The purpose of this unit is to investigate some of the ways in which child language can differ from adult language, and to introduce some of the main controversies among linguists in this field.
It seems that all children go through the same stages when acquiring their first language(s), though they go through them at different rates. Babies cry, then coo, then babble; toddlers produce one-word, then two-word, then multi-word utterances.
ACTIVITY 1 Here are some two-word utterances by children. How many possible meanings can you think of for each one? How could you know which one was intended? (Kendall and Kimmy are children's names.) teddy sock mummy car Kimmy kick Kendall spider play bed Turn to Comments on Activities |
If children are at the stage of producing two-word utterances, there is usually something "left out" from an adult's point of view: sometimes the verb, sometimes its subject or object. Inflections (such as -s for plurals) are also omitted at this stage. This makes early child utterances very hard to interpret out of their context.
Two-word utterances are inadequate for communication in the adult world. Children need to acquire a grammar in order to be able to convey exactly what they mean. Even adult utterances can be ambiguous, of course; but an accomplished speaker can always rephrase his/her utterance if communication breaks down. Without a grasp of a sophisticated syntax this is not possible. Young children only have one way of saying something.
ACTIVITY 2 Turn each of the following statements into a "yes/no" question. Now write a set of ordered rules for generating "yes/no" questions in English, which will account for all the examples you have just produced. Jane is eating her lunch Sam liked chocolate. Emma couldn't catch the ball. Sean might have been ill. Turn to Comments on Activities |
Just as children go through stages in the general length and complexity of the utterances they produce, they also go through stages in the acquisition of particular areas of syntax. Children ask questions even at the one-word stage, using rising intonation and/or gestures to indicate that they are asking rather than stating. Later they become capable of asking more explicit questions, but this ability develops over time.
Which of the rules you found do you think a young child would grasp first? Which would be the most difficult?
ACTIVITY 3 Use the sentences in Activity 2, but this time turn them into "WH"-questions (when, what, who, how (!), when, where, why). As before, write down all the rules needed to do this. What do you think a young child might find difficult about such constructions? Which rules would they acquire first? Turn to Comments on Activities |
Children do not grasp all the "WH"-words at once: their earliest WH-questions only make use of "what" and "where", probably because they are used to adults asking them questions like "where's your nose?" and "what's that?". If you ask them a "why?" question they may well interpret it as a "where" or "what" question.
From the beginning, children seem to know that the WH-word should go at the start of the sentence. Development of WH-questions generally lags behind that of yes/no questions, e.g. they are still getting the word-order wrong in WH-questions when they have sorted it out in yes/no questions:
yes/no: Can't you work this thing?
WH: Why kitty can't stand up?
Perhaps this is because WH-questions have one more factor to take into account compared with yes/no questions, i.e. the WH-word itself, which makes the sentence longer.
Children's "errors" are often amusing, but they are also often predictable. They are regular rather than haphazard, and may follow a pattern based on rules the child has derived from speech it has heard. However, the rules are too general: the child has not yet learnt the exceptions.
ACTIVITY 4 Can you think of any reasons why a child aged 3-4 might make the following errors? [ trying to open a clip:] How did you unsqueezed it? [ crumpling a paper:] There, I unflatted it. [ has been 'typing':] I beed a good typewriter. [ collapsing a telescope:] I tooked it smaller. [ tidying up] I putted my room all clean. [ angry! ] I hate you and I'll never unhate you or nothing! Turn to Comments on Activities |
