Read chapter 13 by Yule and chapter 1 by Lightbown and Spada and
compare the development of morphology, questions and negative
sentences. Prepare a comparative table considering both authors.
Development Yule
of
By the time a child is 2 and 2.5
years old, he or she starts to use
some of the inflectional
morphemes which indicates the
grammatical function of the nouns
and verbs used. First, -ing form
appears in expressions such as
cat eating. Then regular plural
Morpholo with the -s form comes as in dogs
gy . Acquisition of this form is often
accompanied by a process of
overgeneralization (adding -s to
form plurals as in mans, womans).
Some children also begin using
irregular plurals such as women
quite appropriately for a while,
but then try out the general rule
on the forms producing
expressions like two womens.
Then possessive inflectional -s
occurs as in Daddys car. At
about the same time forms of the
verb to be such as are and was,
begin to be used. Irregular past -
tense forms appear before -ed
inflection in childs speech. Finally
the regular - s marker on third
person singular present-tense
verbs appear. -s occurs with full
verbs first (come, looks) and then
with auxiliaries (does, has).
Lightbown and Spada
The following list of
grammatical morphemes
was adapted by Lightbown
& Spada from Robert Brown
s book where he presented
the results of his
Longitudinal studies of the
language development of
three children in 1960s.
The study showed that a
child who has mastered the
grammatical morphemes at
the bottom of the list also
mastered those at the top,
but not vice versa. The
children did not master the
morphemes at the same
rate or age.
present progressive
-ing (Daddy driving)
plural-s (Two dogs)
irregular past forms
(Baby went)
possessive s (Mommy
s phone)
copula (Tommy is
happy)
articles the and a (this
is a man)
regular past -ed (He
walked)
third person singular
simple present -s (He
writes)
auxiliary be (She is
singing)
 The child's first stage has two
procedures. Simply add a wh- form
(where, who) to the beginning or
utter the expression with a rising
Questions intonation towards the end (where
you go?).
Stage 2: more complex expressio
can be formed, but raising
intonation strategy continues to be
used (why you eating?, See my
doll?, you want eat?)
Stage 3 : Inversion appears but the
Wh- forms dont always undergo
the required inversion (Why kitty
can't stand up?Can I have a
piece?)
Stage 1: Childrens earliest
questions are single words or
simple two-word or three-word
sentences with rising intonation.
( Cookie?, Mummy book?)
At the same time, they may
produce some correct questions
learned as chunks( Where's
Daddy?)
Stage 2: children begin to use
the word order of declarative
sentences with rising intonation.
( you like this?)
Stage 3: This stage is called
fronting because the childs rule
seems to be that questions are
formed by putting something- a
verb form or question word- at
the front of a sentence, leaving
the rest of the sentence in its
statement form ( Is the teddy is
tired?, Do I can have a cookie?)
Stage 4: Some questions are
formed by subject-auxiliary
inversion (Are you going to play
with me?) Therefore, we may
find inversion in yes/no
questions but not in wh-
questions.
Stage 5: At this stage both wh-
and yes/no questions are formed
correctly (Are these your boots?,
Why did you do that?)
Overgeneralization: It occurs
when wh-words appear in
subordinate clauses or
embedded questions. Children
overgeneralize the inverted form
that would be correct for simple
questions( Ask him why can't he
go out)
Stage 6: At this stage children
are able to correctly form all
questions types, including
negative and complex
embedded questions.
 Stage 1:seems to involve a simply
strategy of putting No or Not at
the beginning (no fall, no sit
there).
Negatives
Children learn how to say no very
early.
Stage1: Negation is usually
expressed by the word no,
either all alone or as the first word
in the utterance.(no, no milk)

Stage2: Utterances grow longer

Stage 2: Don't and can't appear
but no and not are still used
but in front of the verb (He no
bite you, you cant sing).
and the sentence subject may be
included. The negative word
appears just before the verb.
Sentences expressing rejection or
prohibition often use dont. (
daddy no comb hair, don't touch
that! )

Stage 3: Didn't and won't appear
while the typical Stage 1 forms
disappear. Acquisition of the form
isnt is the latest (She wont let
go, I didn't bought it, He not
taking it).
__________________________________
Stage 3: The negative element is
inserted into a more complex
sentence. The sentences appear
to follow the correct english
pattern of attaching the negative
to the auxiliary or modal verb.
Can't and don't are included. (I
can't do it, He don't want it)

Stage 4: Children begin to attach

the negative element to the
correct form of auxiliary verbs
such as do and be.(you didn't
have supper)

Campero
Romina
Coronel
Luciana
Daz Ftima
Pastrana
Anala
Wilde Ana
Ines