Language Developement
Some basics to help you better understand how your child is growing.
Principles
There are many theories about how children learn language and they are, like all good scientific theories, continually improving. Although as a young linguist I cut my teeth on Chomsky’s generative approach I am, in my maturity, appreciating more and more a constructionist philosophy. This shift comes from my behavioral training as a speech therapist and then my experience working with kids and raising my own. So here’s a little bit of perspective on the “constructionist” approach to language learning which underpins the information shared on this website.
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The main tenants of constructionist theory are that:
1) language is learned through a dynamic relationship with the environment
2) language learning is possible through the simultaneous development of certain cognitive and perceptual tools.
This all amounts to children being active participants in their language learning through their explorations and interactions. The more exposure to a language, the more a child will be able to learn it - like learning and practicing walking. Not all language exposure is created equal, however, and it is important to remember the dynamic aspect of this theory. Language which is not directed at or engaging a child is not sufficient. So having the tv on in the background or having a conversation which excludes the child is not enough on its own. As children get older and have developed the cognitive abilities necessary to focus on a tv program or listen in on another conversation, they can and will expand their understanding of language in this manner. In the beginning, be sure to devote some time each day to talking to your child, complete with eye contact, smiles, and tactile cues.
There are two cognitive processes which a central to learning language in a constructionist way. The first is Intention Reading, in which the language learner must understand the significance of the communication event. Intention Reading with infants is often emphasized using a sing-song style of baby talk. But the intention of a communication event isn’t something learned once and understood from then on. Consider sarcasm or lying - these are communication events which children and adults still have to come to understand later in their language learning journey. The second process is Pattern Finding, in which a language learner begins to understand the more abstract dimensions of language, such as grammar, through noticing and uncoding the patterns of a language. The magic of this is that even linguists, adults who specialize in the understanding of language patterns, have trouble capturing all the rules of a given language and yet as children they picked them up and used them without conscious effort.
Speaking
Speech is the process by which air is expelled and shaped by the vocal tract into sounds we understand as words and sentences. Although our vocal tracts are capable of making a wide variation of sounds, only a select few are considered phonemes, or language sounds, and not all of them are universal. For example, English verbs often end in the "ng" sound but no English words start with that sound. In contrast many Zulu words start with "ng".
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Speech develops through months and years of practice vocalizations on the part of the infant.
Typically a child will follow a pattern similar to this:
1) Uses single sounds repeatedly such as "mmmm" or "b-b-b".
2) Begins to use sounds in combination such as "ba-ma" or "ma-mo"
3) Develops the use of first words, starting with easy sound combinations of Consonant+Vowel like "baby" or "cookie". Not all the sounds are being used yet.
4) Single words are combined and elaborated on in structure.
5) Full monologues.
The most important input infants need to start this journey is to hear the speech sounds in their environment all day every day.
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If you have ever tried to have a spontaneous chat with an unfamiliar toddler you may have noticed that they usually don’t have all their speech sounds down pat yet. Most of the time a phonemic error is part of their developmental path and there are patterns to when most of these errors can be expected to occur and when they are expected to be outgrown. It isn't until the age of 3 or 4 years that a child is expected to be easily understood by people not close to him or her.
Gesture
Gestures, or body language, is incredibly important for children learning language. Actions such as smiling or pointing are the first forms of communication between children and any communication partners, from parents to pets. Incorporating tactile and kinesthetic sensations into language play help infants and toddlers create strong neural pathways towards understanding language. For example, touching items as they are named or using hand-over-hand techniques.
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However, gesture can also be thought about in terms of sign languages, which are used by Deaf communities around the world. Every sign language is a unique language. American Sign Language is as independent from South African Sign Language as it is from American spoken English. For example, ASL uses a much different grammar than American English and the social aspects such as politeness markers are different as well.
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Reading
Reading is a high level of language which only begins to develop in the late toddler years and it requires direct teaching, unlike spoken language. There are many related skills which children develop before they start reading text:
1) Fine motor skills for holding books and turning pages.
2) Basic print knowledge such as the direction a book is read.
3) Narrative development such as stories having a beginning, middle, and end.
4) Understanding sounds in terms of building blocks using activities such as rhyming.
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Writing
Writing is considered a type of expressive language because it is a medium for thoughts to be expressed and shared with other people, much in the same manner as speech. However, writing only develops cognitively in conjunction with reading and if the necessary physical requirements are also met.
Spelling relies heavily on a child's ability to parse words into sounds and recombine them in a written way. This skill can be one of the hardest to learn as sounds are rarely represented 1:1 with letters. Consider all the fun examples from English such as "bough" and "bow". Some language can also have multiple alphabet scripts.
An early exposure to written text and a working understanding of how sounds interact with each other creates a good foundation for learning to master written language.