Here is my final presentation!

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
I N I N F A N C Y A N D E A R L Y C H I L D H O O D
B Y A M Y G I L L I S

2. “MOST OF US
THINK OF
LANGUAGE AS
BEGINNING WHEN
A BABY USES HER
FIRST WORDS, AT
ABOUT 12
MONTHS OF AGE.
BUT ALL SORTS
OF IMPORTANT
DEVELOPMENTS
PRECEDE THE
FIRST WORDS”
(BOYD, JOHNSON
& BEE, 2015, P.
140).
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3. Behaviourists
 B.F. Skinner
Nativists
 Noam Chomsky
 Claim that infants learn
language through parental
reinforcement of word-like
sounds and correct grammar.
 State that an innate language
processor called the LAD
(language acquisition device)
guides children’s
comprehension and
production of language.
THEORISTS
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4. Interactionist
 Lois Bloom
 Melissa Bowerman
 Michael Tomasello
 Lev Vygotsky
 Claim that infants are
biologically prepared to
learn language and that
language development is
a sub-process of cognitive
development. They also
believe that social
interactions are critical to
language development.
THEORISTS CONT’D
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5. INFLUENCES ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Infant-direct speech
 Using this simplified, higher-pitched way of speaking facilitates your child’s
language development. Infant’s prefer to listen to IDS over adult-directed
speech.
Repetition
 Repeating your own speech as well as expanding and repeating your child’s
speech also has a positive effect on the child’s language development.
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6. INFLUENCES ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CONT’D
Children whose parents:
 Talk to them regularly
 Read to them often
 Use a large vocabulary
Began to:
 Talk sooner
 Develop larger vocabularies
 Use more complex sentences
 Learn to read quicker when they begin school
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7. EARLY MILESTONES
First sounds and gestures
 Cooing—1 to 2 months
 Babbling—6 to 7 months
 Gestural Language—9 to 10 months
Word Recognition
 Begin to store words in memory—8 months
 Understand meaning of 20 to 30 words—9 to 10 months
“The ability to understand words is known as receptive language”
(Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2015, p. 142-143).
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8. FIRST WORDS
 The child’s first word is typically used in the presence of
cues, such as saying “bow-wow” when a dog is present.
 Most children combine a word with a gesture before
combining two words. This combination is called a
holophrase.
 Most first and new words are names for things or people.
 A child’s first word is usually said at approximately 12
months.
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“The 9 to 10 month-old infant understands far more words
than she can say” (Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2015, p.145).

9. FIRST SENTENCES
 Most children began to make their first sentences when
their vocabulary reaches 100 to 200 words—at about 18 to
24 months.
 Typically these sentences are termed telegraphic speech.
• Simple, two to three word sentences.
 The first sentences typically do not follow grammatical
rules.
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10. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Differences in Rate
 It is recommended that if your child has a severe language developmental delay to seek
professional help.
Differences in Style
 Some children use an expressive style—a style in which high use of personal-social words
are used versus noun-like terms.
 Other children use referential style—a style in which emphasis is on words for naming and
description.
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“The majority of children who talk late eventually
catch up” (Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2015, p.145).

11. DEVELOPMENT ACROSS CULTURES
Babies across cultures all:
 Coo before they babble
 Understand words before they speak them
 Speak their first words at approximately 1 year old
 Some languages have no simple, two-word sentence stage, in which
children use no inflections, or grammatical rules.
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12. RELEVANCE TO MY
LIFE
This is relevant to my
life because over the
summer I work at a
daycare. Having this
knowledge will allow
me to communicate
better with the
children and plan
activities that will be
within their level of
understanding.
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13. RELEVANCE TO MY
LIFE CONT’D
Another reason this is
relevant to my life is
because, in the future, I
hope to be a mother.
Having this information
will allow me to not only
facilitate my child’s
language development
but also to be able to
recognize any language
disabilities they may
have.
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14. RELEVANCE TO MY
PROFESSIONAL
LIFE
Following graduation
from the BN program,
my future plans are to
get a job working in
pediatrics.
This information is
relevant because it will
give me the knowledge
on how to
communicate and
build a therapeutic
relationship with my
young patients.
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