Language Development

Language Development

1. Pre-birth

   • baby is used to sound, rhythm and intonation of native language
   • recognizes mothers voice
   • generally recognizes native language

2. 1 day old

   • at birth, baby will immediately turn towards the sound of their mothers voice
   • knows mothers voice

3. 4 days old

   • Jacques Mehler (1988)
     • reseach him!

4. Two weeks old

   • the child can begin to distinguish between human and non-human sounds
   • caretakers will instinctively encourage patterns of conversations
     • leaving pauses, using question structures frequently, including baby sounds as dialogue
   • turn taking patterns

5. 0-2 months

   • controlling air flow
     • babies gradually gain control over their air flow in order to make noises linked with basic physical conditions
   • at 6 weeks the voicebox remains disengaged to allow breathing whilst feeding
   • by 3 months the voicebox is fixed
   • crying is the child's primary means of communication
     • cries are universally recognized

6. 6-8 weeks

   • cooing, gurgling, mewing, velar sounds, vowels, interative dialogue
   • sounds such as "coo", "goo" & "gaa gaa" begin to appear indicating the child is gaining control over their vocal chords & articulars
   • no recognizable patterns