The first language is an innate ability and that the sensitive period for language begins in the womb and lasts until the age of seven. During this sensitive period, the child absorbs language through listening to the sound of her environment. Obviously mum can feel the movements of a baby in the womb and sometimes she sees a baby’s movements. It is happened because the baby can response to noise and mom’s voice. Mum and her baby begin to communicate after birth – a baby make the first sound to express comfort and discomfort. Surprisingly, she knows what her baby feel by hearing the various types of crying, responses to the baby’s needs.
I would like to mention about my experience of daughter’s first acquisition development and the development of other child’s development. They will be slightly differed in between the motor development and language development acquisition which do not even develop equally in the same age of a child.
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At the age of 3 months, my child started to coo and chuckle that made us pleasure in her babbling. It is a stage in child development, but does not yet produce any recognizable words and begins shortly after birth. The physical structures involved in babbling are still being developed in the first year of a child's life. Abnormal developments such as certain medical conditions, developmental delays, and hearing impairments may interfere with a child's ability to babble normally. Through experimenting with an exercising of the vocal organs in several stages and the ability to produce different sounds, a child can progress to pronounce saying her first sound /m/ or /p/ which are connected with the lip movements of sucking.
When my child was 1 year old, she learned that words have meaning and usually recognized the names of family members and familiar objects. She understood simple statements such as 'all gone' and 'give me.' Between 12 months and 18 months of age, she used her own language that is a mix of made-up words and understandable words. Between 1 and 2 years, she understood simple requests such as 'give daddy the toy.' She knew the names of people, body parts, and objects and used gestures, such as pointing. She babbled less than babies do and made one- or two-syllable sounds that stand for items she wants, such as 'mum mum' for 'mother,' and point to things she wants.
By 2 years, she could speak between 20 and 50 words that are intelligible to family members. She knew the name of at least seven body parts and increased her understanding of object names. She could follow simple requests (such as 'put the book on the table'). When we asked, she pointed to a picture of something named (such as 'Where is the cow?'). She continued to learn and use gestures and sometimes talks a lot. Although some children are quiet in my neighborhood at her age, I realized that they develop their communication system using gestures and facial expressions; are likely to develop normal language skills. Usually they can name some body parts (such as hands and legs), favorite toys, and familiar objects (such as cats and dogs) and pronouns like 'me' and 'you,' but they often get them mixed up. My daughter made phrases, such as 'want cookie.' She developed in telegraphic speech that consist of simple two-word long sentences often composed of a noun and a verb. At that time, we spoke similarly: when she said “Mummy here”, it was understood that she meant “Mummy is here”, omitting the verb. Hence I was repeating several time the important content words by repeating the correct form of speech.
As a language teacher we caution parents of infants and toddlers to refrain from using baby talk as it inhibits language development. We emphasize speaking slowly and clearly with correct pronunciation so that children develop proper language patterns. Behaviorist theory posited principally by Skinner state that the fundamentals of language are essentially developed through stimulation and receives feedback in the form of positive reinforcement or correction. In our environment, adults continue with modeling correct and precise language.
By age 3, she could say between 150 to 200 words. We understood them about 75% of the time. She followed two-part requests, such as 'put your toy in the box and your slippers on the shelf.' At that time she learned new words quickly; knew most common object names. She understood the concept of 'two' and began correctly using plurals, pronouns, and prepositions more consistently. Later on she knew her own full name and understood gender differences.
Now she almost turns to 4 years and she frequently asks 'why' and 'what' and often uses complete sentences of 3 to 4 words. She knows the names of colors and understand the difference between things that are the same and things those are different, such as the difference between children and grown-ups. She can follow three-step instructions, such as 'Go to the sink, wash your hands, and dry them on the towel.' Sometime she starts to use the past tense of words and use sentences of 5 to 6 words. She can describes something that has happened to them or tells a short story. She can speaks clearly enough to be intelligible to strangers almost all of the time.
My son, almost 5-year-old boy, understand relationships between objects, such as 'the girl who is playing ball' and 'the boy who is running.' He usually carries on a conversation with another person and often calls people (or objects) by their relationship to others, such as 'Oscar's mom'. He can defines words such as 'spoon' and 'cat.'
To sum up the main purpose of language is to let others know what we are thinking by communicating our thoughts, ideas and feelings, analyzing previous experiences, and generating new ideas. The ability to order our world and communicate our cultural ideas separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Through every conversation, every book read aloud, every song that is sung, and every new word that is taught, the child is learning language. It is, therefore, crucial that adults are mindful of the precision of language they use. During the first three years of life, patterns of speech are formed which will be the basis of speech for the rest of a child’s life.
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