May/June 2024

LIN2601

Language Acquisition in a Natural Environment

60 Marks

3 Hours

This paper consists of 16 pages.

Instructions:

This paper consists of Section A and Section B. All questions are compulsory.

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Answer files should be submitted via myExams.
Do NOT password-protect PDF answer files since these files cannot be marked.

This examination will be proctored using the Invigilators App.

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be monitored for plagiarism.

Page 1 of 16
Examination Access code

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Page 2 of 16
Section A- 40 Marks

1) When a child uses the word “TV” to refer to any television set as well as to other electronic devices
such as desktop Computers, laptops, tablets, etc., this is an example of ___________ .

A. Semantic over-extension

B. Semantic under-generalization

C. Semantic over-generalization

D. Semantic under-extension

E. both a) and c)

F. both b) and d)

2) When a child uses the word “tree” to name the tree in their own yard but thinks each of all the other
trees in the neighbourhood is called something else, this is an example of ___________ .

A. Semantic over-extension

B. Semantic under-generalization

C. Semantic over-generalization

D. Semantic under-extension

E. both a) and c)

F. both b) and d)

3) Which of the following is TRUE concerning natural language environment and formal language
environment?

A. Formal language environment leads to learning one or more languages unconsciously, without much
deliberate effort.

B. Natural language environment mostly results in explicit linguistic knowledge whereas formal language
environment mostly results in implicit linguistic knowledge.

C. It is not possible to acquire a second language (L2) in a natural language environment.

D. It is possible for a person to develop knowledge of an L2 partly in a natural language environment

and partly in a formal language environment.

4) Concerning language acquisition in children, which of the following is FALSE according to the
innateness hypothesis?

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A. Children know more about language than what they are exposed to in their environment.

B. Children are born equipped with universal principles of language in their brain and this helps them to
easily acquire any language they are exposed to in their environment.

C. The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which children are born with is helpful for acquiring only an
L1 (first language) but not an L2 (second language).

D. All of the above.

5) Which of the following can help us to fully understand how children acquire language?

A. The Innateness hypothesis

B. The Behaviourist theory

C. The Social interactionism theory

D. The Imitation theory

E. None of the above

6) Which of the following statements is/are TRUE according to the behaviourist theory?

A. Children acquire language through positive reinforcement.

B. Children acquire language by listening to speech in their environment and repeating what they have
heard.

C. Children acquire language through imitation.

D. Children acquire language through negative reinforcement.

E. All of the above

F. Only b) and c)

6) Once children have acquired the grammatical rules of a given language, they can produce and
understand sentences which they have never heard before. This fact is commonly used as supporting
evidence to ...

A. The Behaviourist theory

B. The Social interactionism theory

C. The Innateness hypothesis

D. The Imitation theory

E. All of the above

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7) Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the Critical Period Hypothesis?

A. There is a particular time window within which children can acquire language naturally and
effortlessly; if this period is missed, language acquisition becomes increasingly more difficult.

B. Provided that they are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD), humans can easily acquire
their L1 (first language) at any age during their life time.

C. There is a particular time window within which children can acquire language without Language
Acquisition Device (LAD).

D. There is a particular time window within which children can acquire language without Language
Acquisition Support System (LASS).

8) Which of the following is the correct sequential order of the stages of language acquisition in
children?

A. Cooing, babbling stage, holophrastic stage, two-word stage

B. One-word stage, babbling stage, two-word stage, holophrastic stage, telegraphic stage

C. Babbling stage, two-word stage, holophrastic stage, telegraphic stage

D. Babbling stage, holophrastic stage, two-word stage, telegraphic stage

E. Babbling stage, holophrastic stage, later babbling stage, telegraphic stage

9) Based on what you have learned in this module, at what age do most children start producing
utterances such as the following?
“Auntie come,” “Cookie nice,” “Milk hot,” “Catty jump,” etc.

A. Around the age of 6-9 months

B. Around the age of 10-12 months

C. Around 18 to 24 months.

D. None of the above

Textbox-A: Consider the child utterances in this textbox in order to answer Questions 10-12.

Baby-1: “cookie,” “coke,” “candy,” “kittie.”

Baby-2: “da-da-da-da-da,” “a-ga-ga-ga-ga!” “ mmm-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!”
Baby-3: “Where mommy go?” (to mean: Where did mommy go?); “Juice not good” (to mean: This juice
does not taste good.)

