First, children progress through several stages of language acquisition from babbling to producing simple words and phrases to complex sentences. Second, they develop the ability to comprehend language before they can produce it, understanding more words than they can say. Third, children learn to use language in increasingly sophisticated ways over time, progressing from single words to questions and negation as they interact with their environment.

2. First language acquisition is the
process by which humans acquire the
capacity to perceive and comprehend
language, as well as to produce and use
words and sentences to communicate.

3. Children go through a
number of different stages as
language acquirers, from the
earliest stage of producing cooing
sounds until being able to produce
complex, multi-word sentences.

4. Babbling Stage: typically lasts
from the age of three to nine months,
when children begin to develop their
articulatory movements needed to
produce the speech sounds of their
native language.

5. Around the age of 10 to 13 months,
children will begin to produce their first real
words. It is important to realize that they are able
to understand more than what they are capable
to produce. Infants begin to comprehend
language about twice as fast as they are able to
produce it.
Holophrasis is the prelinguistic use of a single word to express a complex idea.

6. Two words: It begins around the age of 18 months, when
children begin to use two word sentences. These sentences usually
consist of just nouns and verbs, such as "Where daddy?" and "Puppy
big!"
Note: in this stage since utterances
are so reduced, context & situation
are determinant for understanding
the message.

7. Around the age of two, children
begin to produce short, multi-
word sentences that have a
subject and predicate.
As children age, they continue to learn more new words every
day. By the time they enter school around the age of five, children
typically have a vocabulary of 10,000 words or more

8. Even though children understand the
functions of negation and express
them with single words and gestures,
it takes some time before they can
express them in sentences, using the
appropriate words and word order.
The following stages in the
development of negation have been
observed in the acquisition of English.

9. Negation is usually The negative word
expressed by the word ‘no’, appears just before the verb.
either all alone or as the first Sentences expressing rejection or
word in the utterance. prohibition often use don’t.
No. No cookie. No comb hair. Daddy no comb hair. Don’t touch that!

10. Children may add forms Children begin to attach
of negative other than ‘no’ the negative element to the
including words like can’t and correct form of auxiliary verbs
don’t. However, children do not such as ‘do’ and ‘be’:
yet vary these forms for
You didn’t have supper.
different persons or tenses. She doesn’t want it.
I can’t do it. He don’t want it. They may still have
difficulty with some other features
related to negatives.
I don’t have no more candies.

11. There is a remarkable consistency
in the way children learn to form
questions in English. For one thing, there
is a predictable order in which the 'wh-
words emerge. “What” is generally the
first wh- question to be used. Then they
use “Where” and “Who”, after that around
the end of the second year “Why”
emerges, and finally “When” and “How”.

12. Children use single Children begin to use
words or simple two- or three- declarative sentence with 'yes/no'
word sentences with rising questions, with rising intonation.
intonation.
Cookie? Mummy, book? You like this? I have some?

13. Gradually, children notice
Children begin to use
that the structure of questions is
subject-auxiliary inversion and can
different and begin to produce
even add 'do'.
questions such as:
Can I go? Are you happy? Do dogs like ice-cream?
However, children tend to
generalize that all questions are
formed by putting a verb at the
beginning of a sentence.
Is the teddy is tired?
Do I can have a cookie?
Why you don’t have one?
Why you watched it?

14. Children eventually combine Finally, wh- words appear
inversion in yes/no question and wh- in subordinate clauses or
questions. embedded questions.
Are these your boots?
Why did you do that?
Does daddy have a car? Do you know where the ball is?
Negative question may
still be a bit too difficult.
Why the teddy bear can’t go outside?