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Language development is another
important aspect of general development. Language development,
especially during the first few years, shows great individual
variations. Speech development depends not only on the child's general
health and intelligence, but also on his environment, on the speech
pattern to which he is accustomed, and on the amount of encouragement
and stimulation that he receives. Children differ in their language
ability to a considerable degree. Those from poor homes, where clear
speech may not be used to the same extent as in more fortunate homes,
and those children brought up in an institution, for instance, are
usually late in starting to talk and their vocabulary grows slowly. A
number of investigators report very great variations in speech
development dependent as much on environment as on mental ability. It
is, therefore, very necessary to accept any " norms " with great
caution. Very intelligent children usually start to talk early and may
even be talking before they can walk properly, but usually talking
follows walking. Some children, on the other hand, start talking late
but then use short sentences rather than single words almost
immediately, and thence develop rapidly.
These are the usual stages in language development among normal
children during the first two years :-
Early months.—Speech non-existent. Expression by cries of different
types, indicating hunger, pain, anger, etc.
5 months.—Babbling and crowing and cooing very much in evidence. Most
vowel and consonant sounds distinguishable.
6 months.—Syllables can be detected. " NO " understood. Sign language
used.
10 months.—First word spoken.
1 year.—A vocabulary of about 2-3 words. Can imitate sounds and signs.
1 year 6 months.—A vocabulary of about 9 words. One word used to
express the meaning of a whole sentence-
2 years.—A vocabulary of about 200 words. Sentences increase in number
and complexity.
The process of learning to talk coincides to a considerable extent with
the process of learning to walk, that is in the first half of the
second year. Speech does not begin to develop rapidly in the average
child until walking has been established. After that, the child's
vocabulary increases very quickly. Research has shown that the first
word uttered by the baby may be one that gives sensuous enjoyment
rather than one that expresses an urgent need. It seems that the baby
while vocalizing to himself and listening to the sounds around him
chances to utter a sound which pleases him and which chances to
correspond to a real word. As he repeats this sound, savoring it, as it
were, on his tongue, or blowing bubbles in his efforts to make it, he
gains ready admiration and encouragement from the adults around him.
They may also try to indicate its meaning to him in some way. From then
on he may begin to imitate certain sounds and gradually connect them
with objects. Vowel sounds are usually the earliest to appear, then the
labials and " m " sounds. Gutturals follow soon, while liquid sounds
(l's) and aspirates and " th " sounds are usually last.
Adults can help a small child in his early efforts at speech to a
considerable extent. First, they should talk to him and sing to him a
good deal, so that he can hear the rhythm of speech clearly, and enjoy
trying to imitate. Secondly, they should always use a very clear speech
pattern and avoid too much baby talk. Onomatopoetic words certainly
have their use, and serve when the child cannot pronounce the
conventional terms. It is, however, important to discontinue their use
early, as this habitual distortion of words is unwise. Such words as
puff-puff, bow-wow, etc., and the child's own language terms for very
familiar objects will eventually have to be unlearnt. Also, when little
children are spoken to in baby language, they frequently resent it and
feel they are being talked down to. Sometimes older children continue
to use it because in the past they have been praised for it, as a form
of showing off to gain an amused audience. On the other hand, some very
modern parents insist on using a very difficult grown up vocabulary for
the tiny child. When he does begin to talk he struggles with long,
rather unfamiliar words, instead of rejoicing in the nursery lingo of Georgie Porgie, Humpty Dumpty, Lucy Locket and See-Saw Margery Daw—delightfully
incredible but linguistically satisfying expressions.
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