Question 1

Metalinguistic awareness refers to
A) the ability to recognize one's own grammatical errors.
B) the ability to reflect on the use of language.
C) knowledge of which verbs are irregular.
D) awareness of the role of positive reinforcement in language acquisition.

Accepted Answer

Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to reflect on the use of language, including its structure, rules, and meaning. It involves thinking about language as an object of study, rather than simply as a tool for communication.

Question 2

An 8-year-old shows irony and sarcasm in his speech by saying "That's just great, I'm a regular Michael Jordon!" after he misses a free throw in a basketball game; this suggests that his ____ has improved.
A) metalinguistic awareness
B) psycholinguistic skills
C) linguistic relativity
D) ability to use linguistic heuristics

Accepted Answer

Metalinguistic awareness refers to the ability to think and talk about language itself, including the ability to understand and use figurative language such as irony and sarcasm. The 8-year-old's use of the ironic statement "That's just great, I'm a regular Michael Jordan!" suggests that he is developing metalinguistic awareness and an understanding of figurative language.

Question 3

A child's early two-word utterances
A) are often described as telegraphic speech.
B) usually begin to appear at about age 12 months.
C) are always direct imitations of parents' speech.
D) have little or no communicative value, since the child does not yet use rules of syntax.

Accepted Answer

Telegraphic speech refers to the early two-word utterances of children, which are concise and omit non-essential words, similar to a telegram.

Question 4

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?
A) Although telegraphic speech is not unique to the English language, it is not a cross-culturally, universal aspect of language development.
B) The emergence of telegraphic speech is unique to the English language.
C) The emergence of telegraphic speech is a cross-culturally, universal aspect of language development.
D) Telegraphic speech is more prevalent in Western cultures than in non-Western cultures.

Accepted Answer

While telegraphic speech is common across languages, it is not a universal aspect of language development and can vary across cultures. Therefore, option A is the most accurate statement. option B is incorrect as telegraphic speech is observed in various languages. Option C is too broad and assumes that telegraphic speech is found in all cultures, which is not supported by evidence. Option D is not necessarily true as there are examples of telegraphic speech in non-Western languages as well.

Question 5

Underextension would be evident if a three-year-old child
A) used a word too broadly.
B) used telegraphic speech to communicate complex ideas.
C) used a word too narrowly.
D) failed to utilize fast mapping.

Accepted Answer

Underextension refers to the situation when a child uses a word too narrowly, such as calling only their own pet cat "cat" while using a different term for all other cats.

Question 6

Four-year-old Nina says: "I runned all the way home." This MOST likely indicates that
A) Nina has forgotten the correct way to form the past tense.
B) Nina hears improper verb forms spoken in her home.
C) Nina is still relying on telegraphic speech to convey meaning.
D) Nina is overregularizing a grammatical rule.

Accepted Answer

Nina is overregularizing a grammatical rule by adding "-ed" to the irregular verb "run." This is common in young children as they try to apply a general rule to all verbs.

Question 7

At dinner three-year-old Bobby overhears his father tell the waitress that his tasty hamburger was delicious. The next day Bobby tells his mother that the grilled-cheese sandwich she made him for lunch was delicious. Apparently, Bobby learned the word delicious through the process of
A) fast mapping.
B) overextension.
C) underextension.
D) telegraphic speech.

Accepted Answer

Fast mapping is the process by which children learn a new word after just one exposure to it. In this scenario, Bobby heard his father use the word "delicious" to describe his hamburger, and he fast mapped the word to mean something that tastes good. He then used the word to describe his own grilled-cheese sandwich the next day.

Question 8

Two-year-old Owen rushes into the kitchen and tells his sister: "Baby throw. Baby bad." He wants her to know that his baby brother is bad because he just threw his toys on the floor. Owen's communication illustrates the use of
A) overregularization.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) semantic slanting.
D) underextension.

Accepted Answer

Owen's communication illustrates the use of telegraphic speech, which is characterized by the use of short, concise phrases that include only essential words to convey a message. "Baby throw" and "baby bad" are examples of telegraphic speech because Owen is communicating the essential information he wants his sister to know - that the baby is bad because he threw his toys on the floor.

Question 9

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?
A) Overregularizations occur only in English, which has numerous irregular verbs.
B) Overregularizations reflect the fact that children do not acquire the rules of grammar in a single leap.
C) Overregularizations increase when school-age children are formally taught subtle exceptions to grammatical rules.
D) Overregularizations are less common in children's comprehension of words than in their production of words.

Accepted Answer

Overregularizations occur in many languages, not just English, and reflect the fact that children gradually acquire the rules of grammar. Option C may be true to some extent, but there is not enough evidence to support this claim. Option D is incorrect, as overregularizations occur in both production and comprehension of words.

Question 10

You are listening to 2-year-old Annie as she says "No eat. No like." She is trying to let you know that she is not going to eat her broccoli because she doesn't like it. Annie's communication illustrates the use of
A) underextension.
B) telegraphic speech.
C) semantic slanting.
D) overregularization.

Accepted Answer

Annie's communication is an example of telegraphic speech, which is common in toddlers. Telegraphic speech is the use of short phrases or sentences with only essential words to convey a message. In this case, Annie is using two-word phrases to communicate her dislike of broccoli. This type of speech typically begins around 18 months and becomes more complex as the child's language development progresses.

Question 11

The process by which a child learns a new word after only one exposure to the word is
A) fast mapping.
B) logical reasoning.
C) underextension.
D) overextension.

