Child Language Development Stages & Strategies

Posted on Oct 16, 2024 in Physical Education

Child Language Development

1. Phonological Development

1. Scope:

  • Phoneme: Sounds that can change the meaning of a word.
  • Phonological System: System of sounds and meanings of a language.

2. Stages:

  • Prelinguistic Phase (0-16 weeks): Cooing, disconnected sounds, laughter, crying.
  • 16-30 weeks: Vocal play.
  • 6 months: Reduplicated babbling (e.g., “bababa”).
  • 10-14 months: Non-reduplicated babbling and echolalia.
  • 14+ months: Slow progression of word production.

Linguistic Phase: Progressive adaptation of the articulatory system to the language.

3. Articulatory Strategies:

  • Selection Strategies: These are conservative solutions based on what children already know.
    • Avoidance: Children avoid pronouncing difficult syllables or words.
    • Exploitation: Children rely on sounds they can already control and repeat them in an exaggerated way.
  • Modification Strategies: These are riskier strategies where children alter their phonological organization.
    • Replacement: Systematically replacing one sound with another.
    • Syllable Simplification: Reducing syllables to a more basic pattern.
    • Sound Assimilation: Articulating sounds of words at the same point of articulation.

2. Lexical Development

1. Stages:

  • Understanding Phase: Occurs before children can articulate words.
  • Expression Phase: Begins with the first word. The first words are often linked to specific situations and may be deformed versions of adult words (Johnson).

2. Perspectives:

  • Sociolinguistic: Investigates the types of words used by children and creates lists of basic vocabulary.
  • Cognitive: Focuses on understanding the semantic scope of words used by children. Vygotsky highlighted the difference between adult words and their functional equivalents in children’s language. Children use words based on their own experience, and their understanding of concepts develops progressively. For example, a child may not understand the full meaning of “chalk” beyond its immediate use.
  • Vygotsky’s Perspective: Emphasizes the importance of real-world experience in concept formation. He distinguishes between scientific concepts (learned through teaching) and spontaneous concepts (developed through social interaction).

3. Language Development Strategies:

  • Overgeneralization/Overextension: Using a word to refer to more concepts than it should.
  • Undergeneralization/Underextension: Using a word to refer to fewer concepts than it should.
  • Absence of Correspondence: Lack of connection between the object and the word.
  • Lexical Creation: Creating new words (e.g., “bolota” for “ball”).
  • Metaphorical Uses: Using words in a non-literal way.

3. Morphosyntactic Development

1. Stages:

  • Innativism and Interactionism: This perspective combines Chomsky’s idea of a universal grammar (innate language structures) with the importance of linguistic interaction. The focus is on how children acquire and integrate the complexity of language through communication.
  • Cooing: No words or morphosyntactic organization.
  • Holophrases: Single words that function as sentences, expressing complex meanings.
  • Pivot Grammar: A stage where children start combining words in simple structures (e.g., “more milk”).

2. Strategies:

  • Semantic-Pragmatic: Children rely on context and meaning to be understood.
  • Positional: Frequent use of the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure.
  • Morphosyntactic: Children demonstrate an ability to reflect on and correct their own language use.

4. Pragmatic Development

Definition: Pragmatic development refers to how children use language as a tool for social interaction and how they acquire the functional value of words.

Levels of Language Operation: Functional, social, and literal.

A. Gestural Expression:

  • Children use gestures to communicate before and alongside language.
  • They tend to show objects first, then give them.
  • Gestures include requests and rejections.

B. Linguistic Expression:

  1. Instrumental: Language used to satisfy needs and desires.
  2. Regulatory: Children discover they can control others’ behavior through language.
  3. Interactive: Establishing and maintaining social contact through language.
  4. Personal: Expressing individuality, self-affirmation, and a sense of agency.
  5. Heuristic: Using language to learn about the world, ask questions, and describe things.
  6. Imaginative: Creating imaginary worlds and scenarios through language.
  7. Representational: Using language to inform and convey specific concepts.
  8. Mathetic: Relating language to learning in a broader social context.
  9. Computer: Evolving from the imaginative function, children use language to represent precise actions and events.
  10. Interpersonal: Developing the ability to participate effectively in social interactions.
  11. Ideational: Using language to express knowledge and continue learning.
  12. Textual: Organizing language for specific purposes, often involving more complex morphosyntactic and semantic structures.

Implications for Language Development:

  • Imitation and Experimentation: Imitation plays a role, but children also actively experiment with language.
  • Quality Linguistic Models: Providing children with rich and varied language input is crucial.
  • Classroom Management: Creating a shared space for communication and interaction supports language development.