Questions: Language Acquisition in Children

Question 1

A 2-year-old consistently says 'I goed to the park' and 'she runned fast' instead of 'went' and 'ran.' This pattern of errors is best described as:

• A. Overextension
• B. Overregularization
• C. Underextension
• D. Code-switching

Answer: (B)

Overregularization occurs when a child applies a grammatical rule (here, adding -ed for past tense) to irregular verbs where it does not apply. Crucially, this error reveals active rule construction, not failed imitation — the child has inferred the regular past-tense rule and applies it systematically. Children often produce the correct form first (having heard it), regress to overregularization as they acquire the rule, then eventually learn the exception.

Question 2

Exposing an infant to two languages simultaneously from birth causes language delay compared to monolingual upbringing.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Bilingual acquisition does not cause language delay. Bilingual children may mix elements of both languages in single utterances (code-mixing), which is a normal developmental stage, not an error. Their total conceptual vocabulary across both languages is comparable to that of monolingual peers. By school age, bilingual children typically demonstrate full competence in both languages.

Question 3

What is the sensitive period for language acquisition, and what evidence supports the idea that it exists?

Model answer: The sensitive period is a biologically constrained window (roughly birth to puberty) during which language acquisition is most efficient and complete. Evidence includes: children deprived of language input during this period (e.g., late-discovered feral children, late signers) achieve less complete grammar; phonological discrimination narrows after the first year as infants tune to native-language phonemes; immigrants arriving before puberty typically acquire near-native accents, while post-puberty arrivals usually retain foreign accents.

The sensitive period concept integrates nativist biology (neural plasticity is highest early in life) with the interactionist observation that input quality still matters within the window. It explains why early intervention for hearing loss and language delay is so strongly recommended.