© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition DEVELOPING LANGUAGE: Language Acquisition

© Oxford University Press 2008

Language Acquisition

DEVELOPING LANGUAGE:




The average child speaks his or her first words at about a year old.

Between the ages of a year and 18 months, the child speaks in single-word utterances:

TeddyMummyGone



Occasionally, more than one word may seem to be involved.

This happens when a group of words has been learned as a single unit:

AllgoneWassat



Much of what is first learned serves a naming function:

JuiceBiccyDaddy

Sometimes, however, single words may convey a multitude of meanings.



Holophrases

This is the term given to single words which may convey a multitude of messages.

The utterance Juice, for instance, may have many meanings. Can you suggest some?



A child’s understanding of words and syntax is more advanced than his or her spoken language suggests.

Children between 12 and 18 months old respond to two-word instructions such as: Kiss teddyTickle daddy



Two-word utterances

Two-word sentences usually begin to appear when the child is about 18 months old.

This is known as the two-word stage.



The two words are usually in a standard grammatical sequence:

Subject/verb – Stephen sleepVerb/object – Draw mummySubject/object – Louis juiceSubject/complement – Daddy busy



When a child repeats adult utterances, some of the words may be missed out.

The grammatical structure, however, usually mimics that of the parent/care-giver.

The words uttered will also carry the meaning (content words).

Adult: Danielle’s playing in the gardenChild: Play garden



Try to assign different meanings to the following two-word phrases:

Mummy sockPaul eatTeddy bed

Notice the reliance on intonation for meaning



During this stage, the child often has trouble separating possessive pronouns from personal pronouns:

This is hims car. My finished now.I can see shes bed. Mys want to come in.



Children also often use the object case instead of the subject:

Me want itHim did itHer gave me oneThems all gone now



… and the subject case instead of the object:

Let she do itI gonna push they over

… and inconsistent use:

She like that, her do



From the age of about two children begin producing three- and four-word utterances.

Children become capable of distinguishing between the subject and the object.

Adverbs are acquired to indicate time, manner and place.



As well as declaratives, other sentence moods will be used, such as interrogatives.

Children begin to ask questions using the ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’ formation, rather than a reliance on intonation.



By the age of three, children can use:

• Determiners – a, the• Inflexions on the ends of adjectives – bigger,

biggest• Past tense formations – kicked• Co-ordinating conjunction – and• Auxiliary verbs - do, have, can and will



By the end of the third year, children can use most parts of speech more or less correctly, with appropriate intonation and stress.

Documents

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition DEVELOPING LANGUAGE: Language Acquisition