 Language is a system of communication

using gestures, sounds, or written symbols

that have significance for those who use the
language and follow its rules.
 Language development is the process by
which children come to understand and
communicate language during early
childhood
 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.
 The pre-lingustic stage 0-6 months
Children at this stage send and recieve
messages and use reflexive crying to
communicate with care givers
 The holophrase or one word sentence7 – 12
months
Children at the one word stage begin imitating
inflections and facial expressions of adults.
 The two word sentence13-24 months
 At the two word stage children begin producing
rudimentary types of phrases
 Multiple word sentences
The child reaches this stage between the
age of two and two and a half. The child can
now form sentences with a subject and
predicate
 More complex grammatical structures
Between two and half and three. In this
stage child can form more complex sentences
 Adult like language structure
The five to six years old child reaches this
development. Complex structural distinction
can now be made.
 Language of parents
 Cultural factors
 Environmental factors
 Degree of maturity
 Physical conditions
 Emotional developments
 Level of intelligence
 Number of children in the family
 Socio economic status of the family
 Teachers language
 The teacher should provide rich language
experience to the children in preschool by
talking them on diverse but familiar matters.
 While talking to children talk slowly clearly
and short sentences
 The term speech defect refers to incorrect
speech habits developed by the individual on
account of slow maturation or ineffective
learning.
 Incorrect speech may be in the form of
omission of letters , incorrect pronunciation,
wrong application of the rules of grammar or
failure in regulating speed of talking
1. lisping
 Child finds difficulties to pronounce certain
words correctly
 It involves change of sound of letters and
words
 Its main cause is the continuity of the
infantile mode of teaching
 Slurring is caused by running words together,
by which the child is unable to pronounce
correctly.
 Sometimes this is due to too much haste on
the part of the child because he wants to
express everything in no time.
 Slurring may be due to emotional tension
arising out of excessive fear, or due to some
defects in vocal organs
 In stuttering the child pronounce the same
letter repeatedly before pronouncing a word.
 In stammering the child fails to produce any
sound for sometime which result in
embracing types gestures and facial
expression
 Both these defects are caused by emotional
difficulties such as anxiety fear frustration
hostility insecurity etc
 Chomsky on Language Acquisition
 Noam Chomsky postulated that the mechanism of the language
acquisition is derived from the innate processes. Innate is
something which is already there in mind since birth.
 The theory proposed by Chomsky is proved by the children living
in same linguistic community. Moreover, they are not influenced
by the external experiences which bring about the comparable
grammar.
 He thus proposed his theory on language acquisition in 1977 as
"all children share the same internal constraints which
characterize narrowly the grammar they are going to construct."
He also proposed that all of us live in a biological world, and
according to him, mental world is no exception.
 He also believes that as there are stages of development for
other parts of the body, language development can also be
achieved up to a certain age.
• Chomsky's theory shows the way children acquire
language and what they learn it from.
• He believes that from birth, children are born with
the inherited skill to learn and pick up any language.
• He noted that children don’t learn language from the
imitation, they pick up nouns, verbs which become
imprinted upon their brain.
• A known fact shows that all children (despite their
intellectual ability) can become fluent within their
native language within only 5 years of learning.
• Noam Chomsky suggested that learning language is
a lot like learning to walk, although you learn from
practise. We are all born with an understanding of
how to walk, in addition to language.
 His evidence proves that the theory is correct as it is
known that if an adult was talking to a child and had made
a grammar mistake, the child would in fact notice.
 He has evidence to show that children don’t learn
language through imitation, this is shown through simple
grammar mistakes that children make like “I drawed” and “
I drew”.
 When a child is in the process of learning to speak, they
would most likely always get their nouns, verbs and
subjects correct and in the right order.
 It is shown that children would use and make up words
whilst learning to speak like “mamma ball” instead of
mum. This shows that this wasn’t learnt passively.
 The evidence of Chomsky's theory show that we are all
prewired to learn any required language.
 His theory is showing that children don’t
learn new language from imitation but from
knowing the correct grammar.
 However his theory doesn’t prove that
children catch on easily, any language
learning could be learnt through general
learning and being able to understand
interactions and abilities with other people
around them.
 He claims that every child that is born with
LAD (language acquisition device
 Language is a social concept that is developed
through social interactions.
 According to Lev Vygotsky, a 20th-century Soviet
psychologist, language acquisition involves not
only a child's exposure to words but also an
interdependent process of growth between
thought and language.
 Vygotskys influential theory of the "zone of
proximal development" asserts that teachers
should consider a child's prospective learning
power before trying to expand the child's grasp
of language.
 Vygotskys theory of language is based on
constructivist learning theory, which
contends that children acquire knowledge as
a result of engaging in social experiences.
 "Through social and language interactions,
older and more experienced members of a
community teach younger and less
experienced members the skills, values, and
knowledge needed to be productive members
of that community," says Harry Daniels,
author of "An Introduction to Vygotsky."
 According to Vygotsky, words are signals.
Rather than engage children in a primary
signal system, in which objects are referred
to merely as themselves, adults engage
children in a secondary signal system, in
which words represent objects and ideas.
 A childs intellectual development is crucial to
his language development.
 By interacting with his environment, a child
develops the ability to develop private, inner
speech.
 "Inner speech is thinking in pure meanings; it
is the link between the second signal system
of the social world and the thought of the
individual,"
 Through the development of inner speech,
children straddle the divide between thought
and language, eventually being able to
express their thoughts coherently to others.
 The language learning process occurs as a
result of give and take.
 Parents and teachers usher a child through a
process of guided discovery, addressing her
learning potential.
 Eventually, children internalize language skills.
 As young learners experience language
development, they "can reflect better on their
own thinking and behavior and reach greater
levels of control and mastery over their own
behavior," according to Adam Winsler, co- editor
of "Private Speech, Executive Functioning, and
the Development of Verbal Self- Regulation".
 Vygotskys constructivist language theory
exists in opposition to Jean Piagets theory of
language acquisition.
 According to Piaget, children construct
knowledge about language through a
complex process of assimilation, stressing
the inherent capability of a childs brain to
adapt to stimulation.
 By contrast, Vygotsky stresses the social
nature of language learning, emphasizing the
environment within which a child is raised.