Human Growth and Development / Unit 18 HGD 2564 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Layers of Language
The idea
Language can be described in layers, entry 0639. Phonology is the sound system, built of phonemes. Morphology is units of meaning, morphemes. Semantics is meaning in context, and syntax the rules for combining words, entry 0636, while grammar is the whole rule system. Pragmatics is using language appropriately with real people in real settings, entry 0638. Preschoolers progress in every layer at once.
In practice
One sentence from a four-year-old read layer by layer: its sounds, word parts, meaning, word order, and whether it suited the listener.
Where people slip
Exam questions describe a child's error and ask which layer it belongs to, entry 0639 notes. "Goed" is grammar, a rule overapplied; "doggie" for every animal is semantics; talking over a teacher is pragmatics. Fading egocentrism helps pragmatics in particular.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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