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Language Development: Language Development: Birth through 24 MonthsBirth through 24 MonthsLanguage Development: Language Development: Birth through 24 MonthsBirth through 24 Months

September 21, 2009September 21, 2009

Kim Craig, Jocelyn Curry, Will Schuck, Missy SmithKim Craig, Jocelyn Curry, Will Schuck, Missy Smith

Stage 1:Stage 1:Birth to 8 MonthsBirth to 8 Months

Stage 1:Stage 1:Birth to 8 MonthsBirth to 8 Months

Kim CraigKim Craig

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Birth-4 months1. Sucks fingers when near mouth2. Places hands on bottle during feeding3. Recognizes a nipple or bottle4. Pats a bottle with one or both hands

5-6 months1. Holds bottle on own with one or both

hands2. Mouths and gums solid foods3. Opens mouth when a spoon is present

6-9 months1. Feeds self crackers2. Drinks from cup held by adult (with some

loss of liquid)3. Reaches for a spoon when

presented/bangs spoon4. Prefers parent to feed

Birth-8 months

Feeding

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Birth-8 months Speech-sound acquisition (prelinquistic)

Birth-1 month1. Demonstrates reflexive vocalization such as crying, burping, coughing and sneezing2. Demonstrates non-reflexive sounds

2-3 months1. Uses sounds that are acoustically similar to back vowels, consonant-vowels and

vowel-consonant

4-6 months1. Gains better control of laryngeal and articulator mechanisms during this period by

engaging in vocal play2. Sounds vary daily and weekly3. Produces vowels with better oral resonance

7-9 months1. Continues to use CV syllables that have a more adult-like timing2. Constant phonetic inventory may have stops, glides, nasals

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Birth-8 months

PragmaticsBirth-6 months

1. Startles to loud sounds2. Responds to voice and sound3. Turns head toward sound source4. Watches speaker’s face when spoken to5. Stops crying when spoken to6. Discriminates between strangers and familiar people7. Varies responses to different family members8. Smiles when spoken to9. Has a social smile10.Uses babbling for gaining attention11.Establishes eye contact

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Birth-8 months

Literacy/Morphology6-12 months

1. Likes to chew and pat books2. Can focus on large and bright picture

books3. Shares books with adult4. No morphological milestones

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Birth-8 months

ListeningBirth-3 months

1. Discriminates speech from non-speech sounds2. Startles to loud sounds3. Quiets or excites in response to novel sounds4. Recognizes a primary caregiver’s voice5. Smiles or quiets when spoken to6. Decreases or increases sucking behavior in response to sounds

3-6 months1. Moves eyes in direction of sounds2. Discriminates friendly and angry sounds3. Reacts to change in tone of voice4. Attends to music and toys that make sounds5. Listens to a speaker and watches a speaker’s face when spoken to

Stage 2:Stage 2:8 to 16 Months8 to 16 Months

Stage 2:Stage 2:8 to 16 Months8 to 16 Months

Missy SmithMissy Smith

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8-16 months

Syntax / MorphologyDevelops in later Stage 2 of Brown’s Language Development (19-28 months)using present progressive grammatical morphemes (crying)

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8-16 months

Vocabulary / semanticsVocabulary – Emergence of expressive language

1. 6 months and older - canonical babbling: reduplicated and non-reduplicated babblinga) Reduplicated: 6 monthsb) Non-reduplicated: 12-13 months

2. 10 months and older - jargon stagea) Consists of first words that may be produced after

a string of jargonb) Stage is characterized by strings of sounds and

syllables uttered with variety of stress and intonation patterns

3. 12 months - two to six words other than mama and dada (first word period)a) Phonological acquisition includes /b/, /m/, /d/, /n/b) First produce sounds as whole items instead of

individual soundsc) Begin to use pronouns such as I and it

4. 15 months - ten words

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8-16 months

Vocabulary / semanticsSemantics

1. Three categories of types of single words children from birth-age 2 use to represent what they have learned about the environment (single-word utterance stage)a) Substantive words: to name objectsb) Relational words: describe the relationships or characteristics of objects including movements or

relationships of an object to itself (disappears)c) Social words: hi/bye-foundation for maintaining relationships according to the culture’s social code

