Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Lesson 10: Language Development

INTRODUCTION
From birth up to the age of five, children develop language at a very rapid pace. The stages of language development are
universal among humans. However, the age and the pace at which a child reaches each milestone of language development vary
greatly among children. Thus, language development in an individual child must be compared with norms rather than with other
individual children. In general girls develop language at a faster rate than boys. More than any other aspect of development,
language development reflects the growth and maturation of the brain. After the age of five it becomes much more difficult for most
children to learn language.
Receptive language development (the ability to comprehend language) usually develops faster than expressive language (the
ability to communicate). Two different styles of language development are recognized. In referential language development,
children first speak single words and then join words together, first into two-word sentences and then into three-word sentences. In
expressive language development, children first speak in long unintelligible babbles that mimic the cadence and rhythm of adult
speech. Most children use a combination these styles.

Pre-Competency Questions
How do we communicate with infants and babies?
How does language develop in children?
Can reading and talking to infants help them with language development?
What are language milestones of baby?
Is there such thing as language delay?
Learning Resources
http://www.healthofchildren.com/L/Language-Development.html#ixzz6Yg3qTEl1
https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/speech-development-in-children
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/development/language-development/language-delay
Explore
Look for a child in your neighbourhood or at your very own home and try to observe them and record your observation.
Observe a 1-3 year old child and observe their language milestone using the appropriate checklist and make a simple
narrative at the end of the observation sheet. Picture of the child may be included in the narrative.
13-36 Month Language Milestones Checklist Yes No
Communication – By 15 Months
May use 5-10 words
Imitates simple words and actions
Combines sounds and gestures
Consistently follows simple directions
Shows interest in pictures
Can identify 1-2 body parts when named
Understands 50 words
Communication – By 18 Months
Responds to questions
Repeats words overheard in conversation
Continues to produce speech-like babbling
Points at familiar objects and people in pictures
Understands “in” and “on”
Responds to yes/no questions with head shake/nod
Communication - By 21 Months
Uses at least 50 words
Consistently imitates new words
Names objects and pictures
Understands simple pronouns (me, you, my)
Understands new words quickly

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 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Identifies 3-5 body parts when named
Communication- By 24 Months
Uses gestures and words during pretend play
Begins to use 2 word phrases
Uses simple pronouns (me, you, my)
Understands action words
Follow 2-step related directions, e.g. “Pick up your coat and bring it to me.”
Enjoys listening to stories
Communication - By 30 Months
Consistently uses 2-3 word phrases
Uses “in” and “on”
At least 50% of speech is understood by caregiver
Follow 2-step unrelated directions, e.g. “give me the ball and go get your coat” Understands basic nouns and
pronouns
Understands “mine” and “yours
Communication - By 36 Months
Ask “what” and “where” questions
Uses plurals, e.g. “dogs”
Most speech is understood by caregiver
Understands most simple sentences
Simple understanding of concepts including color, space, time
Understands “why” question
Narrative of observation: write down your observation and general insight on the activity.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
 Speech and language are the tools humans use to communicate and share thoughts, ideas, and emotions.
 For babies and children, they come to know these tools and develop at a varying rate.
 Language differs from speech in that language is the set of rules, shared by the individuals who are communicating, that
allows them to exchange those thoughts, ideas, or emotions.
 Speech is talking, one way that a language can be expressed

History of language development

Traditionally, language development depends upon the principle of reinforcement.
A principle of reinforcement is a psychological concept based on the idea that the consequences of an action will influence
future behavior.
Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences.
 Cognitive development for your baby means the learning process of memory, language, thinking and reasoning. Your baby is
learning to recognize the sound of your voice. She is also learning to focus her vision from the periphery or the corner of her
eyes to the center.
 Language development is more than uttering sounds ("babble"), or mama/dada.
 Listening, understanding, and knowing the names of people and things are all components of language development.
 During this stage, your baby is also developing bonds of love and trust with the mother. The way the baby is cuddled, hold,
and play with will set the basis for how the baby will interact with others.
 Positive Reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding.
 Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it.
 In the process of language acquisition: the caregiver is the stimulus given to the child who babbles and coos as a response.
 Thus reinforcement occurs and the child is patted or caressed when he speak, then he forms language producing habits.
 Other learning theorist viewed that language primarily learned through imitation, an advance behavior whereby people
observes and replicate another’s behavior.

Nativist theory – Noam Chomsky believes that human are born with certain capacities to perceive the world in particular
way. These capacities are often immature or incomplete at birth but develop gradually. Believes that an individual has
Language Acquisition Device. (LAD)
Interactionist Theory explains that language development is biological and social. Explains that learning language is
influenced by the children’s strong desire of children to communicate with others.
Jerome Bruner stresses that parents and caregivers have critical role in language acquisition process. Proposed the use of
Language Acquisition support System (LASS) refers to the family and the social environment of the children which interact
and acquire language
 The LASS is a collection of strategies that parents employ to facilitate their children acquisition of language.
 one of these strategies is scaffolding - a way to support children's learning of language. the deliberate use of language at a
level that is slightly beyond what children can comprehend.
 With parental support, scaffolding leads the child to acquire complex language more quickly than they might do on their
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 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
own.
 another strategy is called Infant-directed speech or motherese aka baby talk
Another modern theorist, Lev Vygotsky, proposed collaborative learning-explains that conversations with older people can
help children both cognitively and linguistically

