Introduction to Child Language Development

1. Introduction to Child Language Development

2. Review - What is language? • Set of rules for sharing thoughts, ideas, feelings • Can be verbal, signed, gestured, written • Receptive and expressive

3. Review: What is language? • Form - Phonology, Morphology, Syntax • Content - Semantics • Use - Pragmatics • How does language differ from speech?

4. Inter-relationship between language areas Bloom and Lahey (1978)

5. Language Development • Birth to 3 - intensive period of language development • Critical periods of development • Environment facilitates language development

6. Language Development - Birth • Language learning begins • Baby reacts to loud sounds by startling or waking. • Baby produces sounds that indicate pain or pleasure

7. Language Development- birth • First communication! • CRYING

8. Language Development - 0-3 months • Baby turns and watches your face when you speak. • Baby smiles and seems to recognize familiar voices • Baby may listen intently to unfamiliar voices • Baby responds to comforting tones • Baby starts cooing • Baby uses differentiated cries

9. 12 weeks old • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnEPBb3WVnY

10. Language Development 4-6 months • Responsive to tones of voice • Moves eyes in directions of sounds • May be interested in non-speech sounds • Babbling and vocal play • Can indicate urgency/excitement with vocalizations • Rituals and games set predictable routines and expectations • Gurgling sounds

11. Language Development • By 6 months - • Response to name • Vocalizations with intonation • Responses to tones of voice--happy, angry

12. 6 month old • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwikh9YVy8I

13. Language Development- 7-12 months - comprehension • Looks in direction of sounds • Listens when spoken to • Recognizes words for common objects • Begins to respond to requests • Enjoys early games/rituals

14. Language development- 7-12 months - expression • Has 1-2 words • Uses speech for attention • Babbling

15. 12 month old • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnEPBb3WVnY

16. Play Development 9-12 months • Object permanence • Starts to use some basic toys appropriately

17. Play Development (Westby, 1990) 13-17 months • Discovers function of toys through trial and error • Hands toy to adult if unable to work 17-19 months • autosymbolic play • tool use 19-22 months • Symbolic play beyond self • Combines 2 toys in play

18. Receptive Language - 1-2 years • 12 months - understands 50 words, 18 months-understands 200 words • Follows simple directions within common routines • Identifies simple body parts • Points to named objects or pictures • Listens to simple stories/rhymes

19. Expressive language- 1-2 years • 12 months - uses up to 3 words, (more every month) • 23 months - uses about 200 words! • Overextend and underextend meanings • Examples - • overgeneralization- all animals are dogs • Undergeneralization- sandals aren’t shoes • Emerging 2 word combinations • Emerging question use - “where mommy?”

20. Language development • 2 year olds understand possession!!!

21. 2 year old • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaTJSbRZgo4

22. Receptive language- 2-3 years • 24 months - understands 500-700 words • 30 months - understands up to 900 words • Can acquire 1-2 new words per day • Variety of vocabulary expands - nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc • Follows 1-2 step directions • Understands some concept pairs (hot/cold)

23. Expressive language 2-3 years • Vocabulary explosion - up to 570 words at 30 months • 2-3 word sentences • Utterance expansion - (1-3 words) • Increased grammatical structure of sentences • Limited topic initiation

24. Language explosion!!!!

25. Play Development (Westby, 1990) • 24 months • Daily experiences represented in play • Stacking, knocking down, pouring dumping 30 months • Starts to represent less frequently observed events • Still uses realistic props in play

26. Receptive language - 3-4 years • Understands 1000+ words • Can acquire 4-6 new words per day!!! • Understands “wh” question forms - what, where and who • Follows multi-step directions within routines • Increased ability to comprehend stories, explanations and conversations

27. Expressive Language - 3-4 years • Hard to measure expressive vocabulary because it is so big! • Combines 4 + words • Relays personal experiences but may leave out relevant details • Expanded conversational topics as the world expands • Best at talking of the here and now

28. Play Development (Westby, 1990) • 3-31/2 years • Sequence of events in play • May replay an experienced event with a different ending 31/2- 4 years • Problem solving and planning emerge • 3 dimensional building

29. Receptive Language- 4-5 years • Understands 2500-3000 words • Increased conceptual knowledge including time words, complex emotion words • More precision in vocabulary • Answers simple questions about stories • Follows multi-step directions in new situations • Understands conversation about their lives - preschool, home, etc

30. Expressive language 4-5 years • Lengthy sentences with detail • Can tell a simple story with few grammar errors • May still produce errors with irregular forms (plurals, past tense) • Improved story telling but a limited filter of what is important • More confident to initiate topics

31. Language characteristics - 5 year olds • Can carry on conversations about everyday subjects • Love jokes and riddle • Able to state name, address, age and birthday • Can describe objects by function • May gain a vocabulary of new words not learned at home- not always positive • May understand time concepts but can’t tell time yet

32. Play development (Westby, 1990) • 5 year olds • Imaginative and cooperative • No longer needs concrete props • Plans and organizes toys and people

33. Language Characteristics - School age • Gaining new communication modes- reading, writing • Metalinguistics - ability to consider language in the abstract and make judgments about its correctness • Language development slows • Focus becomes semantics and pragmatics

34. Language characteristics - school age • Gradual increase in complexity of thinking and comprehension of nuances in language • Comprehension of multiple meanings and figurative language gradually emerges • Examples: “As big as a house” set/set/set

35. Implications of language abilities for school aged children • In elementary school and beyond, language strongly influences… • Academics • Peer and social relationships • Self- esteem

36. Language across the lifespan • Language continues to develop - unless presence of a problem! • Adults expand language including adding specialized vocabulary related to experiences, jobs, hobbies, life!