2. Relationship between phonological and semantic developmenta) Learn new words that begin with the same consonants they have previously usedb) Show more phonetic accuracy in saying object words than action words

3. In Stage 1 of Brown’s Stages of Language Development between 12 and 26 months

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8-16 months

PragmaticsMilestones

1. Responds to “no”2. Responds to name and pats self in

mirror3. Points to learn new vocabulary4. Tries to “talk” to listener5. Coos / squeals for attention6. Laughs when playing with objects7. Tries to communicate by actions and

gestures8. Smiles at self in mirror9. Plays pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo10.Demonstrates turn-taking skills with

reciprocal interactions11.Shouts to attract attention12.Follows dimple directions13.Waves bye-bye

Language serves as multiple functions

1. Labeling2. Answering3. Requesting action4. Requesting an answer5. Calling / addressing6. Greeting7. Protesting8. Repeating / imitating9. Practicing

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8-16 months

Social communication8-12 months enters illocutionary period of

development

1. Gestures to show objects to adults (protodeclarative)

2. Requests items by pointing (protodeclarative)3. Gives items to adults4. Able to follow eye directions of adults to locate

objects (provides basis for pairing words with objects)

5. 8-9 months first words spoken

12 months enters locutionary period

1. Able to use joint attention to locate objects outside immediate visual field

2. Begin to use words to replace or accompany gestures to request, demand and comment

Stage 3:Stage 3:16 to 24 Months16 to 24 Months

Stage 3:Stage 3:16 to 24 Months16 to 24 Months

Jocelyn Curry and Will SchuckJocelyn Curry and Will Schuck

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16-24 months

HumorEnjoys peek-a-boo

Plays pat-a-cake

Cause and effect types of interactions / play

Like to look at themselves in the mirror

Interacts through smiles / laughter

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16-24 months

Narrative development

Symbolic play

Storytelling

Narratives

Talking to themselves

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16-24 months

PhonologyFirst word

1. Used consistently to refer to the same thing2. Have a recognizable phonetic form - sound like the adult word

(e.g. Bah-bah for bottle)

Control over their lips, tongue, and mouth1. Able to drink through a straw2. While drinking can swallow 4-5 times without removing the cup3. Drinks from a cup without spilling much4. Swallows with mouth closed5. Able to chew a variety of foods6. Up and down tongue motion becomes more precise

As a result of better mouth control, they begin to produce the following consonant phonemes: /p/, /m/, /h/, /w/, /b/

NOTE: Different children prefer different phonemes, phonemes are acquired in a variety of orders, and some may not

develop until later.

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16-24 months

SemanticsObject Permanence – awareness that objects still exist even if they cannot be seen

1. This means that they have developed internal representations of their environment, and mental images, or symbols of objects and events in their environments.

2. It is believed that this ability to use symbols is linked to children’s understanding of words as verbal symbols for objects and events.

Types of words used1. Substantive Words - name objects or attributes

a) Categories of objects with similar attributes (semantic feature theory)b) Specific objectsc) Fewer attribute words are used (e.g. Colors, and sizes)

2. Relational Words - relationships between objects, or characteristics among objectsa) Actions and movements of objectsb) Relationships of an object to itself

NOTE: One word may have various meanings, e.g. no can indicate rejection, denial and disappearance.

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16-24 months

SemanticsRelation Explanation

Existence An object is present in a child’s immediate environment and the child is attending to it. Examples: this, that, there

Non-existence/disappearance An object is expected to be present but is not. An action is expected to occur but does not. An object has been present but disappears. Examples: all gone, no, bye-bye

Recurrence An object reappears. Another object like the child is attending to is placed with the first one. An event happens again. Examples: more, another

Rejection The child does not want an object or an event to occur.Example: no

Denial The child rejects the truthfulness of a previous utterance.Example: no

Attribution The child mentions a characteristic of an object or event, usually not shape or color in this stage. Examples: big, little

Possession The child identifies ownership of an object.Examples: mine, my

Action The child identifies or requests an action.Examples: go, open

Locative action The child refers to a change in an object’s location. Examples: here, there, in, up

Source: Adapted from Lahey (1988)

