What is language development?
Language is a form of communication. It is an important way to distinguish human babies from animals. The form of language may be written, spoken, sign language, etc. Speech is a form of language in which articulate words or sounds convey meanings and thoughts. Simple vocalization is not considered speech unless it is associated with some meaning or objects or persons. i.e. da, da must refer to one person, not all men. Pronounciability is the second criterion of speech. In other words, the baby must pronounce the words, so that they are clearly understood by others. Here, you will get to know “Language Development in Children“.
Speech is a type of behavior that helps the child move from a world of egocentrism to a world of socialized relationships. A child with good language skills can establish a good social relationship in play, with neighbors, and in small groups. The child feels more secure when he develops a command over language. They can express their thoughts, feelings & attitudes very freely.
Child Language Development
Learning to speak is a long and complex process. The baby does not utter a single word until one year or more. In the early phase. i.e. before using words, the baby babbles, cries, and makes explosive sounds for communication.
In the early days, most vocalization takes the form of crying. With the increase in age, crying decreases & speech increases to convey feelings. Following crying, the child makes explosive sounds commonly, “cooing” Babbling appears around six months, although it depends upon the development of his vocal mechanism and his incentive to use it for speaking out. Babbling is considered “play speech”. But it lays the foundation for later development.
Speech is a skill, like all other skills, that is learned. The learning of speech or language is closely associated with corresponding developments in speech organs, mouth development, and the ability of the child to associate sounds or words with meaningful events, objects, and persons. Speech readiness appears between 12 and 18 months in most babies. The baby learns the language by imitating the speech sounds of others or models and associates meaning with words following the conditioning and reinforcement systems. However, most of the speech also occurs through insight and contiguity. Various language studies show that speech or language has two different aspects: language production and language comprehension. Insight and understanding play a role in language comprehension & conditioning, reinforcement, and imitation related to language production. There is, in fact, a vast difference between the two processes. The child understands better than he speaks.
language development in children
Every child learns that the words have specific meanings. Learning to pronounce a word may be relatively easy. But to comprehend the meaning of a word that has more than one meaning is difficult for the child.
Attachment of meaning or understanding of the meaning of words follows the conditioning technique. At first, the child makes random circulatory responses. He utters words and listens and then repeats. The second time or after that, the child will hear others saying a word & he will repeat it. i.e.; he utters by listening to the speech sounds of others. Subsequently, he hears someone saying a word, and simultaneously, the child associates the word with the concrete object or person. When he sees the same object or person & nobody says anything. Spontaneously he utters the “word” that he has learned to associate. In that way, the child will attach meaning to a word. All meanings at first recognized in connection with a specific object or person. It is only later he generalizes the meaning to similar situations.
As the child becomes older, he becomes able to learn abstract words & relationships.