The Stages of Language Development in the Child and the Essential Role of the Parents

Language development in children aged 1–3 years is the most important stage in the development of preschool children. The most important acquisition of this age is speech. From birth, the child presents himself as a communicative being.

Against this background, language, acquired over time and through direct exercise, sustained by the social environment, appears as the main means of relating and acquiring social experiences. Communication begins with the birth of the child and is formed throughout life.

Language development in 1–3-year-olds varies quite a bit from one culture to another in terms of language learning techniques and rhythms. For example, in some cultures, "baby's language" is not used (these are the sounds that parents imitate when playing with their babies and have no meaning), visual contact between parent-child is absent, or babies are taught two small languages ​​(primary bilingualism).

Language development in children aged 1–3 is a long process, with various stages of learning communication: after 1 year begins the stage of non-verbal dialogue (ie the child listens when the adult speaks to him), after 2 years begins the stage of alternating speech. (ie when the adult speaks, the child listens; when the adult finishes speaking the child takes the floor and the adult listens), and after 2–3 years begins the stage of observing conversational rules (eg: the expression of politeness begins after 2 and a half years - eg the child thanks when he receives something).

Characteristics of speech in children aged 1–3 years: at 1-year-old children understand the social value of language (that they can get, with the help of language, the satisfaction of needs - for example: if they are hungry I say "pope" and the mother understands that the child is hunger).

The child utters a few meaningful words (eg, mother, father, pope). At the age of 2, the child uses language to communicate, has a vocabulary of 8–20 words, makes simple sentences, the rhythm and fluency of speech is poor, the voice is not controlled in volume.

At the age of 3, the child's speech is largely intelligible, he can answer simple questions (eg: "Are you hungry?", "Are you sleepy?", "Are you tired?"), He can tell something from the experience of his life (eg what he did in kindergarten, how he played outside).

There are 3 stages in language development in children aged 1–3: the one-word stage, the telegraphic language stage, and the grammar formation stage.

1. One-word stage - between 12 and 18 months:

It is the first stage in language development in children aged 1–3, but there are two stages of language development before the age of 1 year, namely: the early stage (from birth to 6 months) and the stage of phonemic differentiation (from 6 Monday at 1 year).

At this stage, at the level of developing the ability to understand language, the child can differentiate between sound sources (eg human voices, television), can understand the names of objects, people, and parts of the human body.

Every week the child understands more and more words. For example, about 100 words are understood by the one-and-a-half-year-old, 300 by the 2-year-old, and about 1,000 words by the 3-year-old. At this stage, the child can recognize in a picture the familiar objects that are named to him. For example, the mother shows the child a picture of the family and says "who is the father?"

And the child identifies the father in the picture by pointing and saying "father."

At the level of the ability to produce and use language, the child uses a single word that means something: an object, a situation, an action. For example, at 12 months: use the word "baby" to refer to a little girl, use the word "pope" to refer to food, at 13 and a half months use the word "good-bye" to refer to cakes, dessert.

At 18 months he has acquired about 20 words, can articulate all vowels correctly, and usually omits the initial or final consonant. The child uses language in the form of jargon. The child's language is 25% intelligible (eg "geos" = take me down).

2. The stage of telegraphic language or the two words - between 18 and 24 months: it is considered the actual stage of language appearance and is the most important stage in language development in children aged 1–3 years:

At the level of developing the ability to understand the language, the child can understand more complex sentences, can perform the simple verbal commands he receives (eg give me a cup), can understand the meaning of the pronouns you, she, he, us.

The child acquires new words about: people, objects and familiar animals (eg: ham-ham = puppy, meow = cat), vehicles (eg: outfit = train), toys (eg utility = teddy bear or plush), food (eg : tofu = potato, tapa = onion), body parts (ex: nose, eyes, mouth), clothing (ex: social = dress, patoni = pants).

At the level of developing the ability to produce and use language, the child uses a telegraphic language, ie makes simple sentences consisting of two words (eg: grandma showered = grandmother left), talks about him in the third person using his first name (eg: the girl says about her: "Mary the Pope" = Mary eats). He verbally expresses his physiological needs (eg poop, pee, dwarfs, pope). 25–50% of what the child says is intelligible.

Examples: "I hit the ball" = I play with the ball, "my mother's milk" = my mother makes milk, "my cup of coffee" = my cup is on the table, "I sit in the chair" = I sit on the chair, "my father is in the car" = my father is in the car.

3. Grammar formation stage - between 24 and 38 months:

At the level of developing the ability to understand language, the child can identify and show by name certain parts of the human body, such as eyebrows, navel, knees, nails, etc. For example, the mother may ask the child, "Where is your navel?" and the child points with his finger and says "buicu" (= navel). At this stage of age, the child understands his small and big meanings.

At the level of the ability to produce and use language, the child composes sentences in several words, uses the plural, pronouns "I" and prepositions, knows how to say his full name, knows how to converse, answers questions, and monologues. The child's language is 50–80% intelligible.

Examples: "no more, we don't go home, it's not night" = we stay outside, we don't go home because it wasn't night outside.

This stage is the last in language development in children aged 1–3 years, but there are two more stages of language development after the age of 3, namely: the stage of grammatical development (between 3 years and 4 and a half years) and the stage of grammatical perfection. (after 55 months - that is, from 4 and a half years onwards).