Understanding Language Development and Disorders in Early Childhood Education
Language Development and Disorders in Early Childhood Education
Aphasia
Expressive Aphasia
Expressive aphasia occurs when there is a lesion in Broca’s area of the brain. Individuals with this condition have difficulty communicating because their speech is disorganized. While their comprehension remains intact, their speech is slow and laborious.
Receptive Aphasia
Receptive aphasia is caused by a lesion in Wernicke’s area of the brain. Individuals with this condition have significant difficulties understanding what is being said to them. They may be able to speak fluently, but their speech lacks meaning and coherence.
Functions of Language
Language serves several important functions, including:
- Ludicocreative role
- Communicative function
- Representative function
Factors Involved in Language Development
Physiological Factors
- The human brain
- The apparatus of phonation (breath, phonation, and articulation)
Cognitive Factors
- Perception
- Attention
- Memory
- Imitation
Environmental Factors
- Affection
- The teaching and learning process
- Social-family context
Stages of Language Development
Babbling (4-5 months)
Infants begin to produce sequences of vowel and consonant sounds, often monotonous or accompanied by intonation.
Echolalia (6-12 months)
Children start associating vowels and consonants to form syllables, exploring their sound production possibilities and distinguishing and repeating the sounds they emit. Syllabic chains like “papapapapa” emerge.
Holophrase (10-18 months)
Children utter their first words, using them as communicative signals rather than just words. These words refer to the communicative context and function as a sentence, hence the term “holophrase” or “one-word sentence.”
Overextension (10-18 months)
Children use a single word to designate multiple similar objects. For example, “dog” might refer to all four-legged animals.
Strategies for Fostering Language Development
Educators can employ various strategies to promote language development in children:
- Adjust lexicon to children’s capabilities.
- Use simple vocabulary contextualized in the immediate environment and gradually expand it to enrich the child’s language.
- Use brief statements with simple structure.
- Speak clearly and slowly.
- Introduce structured pauses and waits.
- Give the child time to respond.
- Use a warm and friendly tone.
- Utilize paralinguistic resources like gestures, onomatopoeia, etc., to facilitate understanding.
Disorders Affecting Hearing and Vision
Hearing Impairment
- Hearing loss: Hearing is poor but functional for everyday life, allowing for oral language acquisition with significant difficulty.
- Deafness: Hearing is non-existent or severely limited, making it non-functional for everyday life and hindering oral language acquisition through hearing.
Visual Impairment
- Partial vision: The ability to receive and perceive images is reduced, requiring corrective aids for normal vision.
- Very low vision: The ability to receive and perceive images is severely limited, with only a few centimeters of vision possible.
- Partial blindness: The ability to receive and perceive images is partially annulled, allowing only light perception without form.
- Total blindness: The ability to receive and perceive images is completely annulled, with no light perception.
Autism
, pervasive development disorder of the child that causes serious alterations in behavior and language. Although we consider that no warning sign should not be considered alone and in any case must be diagnosed by professionals and specialists concerned.
b) What would be your action as a Higher Technical Education of children? The Higher Technical Education in Kindergarten should be a good observer of etectar and to know the concepts related to the development of the child as well as causes various disorders or difficulties in development. Must know how to act and work in the classroom, but should not directly address the possible warning signs. You must know to work with computer, so discuss this case with other educators and then you should talk with parents to derive it appropriate professionals and specialists.