Antecedents of language development

 Psuedodialogues • this is one of the early training devices characterized by the give and take conversation between the child
and the mother or other person. Adult maintains the flow of conversation.
 Protodeclaratives • an infant uses gestures to make some sort of statement about an object. (The child want to share with
you what he experience. He want you to know what he experience and he want you to experience it too)
 Protoimparatives are gestures of an infant or young child may use to get someone to do something he or she wants.
Children can make statement about things and get other people to do things for them. (commanding or requesting)

BILINGUALISM
 Bilingualism is the ability to speak or write fluently in two languages.
Bilingualism may be distinguished into:
 1. Productive bilingualism- speaker can produce and understand both languages
 2. receptive bilingualism-speaker can understand both languages but have more limited production abilities
Developing bilingualism
 Fierro-Cobas and Chan, 2001 said that language development tis complex, dynamic process influenced by the child’s age,
language exposure and social interaction.
 Usually follows 2 acquisition patterns:
 Simultaneous bilingualism –child acquires two languages at the same time before the age of 3
 Sequential bilingualism- child acquires a second language by the age of 3 having acquired the primary language

TWO MAJOR PATTERN IN BILINGUAL LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

 Simultaneous bilingualism-
 Stage 1-child mix and blend words or part of words from both languages
Example: “gusto ko hat”
 Stage 2-child can distinguish the two languages, and can use each language separately
Example: “I want ice cream” “gusto ko ng sorbets
 Sequential Bilingualism- developing a second language before the age of 3 is different from a process of developing the first
language:
1. Sequential bilingual child can draw on knowledge from first language
2. How child passes through phases of sequential language is dependent on temperament and motivation
3. Relative exposure to second language affects how a child develop a second language

Language development varies considerably between children, even within the same family. However, children tend to follow
a natural progression for mastering the skills of language and there are certain milestones that can be identified as a rough guide to
normal development.
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How does speech develop over time?

Babies need to learn how language sounds before being able to learn how to speak.
Although individual children develop at their own rate, there are some general patterns:
From 1 to 3 months of age, babies cry and coo.
At 4 to 6 months of age, babies sigh, grunt, gurgle, squeal, laugh and make different crying sounds.
Between 6 and 9 months, babies babble in syllables and start imitating tones and speech sounds.
By 12 months, a baby’s first words usually appear, and by 18 months to 2 years children use around 50 words and will start
putting two words together into a short sentences.
From 2-3 years, sentences extend to 4 and 5 words. Children can recognise and identify almost all common objects and pictures, as
well as use pronouns (I, me, he, she) and some plurals. Strangers can understand most words.
From 3-5 years, conversations become longer, and more abstract and complex.
By the time a child turns 5, they usually have a 2,500 word vocabulary and talk in complete, grammatically correct sentences. They
ask a lot of ‘why?’, ‘what?’ and ‘who?’ questions.
How can parents help with speech development?

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 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Encourage baby to start talking by:
Playing interactive games like peek-a-boo and singing nursery rhymes.
Looking at books from an early age — you don’t have to read the words, just talk about what you can see.
Talking slowly and clearly and using short, simple
Not criticising wrong words and instead saying the word properly — for example, if the baby points to a cat and says ‘Ca!’ say:
‘Yes, it’s a cat’.
Letting child lead the conversation and help them expand on their thoughts.
Giving child lots of opportunities to talk, with plenty of time to answer questions.
Reducing background noise such as TV, and limiting supervised TV watching for older children.
Consult a doctor or child health nurse if:
By 12 months, a child is not trying to communicate (using sounds, gestures and/or words), particularly when needing help or
wanting something.
By 2 years, the child isn’t saying about 50 words or hasn’t started combining words.

Discussion Board
Why do we have a lot of children who are English speaking nowadays?
What do you think are the factors that contribute to their language behaviour?
Post Competency Questions
How do we identify students who may have delayed language development?
How do we help encourage language development in children?
Why children use English as their first language?
Quiz: Write the letter of the correct answer.

1. The ability of a child to produce and understand two languages

a. bilingualism c. productive bilingualism
b. simultaneous bilingualism d. receptive bilingualism
2. Emphasizes the critical role the parents and early caregivers play in language development of children
a. Lev Vygotsky c. Jerome Bruner
b. Noam Chomsky d. Jean Piaget
3. An approach to language development which focuses on the innate Language Acquisition Device of the children
a. Ethology c. sociobiology
b. Nativism d. Support System
4. An early training device used by children which is a give and take conversation between the mother and the child where the
adult maintains the flow of conversation
a. pseudodialogue c. protoimperatives
b. protodeclaratives d. protodialogue
5. Another early training device where a child uses gestures to make some sort of statement.
a. protoimperatives c. pseudodialogue
b. protodialogues d. protodeclarative
6. When a child learn the second language at the age of 3 and acquired primary language at an early stage
a. simultaneous c. productive
b. sequential d. receptive
7. This emphasizes the cognitive development through active contribution of learner and the more experienced people.
a. reciprocal instruction c. cultural variation
b. guided participation d. social interaction
8. it encourages children to develop language
a. Sleeping c. singing nursery rhymes
b. Laughing d. eating
9. A vocabulary of 2,500 and up is attained by a child at the age of ..
a. 3 b. 2 c. 4 d. 5
10. ________is the set of rule s, shared by the individuals who are communicating, that allows them to exchange those thoughts,
ideas, or emotions.
a. Speech b. Language c. words d. songs

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