Accepted Answer

Fast mapping is the process by which a child learns a new word after only one exposure to the word. This allows children to rapidly expand their vocabulary without requiring repeated exposure to a word before it is learned. Logical reasoning, underextension, and overextension are not processes specifically related to one-time word learning.

Question 12

A child who uses "wented" as the past tense of the verb "to go"
A) is using a metalinguistic transformation.
B) is probably still at the stage of using semantic slanting.
C) is using a general rule in an irregular case where it does not apply.
D) is using motherese to express the past tense.

Accepted Answer

The child is using a general rule of adding "-ed" to form the past tense of verbs, but this rule does not apply to the irregular verb "to go". This is a common mistake made by children learning English.

Question 13

The average length of youngsters' spoken statements ("mean length of utterance") is measured in
A) letters.
B) phonemes.
C) morphemes.
D) words.

Accepted Answer

Mean length of utterance is typically measured in morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning in a language.

Question 14

Seven-year-old Tracy heard a joke in school and asks you: "How could you find a lost dog in the woods?" When you are stumped, she tells you: "You stand near a tree and listen for the bark." Tracy's play on words indicates that she is developing
A) metalinguistic awareness.
B) psycholinguistic skills.
C) linguistic relativity.
D) the ability to use linguistic heuristics.

Accepted Answer

Tracy's play on words indicates that she is developing metalinguistic awareness, which is the ability to reflect on and manipulate language as an object of attention. She is playing with the sounds and meanings of words, which shows an understanding of the principles that govern language. This is a sign of language development and cognitive growth. The other options (B, C, D) are not applicable in this context.

Question 15

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be one of the first words a child would learn?
A) juice
B) eat
C) ball
D) red

Accepted Answer

"Red" is an adjective describing a color which is a more abstract concept than tangible objects such as "juice," "eat," or "ball". Children tend to learn concrete nouns first.

Question 16

Young children have a larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary. In other words, they ____ more words than they ____.
A) hear; speak
B) speak; understand
C) understand; speak
D) understand; hear

Accepted Answer

Receptive vocabulary refers to the words that a child can understand when they hear them, while productive vocabulary refers to the words that a child is able to say or produce themselves. Research has shown that young children typically have a larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary, which means they understand more words than they are able to use in speech. Therefore, the correct answer is C: they understand more words than they speak.

Question 17

The vocabulary spurt typically begins at around
A) 6-10 months.
B) 10-15 months.
C) 18-24 months.
D) 24-30 months.

Accepted Answer

The vocabulary spurt typically begins between 18-24 months, when children begin to rapidly learn and use new words. They may add several new words to their vocabulary each day during this time.

Question 18

Dale is six and his sister Alina is four. One major difference that you would expect in comparing their language development would be
A) Alina's expressions would have a longer mean length of utterance.
B) Dale would be more likely to incorporate overextensions into his expressions.
C) Alina would be less likely to use telegraphic speech in communicating ideas.
D) Dale's expressions would have a longer mean length of utterance.

Accepted Answer

Generally, as children age and continue to develop their language skills, their mean length of utterance (MLU) increases. Therefore, we would expect Dale, who is older than Alina, to have a longer MLU in his expressions.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is LEAST accurate?
A) Overregularizations occur only in English, which has numerous irregular verbs.
B) Overregularizations reflect the fact that children do not acquire the rules of grammar in a single leap.
C) Overregularizations decline when school-age children are formally taught subtle exceptions to grammatical rules.
D) Overregularizations are more common in children's comprehension of words than in their production of words.

Accepted Answer

Overregularizations can occur in languages other than English that have irregularities, such as Spanish and German.

Question 20

A child who says, "I sawed a cat in the yard," is making which of the following errors?
A) overextension
B) underextension
C) overregularization
D) underregularization

Accepted Answer

The child is making an overregularization error by applying the regular past tense "-ed" ending to the irregular verb "see". They should have said "I saw a cat in the yard" or "I have seen a cat in the yard".

Quiz 15: Language and Thought Part 1

Metalinguistic awareness refers to

An 8-year-old shows irony and sarcasm in his speech by saying "That's just great, I'm a regular Michael Jordon!" after he misses a free throw in a basketball game; this suggests that his ____ has improved.

A child's early two-word utterances

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?

Underextension would be evident if a three-year-old child

Four-year-old Nina says: "I runned all the way home." This MOST likely indicates that

At dinner three-year-old Bobby overhears his father tell the waitress that his tasty hamburger was delicious. The next day Bobby tells his mother that the grilled-cheese sandwich she made him for lunch was delicious. Apparently, Bobby learned the word delicious through the process of

Two-year-old Owen rushes into the kitchen and tells his sister: "Baby throw. Baby bad." He wants her to know that his baby brother is bad because he just threw his toys on the floor. Owen's communication illustrates the use of

Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?

You are listening to 2-year-old Annie as she says "No eat. No like." She is trying to let you know that she is not going to eat her broccoli because she doesn't like it. Annie's communication illustrates the use of

The process by which a child learns a new word after only one exposure to the word is

A child who uses "wented" as the past tense of the verb "to go"

The average length of youngsters' spoken statements ("mean length of utterance") is measured in

Seven-year-old Tracy heard a joke in school and asks you: "How could you find a lost dog in the woods?" When you are stumped, she tells you: "You stand near a tree and listen for the bark." Tracy's play on words indicates that she is developing

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be one of the first words a child would learn?

Young children have a larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary. In other words, they more words than they .

The vocabulary spurt typically begins at around

Dale is six and his sister Alina is four. One major difference that you would expect in comparing their language development would be

Which of the following statements is LEAST accurate?

A child who says, "I sawed a cat in the yard," is making which of the following errors?