Psychology presentation-Language Development in infancy and early childhood

1. Language Development
In infancy and early childhood
By Amy Gillis
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3. Theorists
O Behaviourists
O B.F. Skinner
O Nativists
O Noam Chomsky
O Claim that infants learn
language through parental
reinforcement of word-like
sounds and correct
grammar.
O State that an innate
language processor called
the LAD (language
acquisition device) guides
children’s comprehension
and production of
language.

4. Theorists cont’d
O Interactionist
O Lois Bloom
O Melissa Bowerman
O Michael Tomasello
O Lev Vygotsky
O 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.
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5. Influences on Language Development
O Infant-direct speech
O Using this simplified, higher-pitched way of
speaking facilitates your child’s language
development. Infant’s also prefer to listen
to IDS over adult-directed speech.
O Repetition
O 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.

6. Influences on Language Development cont’d
O Children whose parents:
O Talk to them regularly
O Read to them often
O Use a large vocabulary
O Began to:
O Talk sooner
O Develop larger vocabularies
O Use more complex sentences
O Learn to read quicker when they begin
school
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7. Early Milestones
O First sounds and gestures
O Cooing—1 to 2 months
O Babbling—6 to 7 months
O Gestural Language—9 to 10 months
O Word Recognition
“The ability to understand words is known as
receptive language” (Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2015, p.
142-143).
O Begin to store words in memory—8 months
O Understand meaning of 20 to 30 words—9
to 10 months
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8. First Words
“The 9 to 10 month-old infant understands far more words
than she can say” (Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2015, p.145).
O The child’s first word is typically used in the
presence of cues, such as saying “bow-wow”
when a dog is present.
O Most children combine a word with a gesture
before combining two words. This
combination is called a holophrase.
O Most first and new words are names for things
or people.
O A child’s first word is usually said at
approximately 12 months.
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9. First Sentences
O Most children began to make their first
sentences when their vocabulary reaches 100
to 200 words—at about 18 to 24 months.
O Typically these sentences are termed
telegraphic speech.
O Simple, two to three word sentences.
O The first sentences typically do not follow
grammatical rules.
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10. Individual Differences
O Differences in Rate
O “The majority of children who talk late eventually catch
up” (Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2015, p.145).
O It is recommended that if your child has a severe
language developmental delay to seek professional help.
O Differences in Style
O Some children use an expressive style when learning
language—a style in which high use of personal-social
words are used versus noun-like terms.
O Other children use referential style—a style in which
emphasis is on words for naming and description.

11. Development Across Cultures
O Babies across cultures all:
O Coo before they babble
O Understand words before they speak them
O Speak their first words at approximately 1 year
old
O Some languages have no simple, two-
word sentence stage, in which children
use no inflections, or grammatical rules.
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