal support to states to imple-
ment early intervention services to children with identified or suspected disabili-
ties from birth to age 2. Obviously, states needed well-trained professionals—early
interventionists—to support their design and implementation of statewide early
intervention systems. P.L. 99–457 provided states with considerable flexibility in de-
termining the credentials early intervention personnel require, and there remains
great variability across the nation in the training provided to and required by these
professionals.

Audiologists
Audiologists are specialists in identifying, assessing, and managing disorders of the
auditory, balance, and other neural systems. Audiologists are often involved in the

Otorhinolaryngologist
Otorhinolaryngologists, or ear–nose–throat physicians (ENTs), are close collabora-
tors in the diagnosis and management of language disorders that result from injury
or illness of the ear, nose, or throat. They are a particularly important team member
for children who exhibit slow language development as a function of otitis media
(OM) or other types of hearing loss. OM is one of the most common causes of hear-
ing loss in children. It results from a viral or bacterial infection of the middle ear
space, and in some instances the middle ear space is filled with fluid, which damp-
ens their hearing ability. Some estimates indicate that at any given point, about 10%
of children have OM (Monasta et al., 2012). When OM persists either in a single
case of the disease or through chronic infections (e.g., five or six in a given year), a
child may exhibit delays in the acquisition of language. The ENT has the key role of
halting the progress of OM through use of antibiotics and/or the insertion of pres-
sure-equalizing tubes (PE tubes) into the eardrum to equalize pressure between the
middle and outer ear and to release any fluids in the middle ear space. ENTs often
work closely with speech–language pathologists and audiologists to promote the
language and hearing achievements of children with chronic hearing lo

Specific Language Impairment
Defining Characteristics As mentioned previously, SLI (also called primary lan-
guage disorder) is a developmental disability in which an individual shows a
significant impairment of expressive or receptive language that cannot be attributed
to any other causal condition (Leonard, 2014). Children with SLI have typical hear-
ing skills (although they may have a history of middle-ear infections); normal
intelligence; and no obvious neurological, motor, or sensory disturbances, such as
seizures or brain injury.

Defining Characteristics As mentioned previously, SLI (also called primary lan-
guage disorder) is a developmental disability in which an individual shows a
significant impairment of expressive or receptive language that cannot be attributed
to any other causal condition (Leonard, 2014). Children with SLI have typical hear-
ing skills (although they may have a history of middle-ear infections); normal
intelligence; and no obvious neurological, motor, or sensory disturbances, such as
seizures or brain injury.

Causes
No known cause for SLI has been identified, although advances in brain-imaging
and epidemiological research suggest a strong biological and genetic component
to this disorder (O’Brien, Zhang, Nishimura, Tomblin, & Murray, 2003; Reader
et al., 2014). Children who have immediate family members with language
impairment are more likely than other children to develop SLI, and 20%–40% of
children with SLI have a sibling or parent with a language disorder (Rice, Haney,
& Wexler, 1998)

2. Difficulties with nonverbal communicative behaviors. When individuals com-
municate, they use a variety of nonverbal communicative behaviors to supple-
ment their verbal behaviors. For instance, we use gestures, eye contact, and
facial expressions as a vehicle to communicate. Individuals with ASD show sig-
nificant difficulties with this aspect of communication. For instance, they may
not use gestures or eye gaze when communicating in ways that conform to
their cultural norms.

Difficulties with nonverbal communicative behaviors. When individuals com-
municate, they use a variety of nonverbal communicative behaviors to supple-
ment their verbal behaviors. For instance, we use gestures, eye contact, and
facial expressions as a vehicle to communicate. Individuals with ASD show sig-
nificant difficulties with this aspect of communication. For instance, they may
not use gestures or eye gaze when communicating in ways that conform to
their cultural norms.

Difficulties developing and maintaining relationships with others. Individuals
with ASD typically have significant difficulties in their relationships with others.
They may have no interest in having relationships with others, they may have
difficulties engaging in play with others, and they may seldom if ever initiate
with peers.

Causes
ASDs are neurobiological disorders that are believed to result from an organic brain
abnormality (Hall, 2012). Genetic research showing high rates of co-occurrence
between monozygotic twins indicates that there is a strong biological basis of this
disability. Some factors may increase a child’s risk for developing autism. Certain
prenatal and perinatal complications, particularly maternal rubella and anoxia (lack
of oxygen to the brain), are associated with an increased risk for autism, as is the
presence of some developmental or physical disabilities, such as encephalitis (an
inflammation of the brain) and fragile X syndrome (a genetic disorder that resul

Intellectual Disability
Defining Characteristics
Intellectual disability (ID) is a “condition of arrested or incomplete development
of the mind, which is especially characterized by impairment of skills manifested
during the developmental period” (American Association on Mental Retardation
[AAMR], 2002, p. 103). ID is diagnosed in children younger than age 18 years who
meet two criteria: (a) significant limitations in intellectual functioning and (b) signif-
icant limitations in adaptive behavior (AAMR, 2002). Thus, children with ID exhibit
limitations in intelligence such as difficulty reasoning, planning, solving problems,
thinking in abstract terms, comprehending abstract and complex concepts, and
learning skills. These children also experience limitations in adaptive behavior and
the activities of daily living, including difficulties with conceptual skills (communi-
cation, functional academics, self-direction, health and safety), social skills (social
relationships, leisure), and practical skills (self-care, home living, community partic-
ipation, work)

Traumatic Brain Injury
Defining Characteristics
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) refers to damage or injury to an individual’s brain
tissue sometime after birth. Young children, adolescent males, and older persons
have the highest risk, and males are affected twice as often as females (CDC, 2007).
Mild injuries, characterized by a concussion and loss of consciousness for 30 min or
less, are the most common type of brain injury and usually have few lasting reper-
cussions. In contrast, a severe injury is accompanied by a coma lasting for 6 hr or
more. Such injuries can result from infection (e.g., meningitis), disease (e.g., brain
tumor), and physical trauma (e.g., gunshot wound). Some of the more common
causes of TBI in children include abuse (e.g., shaken baby syndrome), intentional
harm (e.g., being hit on the head), accidental poisoning through ingestion of toxic
substances (e.g., prescription medications, pesticides), car accidents, and falls.

Defining Characteristics
A hearing loss is a physical condition in which an individual cannot detect or dis-
tinguish the full range of sounds normally available to the human ear. It can result
from prenatal, perinatal, or postnatal damage to any of the structures that carry
auditory information from the external world to the brain centers that process au-
ditory information. As shown in Figure 10.1, hearing loss resulting from damage
to the outer or middle ear is termed conductive loss, whereas hearing loss result-
ing from damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve is termed sensorineural loss.
Conductive and sensorineural loss may occur bilaterally (both ears are affected) or
unilaterally (one ear is affected and the other is intact). Hearing loss that results
from damage to the centers of the brain that process auditory information is called
auditory-processing disorder (APD).