Post on 21-Dec-2015
transcript
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 2
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The Building Blocks of Language
What are the elements that make up spoken language?
Language can be broken down into elements at several levels.
Take a sentence such as:
“The players talked to the fans”
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 4
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Phonemes
/p, b/ Bilabial Plosives /s, z/ Alveolar Fricatives
Phonemes are the smallest significant units of sound in a language.
Difference between p and b as well as between s and z is voicing (vibration of vocal cords). Carlson book shows how onset of voicing is responsible for difference between pa and ba.
What’s involved is changing the column of moving air.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 5
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Interesting Facts About Phonemes
There are 40 phonemes in English, yet only 26 letters to capture these sounds?! Some letters can stand for different phonemes! For example “O” in HOT and COLD. Really confusing for ESL folks.
The normal rate of speech is about 180 words per minute which is equivalent to 14 phonemes per second. More trouble for ESL folks!
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 6
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Morphemes
Morphemes are the smallest units of sound that denote meaning in a language.
As an example, the word “talked” has two morphemes:
“talk” and the suffix “-ed ”
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 7
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Lexicon or Vocabulary
A lexical item is a root word in the vocabulary .
Most English-speaking high school students have a vocabulary of over 60,000 words.
Most English-speaking university students have a vocabulary of well over 120,000 words.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 8
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Syntax or Grammar
Syntax refers to the way users of a particular language put words together in sentences.
Each language has rules of grammar. “The players to the fans talked” is wrong.
The rules differ across languages. “John drives the car orange” sounds wrong in English, but that order of words is correct in French.
Phrases
Sentences
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 9
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Properties of Language
Language is a complex skill that humans excel at:
•It is symbolic, allowing us to communicate concrete or imaginary thoughts.
•It has structure because it is governed by rules.
•It is generative so that symbols can be combined in an infinite number of ways.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 10
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Language and Humans
Language has been described as:
“The last bastion of human uniqueness”
Is it true that only humans possess the ability to:
•Use symbols to communicate.•Arrange the symbols in a structured way.•Generate an infinite number of combinations of symbols.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 13
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Approach to Chimp Language
Chimps obviously do not have the vocal apparatus to generate language sounds.
But what happens if a chimp is taught to speak usingsign language.
Meet Washoe, who was taught American Sign Language(also known as “Ameslan” or “ASL”).
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 15
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What’s to Make of Chimp Language?
Does the experiment with Washoe convince us thathe could:
•Learn to use signs to label things?•String together signs into “grammatical” sentences?•Generate new combinations of signs to communicate new ideas?
Before reaching a firm conclusion, let’s consider anegative opinion that nearly brought all chimp languageresearch to an end...
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 16
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Meet Nim Chimpsky
Nim Chimpsky with psychology professor Laura Ann Petitto. Petitto was his caretaker and sign language tutor.
Question: “Nim Chimpsky” is a play on the name of what famous psycholinguist?
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 18
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At Columbia University, Herbert Terrace designed the program to teach Nim sign language.
Herbert Terrace was optimistic, envisioning that one day Nim might serve as a chimp interpreter for chimps in the wild.
After years of work and videotape analysis of Nim’s conversations, Terrace found that when Nim combined symbols into longer sequences, he was either imitating his trainer’s previous signs, or “running on” with his hands until he got what he wanted (e.g., “eat Nim eat” or “play me Nim play”.
Moreover, Nim signed spontaneously only when he wanted something whereas humans use language in a more diverse way.
Did Nim Have Language?
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 19
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The Controversy Heats UpAt Georgia State University, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh (and others) has taken the position that primates can learn a rudimentary form of language.
Could Washoe and Nim Chimpski have been handicapped by:
•Their species?
Savage-Rumbaugh worked with Kanzi, a bonobo chimpanzee. Koko, another famous example, was a gorilla.
•The use of sign language?
Kanzi pointed to geometric symbols. Lana, yet another famous example, pressed on symbols on a board.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 20
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The Controversy Continues
The question of whether the communication skills of animals constitutes language is still being debated.
On the question of whether primate language is:
•Symbolic
•Structured
•Generative
Evidence for the first of these criteria seems the most compelling.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 22
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Hemispheric Specialization
Language is mostly localized in the left hemisphere. This ismore the case for men than women (fMRI scan). Rhyming Task
Inferior frontal regions
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 23
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Localizing Language Centres
Speech Production Comprehension:Recognizing
sequencesof sounds and
words.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 24
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Aphasia
Aphasia refers to problems of speech.
Some aphasias involve difficulty with the production of speech.They are known as nonfluent aphasias
Other aphasias involve difficulty with understanding speech.They are known as fluent aphasias.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 25
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Language Centres and Aphasias
Speech Production Comprehension:Recognizing
sequencesof sounds and
words.
Broca’s Aphasia:Laborious speechAgrammatism (no production orcomprehension of complex grammar.No function words)
Wernicke’s Aphasia(receptive aphasia)Poor comprehension.Produce fluent gibberish.Use function words butfew content words.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 27
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A Clear Distinction?
Lesions caused by strokes are seldom limited to a specific areasuch as Broca’s or Vernicke’s.
Still, does the broad distinction between disorders of productionand disorders of comprehension map neatly on Broca andWernicke’s areas?
Not quite. The problem is that speech involves a series ofprocesses, and that problems with one process have an impacton what happens in other processes.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 28
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Stuttering
Stuttering involves disfluencies of speech at the motorend of speech production.
Patterns of stuttering differ a lot. Physical tension is usuallyinvolved.
The causes of stuttering are not known. What is known isthat stuttering is not caused by emotional problems.
Let’s look at a video that illustrates the problem and oneapproach to therapy.
National Stuttering Association web site: www.nsastutter.org
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 30
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AutismAutism is characterized by three general impairments:
• Deviant social development.• Delayed and unusual language development.• Repetitive and ritualistic behaviour.
The specific symptoms of autism vary a lot and theimpairment is often difficult to diagnose.
Autism is a lifelong condition.
The causes of autism are not well understood.
Autism Society of Ontario: www.autismsociety.on.ca
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 32
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Asperger SyndromeAsperger syndrome (AS) is characterised by:
• Poor social skills.• Very poor at reading nonverbal cues.• Preoccupation with a particular subject of interest.• Over sensitivity to textures, sounds, tastes, smells etc.• Vocabulary can be extremely rich.
Those with AS have a normal or above average IQ and many individuals exhibit exceptional skills in a specific area.
The causes of AS are not well understood, though the disorder appears to be hereditary.
Chapter 10 - Language Slide 34
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Tourette’s SyndromeTourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disordercharacterized by tics -- involuntary and uncontrollable sudden movements or vocalizations.
• Cursing, uttering obscenities and ethnic slurs are manifested in about 15% of cases.
• The onset of TS is usually before the age of 18.
• The causes of TS are not fully understood, but it is thought that abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter
dopamine (and perhaps others like serotonin) are involved.
• Medication can help control symptoms: (e.g. Haldol, Catapres, Orap, Prolixin, Permitil and Klonopin).
• Therapy helps patient and family cope with social impact.