10) Based on the sample utterance in Textbox-A above, Baby-1 is most likely in the _____________
stage of language acquisition (development).

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A. Early babbling

B. Canonical babbling

C. Holophrastic

D. Telegraphic

E. Cooing

11) Based on the sample utterance in Textbox-A above, Baby-2 is most likely in the _____________
stage of language acquisition (development).

A. Telegraphic

B. Cooing

C. Early babbling

D. Canonical babbling

E. Holophrastic

12) Based on the sample utterance in Textbox-A above, Baby-3 is most likely in the _____________
stage of language acquisition (development).

A. Canonical babbling

B. Cooing

C. Telegraphic

D. Holophrastic

E. Early babbling

Textbox-B: Use the information in this textbox to answer Questions 12-15.

Child-1: pronounces the word stop as “top” and clean as “lean”

Child-2: pronounces the word fanta as “panta” and sweet as “tweet”

Child-3: pronounces the word ring as “wing” and long as “yong”

Child-4: pronounces the word pajama as “papama”

12) The pronunciation of Child-1 exemplifies a phonological process called _____________.

A. Alliteration

B. Substitution

C. Reduction

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D. Assimilation

13) The pronunciation of Child-2 exemplifies a phonological process called _____________.

A. Reduction

B. Substitution

C. Syllable deletion

D. Assimilation

14) The pronunciation of Child-3 exemplifies a phonological process called _____________.

A. Assimilation

B. Reduction

C. Substitution

D. Syllable deletion

15) The pronunciation of Child-4 exemplifies a phonological process called _____________.

A. Substitution

B. Lateralisation

C. Reduction

D. Assimilation

16) Which of the following statements is/are FALSE concerning the acquisition of morphemes by
children?

A. Prefixes tend to be more quickly acquired compared to suffixes.

B. Morphemes that serve multiple functions are more easily acquired than morphemes that serve just
one function.

C. Most children tend to acquire bound morphemes before acquiring free morphemes.

D. Typically, function words are acquired before content words.

E. All of the above

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17) Which of the following statements is/are FALSE concerning the relationship between age and
language acquisition?

A. Age is not a factor in language acquisition.

B. Older people pick up language quicker because of their LAD.

C. Children do not acquire language more easily because of brain plasticity.

D. Children and adults pick up language in the same manner and at the same pace.

E. All of the above.

18) Which of the following theorists specifically studies observable output?

A. Behaviourist theorists

B. Immitation theorists

C. Social interactionist theorists

D. Language theorists

19) Which of the following can help children to be able to produce grammatically correct phrases and
sentences in a given language?

A. The so-called Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

B. Exposure to and imitation of adult speech

C. Positive reinforcement

D. Negative reinforcement

E. All of the above

20) The fact that children all over the world (regardless of their geographical, cultural, and linguistic
backgrounds) follow similar language development patterns best supports the _______
theory/hypothesis?

A. Innateness hypothesis

B. Imitation theory

C. Behaviorist theory

D. Universal Grammar (UG)

E. both b) and c) F. both a) and d)

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21) Which stage of language acquisition in children does the following two utterances best illustrate?

“Mommy make tea" (intended meaning: Mommy is making tea). “Auntie bring cookie” (intended
meaning: My aunt brought me cookies).

A. Babbling stage

B. Telegraphic stage

C. Holophrastic stage

D. Sentence stage

22) What is the most common age at which children start communicating using single-word utterances
(e.g. “Syeep,” (to mean: I want to sleep)?

A. 6 months

B. 9 months

C. 12 months

D. 24 months

23) Which of the following statements is/are TRUE?

A. At the holophrastic stage of syntactic development, children use multiple words to convey a
message.

B. The function of utterances produced by children at the holophrastic stage is only to name objects in
their environment.

C. In the second stage of syntactic development (acquisition of syntax), children are capable of
producing multiple-word utterances but do not yet have any idea about the correct grammatical
structure.

D. At the telegraphic stage, children’s utterances consist of mostly function rather than lexical words.

E. From as early as Stage-1 in the acquisition of Yes/No questions, children are able to use auxiliary
verbs (such as “is,” “can,” “does,” etc.) to ask questions.

F. None of the above

24) There is a particular time-period within which children can acquire language without Language
Acquisition Device (LAD).

A. True

B. False

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25) Some children begin producing whole words before they go through babbling stage.

