Language development
Language development :
Language development is the process through which children acquire the ability to process speech and communicate. During this process, a child may slowly understand basic linguistic patterns and expand their vocabulary gradually before achieving fluency.
Why is language development important?
As a teacher, child care provider or speech-language pathologist, your understanding of the stages of language development helps you promote a child’s healthy development. You can create goals for them and intervene if they haven’t achieved the proper milestones for their age. Here are some other reasons why language development is important:
- Promote social interaction
- Improve cognitive development
- Aid self-expression
- Enhance literacy
- Improve self-esteem
What are the stages of language development?
There are several stages of language development. These stages are typically understood to consist of pre-linguistic and linguistic categories.
The pre-linguistic stage is the first of the stages of speech development. This stage is followed by the babbling stage, the first words stage, the two-word stage, and the telegraphic stage.
|
Stage |
Language skills |
|
Pre-linguistic |
Cooing |
|
Babbling |
Syllable cycles |
|
First words |
Attaching meaning to words |
|
Two-word |
Discovering syntax |
|
Telegraphic |
Truncated language |
Pre-linguistic stage
Also known as the pre-linguistic stage, the first stage of language development often occurs
between zero and six months. Children in this phase don't have developed language skills,
so they communicate with sounds. They cry, make cooing sounds and utter nasal murmurs
as their vocal tracts develop. Infants can also recognize voices and sounds in addition to
facial expressions and voice tones.
Babbling stage :
The second stage of a child's language development happens between the ages of 6 and 9 months. Children begin to babble, making noises and syllables that aren’t yet words. Mouth muscles and teeth grow to prepare children for more advanced talking.
At this stage, infants begin to explore the properties of sounds through production. The sounds of early babbling are universal. However, by the time a child reaches the age of 8 months, a drift occurs in the characteristics of babbling (Helms-Park, 2018). Babbling becomes more distinctive. Infants begin to make sounds that would only occur in their own native languages.
A French baby and an American baby will not babble the same, as there are certain sounds that English and French do not share. At this stage, parents should expect their children to go through three phases. They follow:
1. One consonant and a vowel at a time. Example: “ma,” “da,” “du,” “bi”
2. Reduplicative babbling. Example: “da-da-da-da”
3. Non-reduplicative babbling. Example: “ba-du-ba-du.”
In these phases, the most frequent vowels and consonant sounds that are produced by English babies are: ‘i’, ‘u’, ‘a,’ and ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘g’, and ‘m’. Vowels are generally easier to produce than consonants, as they do not require many obstructions in the vocal or nasal tract.
Holophrastic stage : (One-word Stage)
The third phase of language development, also known as the holophrastic stage, usually happens between the ages of 9 and 18 months. During this time, their language skills usually have increased enough for them to say single words that describe objects or identify their basic needs. For instance, a child in this stage might say "dada" as a way of getting their dad's attention.
During this stage, children begin to acquire and produce real words of their native languages. A child in this stage will use single-word constructions to communicate. The use of single-word items is meant to convey full sentences provided the context.
As expected, word productions are extremely redundant. The one-word productions have three functions:
1. Express emotions: “uh-oh,” “bad”
2. Request a desired action: “up,” “down,” “gimme”
3. Name objects: “baba” (bottle), “truck,” “doggie,” “mine”
At this stage, children know the meanings of words that they say, as speaking is often accompanied by finger-pointing (Helms-Park, 2018).
Two- word stage : 1.5- 2 years old :
During this stage, the child can speak two-word sentences that usually have some meaning. They group words together that they learned during the holophrastic stage. Some examples may include:
Saying "more food" at the table
Saying "doggy small" to describe a dog
Saying "thank mom!" to show appreciation
Children usually enter this stage when they have acquired about 50 words. They begin to demonstrate their knowledge of the word order that occurs in their language. English has a SUBJECT VERB OBJECT (SVO) word order. It is very common for production to take the following structures:
1. Doer + action: “Tommy play”
2. Action + affected object: “Kick ball”
3. Possessor + possessed object: “Daddy key”
4. Negation/Refusal/ Cessation of existence: “No veggie,” “all gone milk”
At this stage, lots of verbs, nouns, and adjectives emerge, as well as intonation! Intonation is a clear indication that children do not perceive speech production as one chunk, but rather as individual words coming together to convey a more complex meaning.
5. Telegraphic stage :
The telegraphic stage occurs between the ages of 24 and 30 months. Children can speak phrases that are not only longer but also have more than two elements. For instance, a child might say “The cat stand up on the table.” Correct grammar still isn’t prevalent in this stage, but the sentence conveys that the cat is standing up in addition to being on the table. The child also develops the ability to understand basic instructions, including two-part orders like "go to your table and get your books."
At this stage, children experience a vocabulary spurt or “explosion.” Production is pidgin-like, as grammatical/function words (little words) such as ‘the,’ ‘a,’ ‘is,’ ‘will,’ ‘of,’ ‘by,’ pluralization, tense (past -ed), verb endings/person agreements (she eat ‘s’) are omitted.
During this stage, a child will primarily communicate with content words (verbs, nouns, adjectives) and some pronouns such as ‘me’ and ‘mine.’
Although many function words are missing at this stage, children obey the word order and structure of their language. Considering the English word order (SVO), English speaking children are expected to produce phrases similar to the following sentences:
· “Want more ice-cream.”
· “Mommy go bye-bye.”
· “He go play.”
The after Telegraphic Stage : (2,6 +years old)
Early in this stage, complete sentences begin to emerge. Imperative and declarative sentences appear first (Helms-Park, 2018):
1. Imperative (command): “Give me my toy.”
2. Declarative (Relay information): “That’s my toy truck.”
Coordination (acquired first) and subordination sentences also appear early in this stage, however, they are mastered by 4-5-years-old (Helms-Park, 2018):
1. Coordination (Two clauses joined in a symmetrical relation): “I am tall, but she is short.”
2. Subordination (Two clauses joined in a non-symmetrical relation): “When I am older, I am going to be bigger.”
Progression of more complex questions and negatives appear between 2.6- 3.0-years-old (Helms-Park, 2018). By a child’s 3rd birthday, they begin to use more grammatical/function words, such as regular plural ‘-s,’ endings on verbs ‘-ing,’ prepositions (of, in, by), but third person agreement comes a bit later “She loves candy.” Near the end of this stage, almost everything is acquired between the ages of 5-6 (Helms-Park, 2018).
Conclusion :
Given this guideline of language acquisition, parents should note that kids are different in their rate of language development. A child who may be behind does not necessarily indicate a language impediment. Again, every child is unique and different. Some may acquire language faster than others.
It is always important to be mindful that comprehension of language always precedes production by some months. Language competence does equate to production. Most children who encounter delays in language development, including auditory impediments, usually catch up with their peers by the age of 3 (DeLuzio, 2020).
Reference :
· - Chomsky, N. (2006). Language and Mind (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
· - Deluzio, J. (2020, January 23). Audition & Spoken Language, and Language Development in Children with Hearing Loss. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
· - Helms-Park, R. (2018, November). Morphosyntax. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
· - Saxton, M. (2017). Child Language Acquisition and Development (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE Publishing.
· - Takahashi, E. (2018, November). The Perception and Production of Speech Sounds. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.