Language is defined as a collection of words or symbols and rules for combining them, which allows them to be used for thinking and communication. The development part is the progression based on the child’s age. The moment children are born their brain forms the connections to determine how they learn, think, and grow.
Language can be communicated in many different ways. We see the first sign of language from infants while they are in the womb. Some think that language is learned while others say it is innate. Through the knowledge I have gained I learned that it is not one or the other but both.
When a baby is born the first thing they do is cry. By the first month they use crying to gain attention. As they get older the parents become in tuned with the baby’s cries. The different cries tell the parent if the child is hungry, tired, need a changing, or just needs to be held. For an infant crying is a form of communication to get their needs met since verbal communication is not possible at this stage.
Another form of communication that most Americans use is motherese. This is also known as babytalk in proper terms child-directed speech. It is high pitch and most often used by adults when talking to children or infants. I remember there was a time when I wasn’t pleased with babytalk. I thought it would make my daughters speech delayed. After taking child development classes I learned that babytalk is stimulation for the baby’s brain and it is something good for the development. Babbling is another important factor in language. It’s universal and by 6 months most babies are doing it. In class I remember talking about the first year of life being a very important language learning period. It involves speech perception which is the ability to hear, interpret, and understand.
Handout 5.6b states that a child’s language unfolds at its best within a language-rich environment, it is critical to model clear speech. They feel that when a...