constructing a language

8/4/2019 Constructing a Language

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Usage-Based Linguistics Human beings aren¶t born with specific set of communicative

behaviors (unlike animals)

Generative grammar is not as complexly confusing, andlanguage acquisition can be explained by being integratedwith other cognitive and social-cognitive skills.

*Intention-reading: share attention with others and follow it,imitatively

Pattern-finding: form perceptual and conceptual categoriesand analogies

Usage-based linguistics: language structure emerges fromlanguage use! Includes the core grammar as well asidiosyncratic and things in between.

Grammaticalization: linguistic constructions are themselvesmeaningful linguistic symbols, NOT algebraic procedures



Origins of Language Around 9-12 months infants understand the social world

Begin gaze-following and social referencing Behaviors are triadic²interactions between both

objects and people to share attention. They learn thereis a joint attentional frame, defined intentionally andform a common ground.

First, infants monitor intentional states of others towardsoutside objects and engage with them as a scaffold

Second, infants monitor intentional states of adultstowards themselves and their attentional states This helps them understand communicative intentions

It is crucial to basic symbol learning

And to pragmatic context skills

Pointing is an early triadic gesture of intention



Words Word±learning easier when adults name new

objects as the focus of attention

Tomasello¶s studies show that children don¶t need

adults to direct attention and name objects, theycan discern adult¶s focus of attention in complicatedsituations. Also, adults specific behaviors (smile or nod) aren¶t enough to indicate intended referent

Children use a variety of cues to read adult

referential intentions, showing flexibleunderstanding

A child discerns through intentional reading whichobject or action an adult refers to with a new word



Complex Constructions

and Discourse Children focus attention on topic of conversation, not on

linguistic structures!

Early on, children first distinguish between what is presently

in the joint attentional frame and what is new to aconversation

Around 24 months, children can talk about a focused topicin a joint-attentional frame

5 year olds use about twice as many nominals (referents)as younger children, showing they understand the listener is

following They also talk about a central theme and make it the

subject of the conversation

Pressure to adjust utterance to listener¶s understanding indiscourse circumstances lead them to develop theory of mind



Biological, Cultural, and Ontogenetic

Processes

*The fundamental unit of intentional action (and of language learning) is stored exemplars of utterances

Ex: µthank you¶, µI wanna X¶, µI¶m Xing¶

How µX¶ contributes to larger communicative structure

In experiments of cultural learning, young children canreproduce adult¶s intended (not accidental) actionswhen they don¶t even perform it

To learn a language: (1) hear an adult utterance,

(2) segment communicative intention into componentparts, and

(3) store comprehended utterance and components



Application:Intention Reading

andChildren with Autism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRpuFGWs2hQ



Why Study Autism?

Attention reading a major component of development

Consistent with usage-based model

Emphasizes the significant of jointattention by linking cognitive linguistics

with experimental psychology Suggests an alternative to normal

development based on learning withoutembodiment



Overview of Autism

Brain development disorder

Diagnosed based on key behaviors rather thancause or mechanism

Known to be inherited, but still poorly understood

Characterized by abnormalities in social interactionand communication

Usually diagnosed by age 2

Syndrome-specific deficit of joint attentional skills



Nonlinguistic Cognitive Abnormalities

Hyper-systemizing

Creating «rules» to describe internal events that

can not be understood otherwise Cannot empathize with others or understand

their motivations

Limited ability to see the big picture



Delays in Acquisition: The Autistic Patterns

Nearly 50% do not acquire language atall

No babbling or gesturing at 12 months

Lacking single words at 16 months

Lacking two-word spontaneous phrases

at 24 months Attention sharing tests very important in

diagnostics



Abnormality in LanguageStructure and Use

Verbal communication sometimes limited to labeling

Sentences usually only represent the world at it is, marked bythe lack of embedded clauses, propositional attitudes, lack of

discourse on ongoing or past activity Conversational deficits: does not distinguish between new and

given info, rarely express intention, inability to understand literalvs. intended meanings, difficulty with irony, jokes, and lies

Avoidance of representations of emotional states

Narrative discourse: do not consider listener's needs, lack of causal explanations

Cut off from social-historical aspects embodied in language



Theory of Mind in SocialCognition

The first sign of «mind» in communication is in conceptualizing othersas intentional, volitional beings

Understanding that others have minds is the enables joint attention

Longitudinal studies found that responses in individual autistic toddlersto bids for joint attention predicted language gains several years later [independent of IQ level]

Those with the poorest non-linguistic joint-attentional skills have thelowest linguistic performance

Evidence that joint attention is a precurser to

language -They develop around the same time(~1 year old) in normal

children-They simultaneously in autistic children, occurring at varying

ages - In some autistic children neither can develop ± in verbalchildren there is not one without the other



Alternate strategies inacquisition

Heavier reliance on lexical and syntactic knowledge: moreknowledge is needed to pass theory of mind tests such asfalse belief tests due to lack of empathy

Different linguistic cues to cope with lack of social-cognitive development and symbolic understanding

Lack of symbolic skills make it difficult to focus attention:the preferred approach is repetitive tasks to make up for the deficit

Tomasello theorizes that they integrate information intocontexts through piecemeal efforts that are not embodied,leading to inefficiency

Hypothesis that excesses in neurons cause over-connectivity in key brain regions



Bibliography

Flusberg, Helen. «Evaluating the theory of mind hypothesis of autism.»C urrent Directions in Psychological Science. 16.6 Dec. 2007.

Holth, Per. «An operant analysis of joint-attentional skills.» T he Journal of Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention. 2.3 Fall 2005.

Norbury, Courtney Frazier. «Barking up the wrong tree.» Journal of Experimental C hild Psychology. 90.2 Feb 2005.

Rogers, Sally J. Imitation and the social mind . London: Guilford Press, 2006.

Tomasello, Michael. C onstructing a Language. Harvard University Press,2003.

Tomasello, Michael. The C ultural Origins of Human C ognition. Harvard

University Press, 1999.

Watt, Nola. «Prelinguistic predictors of language outcome at three years of age.» Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Science. 49.6 Dec 2006.

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