Let's explore language a little bit specifically kind
of framing it in the middle childhood, but really looking
at what language is in kind of how important it is.
So language human language is the most complex Behavior.
We as humans are aware of whether that you know,
that maybe ever discussion but in general we think
of human language is really the most complex thing that exists
that were aware of and that's
because it involves both receptive language
and that's the ability to understand language
but also expressive language and that's the ability
to use language to express yourself
and so children's abilities and receptive language
and Sublanguage often aren't quite identical typically even
as adults are receptive language surpasses our expressive
language so we could listen to a conversation and understand it
but we might not be able to express that same information
and so receptive language tends to be a little bit ahead
of expressive language.
Most languages are spoken just like I'm doing right now
as I make this video with the exception of sign language
and so it's important to recognize
that language doesn't have Have to be spoken
or inwards necessarily, but it could be
in gestures and in science.
And so the image there is actually the sign for friend
in English Spanish French and Catalan for example,
so you can see the similarities in the signs for the word
that represents friend in foreign languages.
Language is really important because it has a lot of uses
which is you know, why it's so complex.
So typically we think about language is just a way
of transmitting information.
So I'm using my language to help you understand language,
you know, and you're using my language
to hopefully further your understanding of language,
but it's more than that, right?
So language is used to access the existing information
that we have and depending on what theory
that you're talking about.
How thought and language are
To Real ACT it are interrelated kind
of there are different perspectives on that
but they're definitely tied to one another
and language helps us access information
that we've stored in our minds.
We draw conclusions from language.
We use it to set in accomplish goals.
We use it to understand
and communicate complex social relationships.
So what kind of relationship do you think those two girls might
have in that image there?
Right and there's probably some communication.
I'm guessing some communication and language.
That was happening when that photo was took really language
is fundamental to our ability to think and so it's important
that we least understand the importance of it.
Let's get a little bit deeper into a language
by looking at Linguistics.
And so you don't necessarily need to understand all of these
in terms of being able to memorize them
and match their definitions.
At least. I don't feel that you need to but really understanding
that when we look at language we think about phonetics
and phonology really is is the sound Sounds of language, right?
So the basic sounds that we combine into meaningful language
and morphology and morphemes are bits of language
that have meaning so not necessarily entire words,
but even word endings so dog is a morphine but so is the S
on dogs when we add the S because that s has meaning right
that makes the word plural syntax really important
because syntax is all about the rules of language
and Dreams understanding syntax helps us understand how
to use language effectively a semantics is the meaning behind
words, right?
So what does language mean and pragmatics refers
to how we use language in different contexts?
You probably talk differently to your parents
or to your grandparents.
Then you do your friends.
You may talk differently to your boss.
Then your co-workers your teacher then your classmates
and so really we use language
in different ways depending on the situation.
And so really when we think about language we have to think
about all of these things
to really understand how complex it is.
And the last thing I want to talk about is kind
of get some more things related to how we use language
to communicate, you know, language includes comprehension.
So understanding fluency, you know,
how how well how smoothly we communicate and As well
as the meaning behind it.
So a few more terms lexicon refers to the total words
in a language grammar is the rules and the exceptions
to the rules of a language vocabulary would be the words a
person knows and so vocabulary something that's been increasing
since birth or maybe even before birth and we know
that children can hear especially their mother
from the womb and again, t''v vocabulary is going
to outpace expressive vocabulary.
So you actually have kind of subcategories
of vocabulary context is really important
because word meaning changes based on the situation
and at this language this age language is being used less
literally, which is why children start to actually be funny
when they tell jokes at this age because they understand kind
of the double meanings of language and you know,
really be able to use that too.
For their sense of humor.
And so I found this picture of this little boy
who is cracking ice in my mind.
He's cracking himself up with his joke
because that's what my daughter does.
She just thinks she's hilarious when she tells jokes.
They're not quite as old level humor
and they don't always make sense, but she's getting there.
She's a right now and she really enjoys playing
with words to make a joke.
So I hope that helps you understand a little bit more
about language and kind of the role that it plays not just
in middle childhood, but in human lives