A. True

B. False

26) A child who is able to produce utterances such as “Hi, baba,” “No, babby,” “Babby go” is in his
babbling stage.

A. True

B. False

27. When a child pronounces “chicken” as “ticken,” this is an example of reduction strategy
(phonological process).

A. True

B. False

28) Which word is preferred when describing the development of language in children?

A. language acquisition

B. babbling

C. language learning

D. design features

28) Which stage of language acquisition contains sighs, grunts and back consonants?

A. Early babbling stage

B. The crying stage

C. The cooing stage

D. Constant phonetic form

29) Which theory stress the importance of the LSS?

A. Social interactionism

B. Reinforcement theory

C. Imitation theory

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D. Innateness theory

30) The production of “Daddy I runned very fast” is an example of

A. Overextension

B. Underextension

C. Overgeneralisation

D. both a and c

31) Which of the following is a direct weakness of the imitation theory?

A. Children produce sounds that are not present in adults' speech.

B. Negative reinforcement does not always work.

C. Some children are fast learners of language.

D. The blueprint along which children model their sentences does not always apply.

32) Which statement below best describes the telegraphic stage?

A. The child can use irregular forms correctly.

B. The child constructs complex sentences

C. The child can construct complex utterances that are not yet full sentences.

D. The child likes to play with the telegraph.

33) The production of fluent sentences which are not comprehensible with nonsensical words is a
symptom of ______ aphasia.

A. Lexical

B. Broca’s

C. Wernicke’s

D. Echolalia

34) _______ aphasia is characterised by difficulty producing utterances and a lot of short incomplete
sentences.

A. Broca’s

B. Wernicke’s

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C. Frontal

D. Parietal

35) Which of the following is/are not part of the lobes of the brain?

A. Broca’s lobe

B. Occipital lobe

C. Parietal lobe

D. Temporal lobe

36) ______ area is located at the back of the Frontal lobe

A. Wernicke’s

B. Broca’s

C. LAD

D. Williamson’s

37) Which of the following tests are used to determine which hemisphere is dominant for language?

A. The linguistic test

B. Sodium Amytal Test

C. Dichotic listening Test

D. Both B and C

38) Which of the following theorists is a Behaviourist?

A. Carl Wernicke

B. Paul Broca

C. B.F. Skinner

D. Eric Erickson

39) Which of the following are characteristics of motherese?

A. Short sentences.

B. The use of diminutives.

C. A lot of repetition.

D. A lot of questions and commands.

E. All of the above.

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40) Which of the following are symptoms of Down Syndrome?

A. Delayed language development or speech

B. Difficulty with grammar
C. Challenges with clear speech because of big tongue.
D. Only A and C

E. Both A, B and C.

Section B – 20 Marks

Genie (born 1957) is a feral child who was severely abused, neglected, and socially isolated. When she was
approximately 20 months old, her father began keeping her in a locked room, strapped to a child's toilet or
bound her in a crib with her arms and legs immobilized. He also forbade anyone to interact with her, provided
her with almost no stimulation of any kind, and left her severely malnourished. Genie was later rescued but did
not acquire language during her childhood.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child)

1. Explain why Genie could not talk when she was found by drawing on the following theories:

a) Social Interactionist theories

(3)

b) Behaviourist theories
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 (3)

(6)

2. Read the following transcribed conversation that took place between a child (CHI) and her Aunt
(AUNT) whose name is Denise, and then answer the questions below.

Text A
AUNT: Hello my angel! [very excited and animated]
CHI: Hayo aunty Nies [hallo aunty Denies]
AUNT: Aunty Nies brought some popcorn for you.
CHI: Poporn! [Popcorn!]
AUNT: No, POPCORN. Say POPCORN.
CHI: Poporn
AUNT: [laughing]
AUNT: What are you eating?
CHI: Pizzi! [pizza]
AUNT: Can I also have some pizza?
CHI: Yes
AUNT: Thank you for the pizza
CHI: Tak you [thank you]
AUNT: Yes. Thank you.

5.1. Calculate child’s MLU. Write the number of morphemes next to each of the child’s utterances and
show your MLU calculation as well as your final answer.
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 (4)
5.2. In which stage of language development is the child. Provide support for your answer.

(5)

5.3. Define and provide two examples of motherese from the text. Justify why the examples
are evidence of motherese.

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 [5]

Total: [60]
© Unisa
2024

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