Relations Expressed in Single-word Utterances

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16-24 months

PragmaticsNew functions develop – functions combine and change because children learn that one utterance can serve multiple functions

1. Instrumental + Regulatory + Interactional Functions = Pragmatic Functiona) Used to control the environment to satisfy wants and needs while interacting with othersb) Some response is expected from the listener

2. Personal + Heuristic + Interactional Functions = Mathetic Functiona) Used to learn more about or comment on the environment (ie. asking object names)b) Does not always expect a response from the listener

3. Dialogue becomes more effectivea) Turn taking rules are applied in Dialogueb) Children help maintain the topic of conversationc) 40% of children’s responses to adults maintain the topic of conversation

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16-24 months

PragmaticsChildren’s Functions and Intentions of Their Early Language

Halliday’s Functions(9 to 16/18 months of age)

Dore’s Intentions(approximately 12 to 18/24 months)

Function Description Intention

Labeling

Description

To name objects; no response expected

Instrumental To receive material needs, desired objects, or assistance from others

Answering To respond to adult’s request

Regulatory To control the behavior of others

Requesting action To get adult to do something

Interactional To make interactional contact with others in their environment by initiating and/or sustaining contact with other people

Requestingan answer

To get adult to respond to request verbally

Personal To demonstrate awareness of self and express one’s own feelings and individuality

Calling/addressing To address adult; to get adult’s attention

Heuristic To attempt to have environments or events in the environments explained

Greeting To acknowledge adult’s or object’s presence

Imaginative To pretend or playact Protesting To resist or deny adult’s attention

Informative To communicate experiences or tell someone something

Repeating and imitating

To model utterance after adult’s; no response expected

Practicing (language)

To rehearse language to self; no response expected

Source: Adapted from Dore (1975) and Halliday (1975).

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16-24 months

SyntaxTwo-word utterances – as they approach this phase there are changes in vocabulary

1. An increase in the number of verbs2. An increase in the number of object-class words3. A decrease in the number of other relational words4. A decrease in the time between single word utterances (debatable)

Semantic relations1. Possession – baby bear = baby’s bear2. Agent-object (actor and object of action) – baby ball = baby rolls ball3. Entity-locative – ball cup = the ball is in the cup

NOTE: The same statement could have different meanings depending on it’s use ie. baby ball could mean baby’s ball or baby rolls ball depending on the context.

Deictic Words – the referent is dependent on the speaker, the location of objects, and temporal relationships (e.g. pronouns)

NOTE: use of these terms requires theory of mind - the ability (beginning around 18 months) to understand you and others have mental states, and the ability to use this understanding to interact and communicate socially - deficits in theory of mind are a potential contributor to Autism.

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16-24 months

Vocabulary

Age

Approximate vocabulary size

15 months 10

18 months 50

24 months 200-300

Fast mapping – the theory that children as young as 18 months can acquire new words with just a few exposures and without formal instruction, occurring in steps:

1. After one exposure the child connects the word and the concept2. Child works out the exact meaning of the word (this takes more time)3. Words are connected to other words based on meaning (as opposed to words being

learned as a whole in isolation

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16-24 months

MorphologyMorphemes acquired between the ages of 19 and 28 months:

1. -ing (in one-word utterances)2. in3. on

Note: Must be used correctly 90% of the time to be considered “acquired”

Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) – Number of morphemes (in a language sample) divided by

number of utterances (in the same sample)1. Reliable predictor of linguistic complexity2. Tends to increase by 1.2 morphemes per year from 18 months to 5 years3. Roger Brown developed this measure and grouped early linguistic development into stages

based on age and MLU

Brown’s Stage 1 of language development1. Age 12-26 months2. MLU: 1.0-2.03. Use of about an equal number of one and two word utterances4. Use of intonation to ask yes or no questions5. Begins to use wh- questions

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16-24 months

The beginning….

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Language Development: Language Development: Birth through 24 MonthsBirth through 24 MonthsLanguage Development: Language Development: Birth through 24 MonthsBirth through 24 Months

September 21, 2009September 21, 2009

Kim Craig, Jocelyn Curry, Will Schuck, Missy SmithKim Craig, Jocelyn Curry, Will Schuck, Missy Smith