Question 1

Why is children's speech sometimes referred to as telegraphic?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why is children's speech sometimes referred to...

Question 2

Why should researchers NOT bother to teach apes to speak? What are the alternative options?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why should researchers NOT bother to teach...

Question 3

Which brain region is NOT implicated in human language abilities?
A) Broca's area
B) the ventromedial prefrontal cortex
C) the angular gyrus
D) Wernicke's area

Accepted Answer

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex plays a role in decision-making and emotional regulation, but is not directly implicated in language abilities. A, C, and D are all brain regions that are involved in language processing and production.

Question 4

In some cultures,parents do not speak to their children at all.

Accepted Answer

In some cultures, such as the Kalahari Bushmen, parents communicate with their infants through touch and gestures, but they do not use words until the child is older. However, this is not a universal practice and many cultures place a great emphasis on verbal communication between parents and children.

Question 5

Young children who suffer left-brain damage may still develop language.

Accepted Answer

Some studies suggest that the right hemisphere of the brain can compensate for left-brain damage in young children, allowing language development to continue.

Question 6

Younger children are better at mastering the finer points of language than older children.

Accepted Answer

Younger children's brains are more plastic and they are able to absorb and process language more easily than older children. They are also more likely to pick up on subtleties of language and accents.

Question 7

The child first learns to speak some kinds of sentences perfectly,then learns to speak other kinds of sentences perfectly,and so on.

Accepted Answer

Children learn language through a gradual process of acquiring vocabulary and grammar, making errors and refining their understanding over time, rather than mastering one type of sentence before moving on to another.

Question 8

What evidence suggests a critical period for the acquisition of phonological knowledge?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What evidence suggests a critical period for...

Question 9

Language learning is fastest for the youngest.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Language learning is fastest for the youngest....

Question 10

Speakers often generate sentences one word at a time.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Speakers often generate sentences one word at...

Question 11

"The Lord is a shoving leopard to his flock" and "easier for a camel to go through the knee of an idol" are examples of which type of speech errors,which consists of exchanges of sounds between words?
A) Chomskian production errors
B) psycholinguistic conjunctive errors
C) Freudian slips
D) spoonerisms

Accepted Answer

The examples provided are both spoonerisms, which involve the exchange of sounds between words. Chomskian production errors refer to grammatical errors, psycholinguistic conjunctive errors involve joining together words in a nonsensical way, and Freudian slips involve unintentionally revealing one's true thoughts or feelings.

Question 12

According to Chomsky,there is no such thing as internal mental activity.

Accepted Answer

Chomsky believes in the existence of internal mental activity, such as language acquisition through innate linguistic knowledge. He also distinguishes between surface structure and deep structure in language processing.

Question 13

There are no universal constraints on the kinds of languages that humans can learn.

Accepted Answer

Humans have cognitive and physiological constraints that limit the complexity and types of languages they can learn. For example, there are limits to the sounds humans can produce and perceive, and the complexity of grammar that can be efficiently processed by the human brain.

Question 14

Kanzi,the bonobo,spontaneously started to use lexigrams.

Accepted Answer

It is true that Kanzi, the bonobo, spontaneously started to use lexigrams. Kanzi was taught to comprehend spoken English words, but he also started using lexigrams (symbols or pictures representing words) on his own to communicate with humans.

Question 15

Linguists focus much of their study of language on two elements: _____,which is concerned with the infinite number of utterances that are possible,and _____,which centers on the systematic nature of these utterances.
A) volume;cadence
B) replication;uniformity
C) productivity;regularity
D) selectivity;routinization

Accepted Answer

Productivity refers to the ability of language to generate an infinite number of new and meaningful utterances. Regularity refers to the systematic nature of language in terms of its rules and patterns. Together, these elements are important for linguists to understand how language works and how it is used in communication. Option A (volume and cadence) are not the correct terms for the two elements being asked about, and option B (replication and uniformity) is not accurate in terms of describing the nature of language. Option D (selectivity and routinization) does not accurately describe the elements being discussed in relation to language study.

Question 16

How are first-language acquisition and typical second-language acquisition different?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How are first-language acquisition and typical second-language...

Question 17

What is meant by parameter setting?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is meant by parameter setting?...

Question 18

Different cultures cut up the color space differently.

Accepted Answer

Different cultures perceive and categorize colors differently, often based on their language and environment. Therefore, they may cut up the color space differently. For example, the English language has basic color terms like red, blue, green, etc. while some cultures like the Himba people in Namibia have more specific color terms for shades of green that are hard to distinguish for English speakers.

Question 19

Which is NOT a type of language rule that is part of a language's grammar?
A) comprehensive
B) syntactic
C) semantic
D) phonological

Accepted Answer

"Comprehensive" is not a type of language rule that is part of a language's grammar. The other options, syntactic, semantic, and phonological, are all types of language rules that are part of a language's grammar.

Question 20

What evidence suggests that grammar seems to be sensitive to a critical period?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What evidence suggests that grammar seems to...

Quiz 12: Language Structure