Child’s Language Development

INTRODUCTION

Language is a humans’ medium to communicate with others in which it is spoken to share thoughts, ideas, and emotions. However, language may also be expressed through writing. Language is the set of rules; it allows individuals to share thoughts, ideas, or emotions in form of communication. Besides, speech is talking; it is one of ways a language can be expressed. This means that there is a difference between language and speech even though both of which cannot be separated.

There are stages of critical period hypothesis of speech and language development for humans; it is during the first three years even more up to 3-4 years of life. In this period, the specialized areas of the brain, such as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, suggest that genetics provides us with the neurological foundations for language. This means that the developing brain is able to absorb a language and any language during this period. By eighteen months, for instance, a baby will eventually able to express his needs, desires and thoughts as he/she grasps the concept of word and object association. The content of this paper deals with critical period hypothesis of child’s language development.

CONTENT

A newborn baby makes sounds which let others know that they are experiencing pleasure or pain, this shows Expressive Language where a baby learning to speak and use language. It is initiated from the age of 0-3 months, a baby smiles at you when you come into view. The baby repeats the same sound a lot like "coos and goos", also cries in different way which means the baby uses a different cry for different situations,  such as one cry says that the baby is hungry and another says that the baby in  pain. Later on, in the age of 4-6 months show the gurgling sounds which is commonly said as vocal play, it occurs while you are playing with a baby or when the baby is happily occupying him/herself. Babbling really gets going in this age, and a baby will sometimes sound as though he or she is talking. A baby can tell you, using the sounds or gestures that the baby itself wants something, or may also want you to do something. The baby, in this case, can make urgent noises to spur you into action. Then, in the age of 7-12 months, the sound of the baby's babbling changes in which it includes more consonants, as well as long and short vowels. A baby commonly uses speech or other sounds (i.e., other than crying) in order to get your attention, the baby's first words have appeared which probably not spoken very clearly, such as Ma Ma, Night Night, Bye Bye, No.

Afterwards, a baby comes to a year of learning how to speak and use language, but the critical period hypothesis of child’s language development is not over yet. In the age of 1-2 years, baby is accumulating more words as each month passes. Babies will even ask two words questions such as Where ball?, What's that?, What that?. Words are becoming clearer as more initial consonants are used. Subsequently, in the age of 2-3 years, two or three year’s olds vocabulary is exploding because a baby seems to have a word for almost everything. A baby’s utterances are usually one, two or three words long but family members can usually understand it. Later on, in the age of 3-4 years, Sentences are becoming longer as the child can combine four or more words. A child talks about things that have happened away from home, such as talking about pre-school, friends, outings and other interesting experiences. In this period, speech of a child is usually fluent and clear in which other people can understand what he/she is saying. Also, sometimes other people hear the things which they think the baby had not.

An overheard conversation on a London bus on April 6, 2011 (the variety of English was RP)

Little Sister: It’s not fair mummy, my nose won’t blow.
Big Brother: Why won’t Fissy’s nose blow, mummy? My nose is a snot factory.

Hereafter, the last stage of child’s language development is when she/he is 4-5 years. In this stage, a child speaks clearly and fluently. A child can construct long and detailed sentences, like “We went to the zoo but we had to come home early because my mother wasn't feeling well”. This sentence shows that a child can tell a long, involved imaginative story sticking to the topic, and using grammar as well. Most sounds are correctly pronounced by the child even though he/she may be still having difficulty with r, v and th in this period.

CONCLUSSION

All in all, children go through a number of different stages in language development. As children age, they continue to learn more new words every day. By the time they enter school around the age of five, children typically have a vocabulary of 10,000 words or more.

REFERENCES

Queen’s Printer for Ontario, Sept. 2009. Your preschool child’s speech and language development.

Bowen, C. (1998). Ages and Stages Summary - Language Development 0-5 years. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/

Berk, L. E. (2006). Chapter 9 - Child Development (8th ed). Pearson.

Overheard on a London Bus. April 6, 2011. Available at: http://www.speech-languagetherapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34:ages&catid=11:admin&Itemid=117

Sunday, May 17, 2020