PART C:

How We Learn to Speak

A No two human beings are exactly alike. Each one of us is different, yet we all have many
features in common. One of these features is that when we are born we all absolutely depend on
others for all of our needs: food, shelter, clothes, protection and love. Many important things
happen during childhood, but central to the process of growing from a baby with little
personality into an individual with is the development of communication.
B The first way a baby communicates its needs is by crying, but eventually babies realise that
there are other and better ways of communicating. The baby listens to all the meaningless sounds
around it, and it gradually gets used to the voices it hears. Day by day, week by week, and month
by month, it learns to imitate those sounds, and so another language speaker is born. This, of
course, is an extremely simple description of the very complex process of learning a language,
but it is, nonetheless, true.
C When did you become a language speaker? Most children usually start talking when they
are around one year old. For some it happens before then, while for others it occurs sometime
between their first birthday and eighteen months. Those children who learn to talk earlier than
others are a source of immense pride to their parents. On the other hand, if children are slow to
start talking, parents can worry that something is wrong. Experts declare that being a late starter
is not a cause for concern or a sign that a child is not clever; after all, Einstein was three or four
before he started speaking, and there was nothing lacking in his brain power! All normal children
learn to talk, but at different rates.
D In the first few months of life, babies make noises that are nothing like words, but by six
months they are making nonsense noises that are beginning to sound like speech. After another
six months, children will be making mama noises, and they will also try to repeat sounds that
they hear. When they make these noises or say these ‘words', people do things for them: they
smile and pick them up, or they get attention and a cuddle. They are starting to realise that
language is a very useful tool indeed.
E After another half year, most children can say up to 8 or 10 words. At this age, children on
average can understand 5 words for every one word they can say. Around this age, children start
to use two words together as if they were one word, daddy car for example, which in adult
language could mean either Daddy is in the car or it is daddy's car. If it is the first meaning, the
child will stress the second word, car, and if it is the second meaning, the word daddy will be
stressed. By the time they blow out the two candles on their next birthday cake, they will be able
to utter approximately 40 words, and two years later, they will be able to handle between 200
and 300 different words. By the age of 5, the child will understand nearly 2,000 words. Then it
will be time for primary school and during this period of early schooling, the child's vocabulary
will grow by roughly another 1000 words each year.
F Learning a language is a very complicated process, but all human beings are born with
language ability. The precise language they learn to speak depends on which language they hear
all around them. When babies are making nonsense sounds, some people say that they are trying
out all the possible sounds in all the world's languages before identifying those sounds that they
hear around them. When they have narrowed down all possible sounds to the ones they hear
every day, then those are the sounds they will produce and master, and the other sounds will
disappear. An example may help to clarify this: some Chinese people find it hard to hear the
difference between [1] and [r], lock and rock for instance, and speakers of Japanese sometimes
have this problem, too. However, a study showed that newborn Japanese babies could indeed
hear the difference between [1] and [r], even though their parents could not. Surprisingly,
though, the babies lost this ability around the age of six months, and could then only hear the
sounds their parents could hear and say.
G Learning a language takes persistence. It requires practice, practice, practice. Above all it
needs time. And if babies can do it, then so can you. Enjoy the adventure!
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
Write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the
information NOT GIVEN if there is no
information on this
1. There is generally problem with a child’s language development if they start speaking
later than 18 months.
2. Young children put words together in ways which may have several alternative
meanings.
3. The language which human beings learn and produce depends on what is spoken by
their family or caregiver.
4. Teenager children are still learning vocabulary at a fast rate.
5. At the age of eight months, Japanese babies were able to hear the difference between
the sounds /l/ and /r/.
6. Children of different nationalities learn the sounds of their language in the same order.
Look at the following list of stages in the language learning process. Match each statement
with the correct age. Write the letter beside the description:
7. speaking around 200 – 300 words
8. making sounds unrelated to language
9. copying the sounds of the local language
10. large growth in word production
11. producing the beginnings of the speech sounds.
12. using two-word phrases
A. before 6 months old
B. 6 months to one year
C. at around one year old
D. at 18 months old
E. at 2 years old
F. at 4 years old
G. 5 to 10 years old
Complete the summary of the passage, using words from the box below. There are more
words than gaps:
The skill of learning to speak is one which is (13)................................................to all cultures.
As
soon as they are born, babies cry in order to (14)................................................their needs to
their
parents and those around them. The (15).......................................................Of gradually
listening
to and learning to produce sounds is universal, but there is considerable individual
(16)
…………………………… in the age at which speech first occurs, although the average
is at
(17) ……………………….. twelve months. However, an early or late beginning to
language production is no indication of (18) ………………………………., and
nor is the (19)............................at which language is learned.
communicat approximatel variation nonsense
e process y attention adventure tool
speech intelligence complicate common
imitate average d speed

Choose the correct letter, a, b, c, or d.

20. The main idea in this passage is:
a. The process of learning language is very long and complex.
b. All humans have the same basic language learning process.
c. All children learn to speak at a different rate and
time. Learning language is very difficult and time-
consuming.