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Language Development: Acquisition, Stages & Theories

Language is a complex form of communication that involves symbols and complex rules to generate meaningful sentences. This article explores the stages of language development, from prelinguistic to linguistic, and discusses theories of language acquisition.

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Language Development: Acquisition, Stages & Theories

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  1. Language • Special form of communication in which we learn complex rules to manipulate symbols that can be used to generate an endless number of meaningful sentences. • Communication • Set of Symbols • Complex Rules • Endless Number of Meaningful Sentences

  2. Communication • Ability to use sounds, smells, or gestures to exchange information.

  3. Functional Properties • Displaced Reference • Productivity • Prevarication • Pragmatics

  4. Structural Properties • Phonology • phonemes • Semantics • morphemes • syntax

  5. Prelinguistic Stage • Birth to 1 year • Crying • Cooing • Babbling • Language Comprehension • Ability to make discriminations not required by native language gradually lost

  6. Linguistic Stage • 1 year and up • Holophrases • Infant-directed Speech • Overextension • Underextension

  7. Vocabulary Development

  8. Linguistic Stage • Two-word combinations • Telegraphic Speech • errors of overgeneralization

  9. Errors of Overgeneralization

  10. Language Development 6 Months • Vocalization with intonation • Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes 12 Months • Uses one or more words with meaning • Understands simple instructions 18 Months • Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words

  11. Language Development 24 Months • Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings • Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible • Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words • My and mine are beginning to emerge 36 Months • Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name • Handles three word sentences easily • Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words • About 90% of what child says should be intelligible

  12. Language Development 4 Years • Knows names of familiar animals • Names common objects in picture books or magazines • Knows one or more colors • Often indulges in make-believe 5 Years • Can count to ten • Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems • Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct 6 Years • Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful

  13. Language Development 7 Years • Should be able to tell time to quarter hour • Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words 8 Years • All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be established • Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple compositions • Can carry on conversation at rather adult level

  14. Language in Middle Childhood • Vocabulary continues to increase; receptive vocabulary is about 40,000 words by age 10 • Phonemes mastered and aspects of intonation better understood • Increases in mastery of grammar and syntax, along with improvement in pragmatic skills • Development of metalinguistic awareness • Increasing sophistication in language play

  15. Theories of Language Acqusition • Learning Theories • Nativist Theories

  16. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Language as a Learned Skill • Learning theory based on behaviorist theories of learning - operant conditioning, modeling • Language viewed as behavior learned like other skills • Parents also provide models of advanced language that child then imitates

  17. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Language As A Learned Skill • Criticisms of theory: - parents do not explicitly teach rule systems - pace of language development difficult to explain through learning principles - ignores evidence that humans biologically predisposed to detect language stimuli

  18. The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk • Noam Chomsky: language is innate human capability • Language acquisition device (LAD) – brain mechanism specialized for detecting and learning rules of language • Contains innate knowledge of universal grammar

  19. The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk • Specific physical structures in humans specialized for producing/processing language • No single organ is LAD • Constellation of several brain areas that are specialized to process linguistic input and their connections (Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area)

  20. How Language Works • Left hemisphere – more verbal side. We literally speak with half a brain. The dominant location of language for more than 95% of people, including a sizable majority of left-handers • Right hemisphere – responsible for the inflection and overall musical quality that lend important emphasis to verbal communication

  21. The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk • Existence of sensitive periods for language development supports nativist position - children deprived of language have poorer language skills - older children and adults have greater difficulty learning second language - older children and adults show less recovery from brain damage affecting language areas

  22. The Nativist Theory - Born to Talk • Criticisms of nativist theory: - parents provide corrective feedback as learning theory predicts - some exposure to language (i.e., TV) does not produce normal language skills

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