Language Development

Speech or language is used to communicate and share thoughts, ideas and emotions. From the day they are born and all throughout their childhood, children are always adapting to the voice of their mother. Children begin to respond their name as they slowly realize it is unique to them. The stage of language development during childhood is the most important time for the infant because the more the child practices and is exposed to language, the better will be his ability to communicate with others. This can be divided into three stages: these are from birth to age 1, from age 1 to age 2, and from age 2 to 3 and 4 years old.

In the first stage, from birth to age one, the infant shows signs of the beginning of communication occurring during the first days of life when the infant learns that crying will bring food, comfort and companionship. The baby begins to recognize important sound in his environment. The voice of the father may be an important sound. As they grow, babies begin to classify the speech sound (phonemes) or other key elements that make up words of their language. At 6 months, the baby babbles generally "ba, ba, ba" or "ta, ta, ta." This babbling soon becomes a kind of nonsense talks that might sound like human speech but has no real word. Most children recognize the basic sound of their native language, and they are able to make the sounds.

In the second’s stage, from the end of the first year to age 2, most children have the ability to say a few simple words. Children do not know the meaning of these first words but they learn the power of those words in so far as the people around them respond to them. Within two years, most babies can form two words phrases such as "more milk." During this period, children rapidly learn that words symbolize or represent objects, actions and emotions. At this time the infant will be open to light songs, sounds and everything to help him communicate, but people cannot understand what he wants.

In the last stage when the child is between 3 and 4 years of age, through increased vocabulary, the child quickly begins to dominate the rules of languages. During this time, the child acquires more language skills that allow him to communicate with more complex structures, and he is more understandable. Language usage is more developed and the child uses it to converse with others or just to talk to himself. At this age the child virtually dominates the grammar, his vocabulary continues to develop, and he uses pronouns, verbs, and articles. This age is characterized by questions such as "what is it", and "why."

In conclusion, this is the normal process of languages development in children, but depending on the linguistic environment in which the child finds himself, there may be some differences. It is important to encourage children to communicate to give them the possibility to enrich their vocabulary and help them realize that talking is needed to communicate their needs and desires.

By Romina Owens, ESL Writing 3