Almost every baby book and text on language development has a discussion on the milestones of speech and language development.
And well they should, for these milestones are a road map to the awesome processes of maturation and learning that occur in those early formative years of life.
These milestones, furthermore, provide information about the normalcy of a child's development--an issue every parent and educator is concerned with. And perhaps most importantly, they expose windows of opportunity that offer chances for parents and educators to optimize the development of language and cognition for each child.
Although the following discussion is about these milestones, I have included in the Notes below some additional interesting Web sites which discuss these milestones.
If brain size alone were the hallmark of intelligence, elephants would be the Einsteins of the world. The notable Russian neuroscientest, Luria, hypothesized that it is not so much the size but the way the brain of the human is organized that gives us (humans) the language edge.
So you are Mr. Organization! What are you doing for Society?
Luria suggested that at birth, all the modalities of the baby's brain are functioning, as they are for most baby mammals. But these modalities are functioning as individual unconnected units. We have stressed the need for all these modalities to be stimulated, in order to maximize the development of the neural infra-structure for auditory, visual and haptic processing.
The mammal brain re-organizes it's function at three months into paired modalities
According to Luria, at three months after birth, in the human brain there is a re-organization of function. Now the modalities establish communication between themselves, and begin to work in pairs.
We see here a change in the behavior of the child. Eye-hand motor coordination is a notable sequel of this advanced neuro-wiring. That is not to say that this advantage is lacking in most other mammals. Good eye-hoof (horses & deer), eye-paw (dogs & cats) eye-hand (monkeys & apes) and eye-trunk (elephants and porters) coordination is essential for survival.
We have already discussed how initially, the proximal modalities almost exclusively will be used by the child to to explore his/her environment.
The cross modality associations between this haptic input and the simultaneous input of the distil modalities is critical if hearing and vision are to become optimally functional.
The human brain re-organizes itself again at 12 months into a single unit
Around one year for humans only (and earlier maybe for some chimps and gorillas), the human brain achieves yet a higher level of re-organization, and is now capable as functioning as a single unit.
It is at this point, Luria hypothesized, that symbolic behavior becomes possible. It is about this time also that children begin to use symbols to talk, albeit in one word sentences. The language bridge has begun to take shape.
In discussing the milestones of speech, books often relate these behaviors to those of general motor development. This is not to suggest, necessarily, that speech development is dependent upon motor development. Rather they are intended to serve as useful measures to obtain perspective.
For example, both speech and language have a maturational timetable for development. If one or the other alone lags, different etiologies are suggested. If both are slow in developing, yet a third range of possibilities becomes suspect.
0 to 1 minute--well, for crying out loud
We will look, then, at both speech and at some of the major motor developments in those early years.
The first aural communication a human typically makes in life is the fabled Birth Cry. Crying seems to be a simple act, but in reality it is a very complex one, requiring a high degree of body, and hence, neurological coordination.
All of the muscles of respiration must be synchronized together, and also with those muscles controlling the larynx and the oral cavity.
Hence, while the birth cry might be interpreted by the casual on-looker (typically Dad) as meaning, "That was no fun!" But to a doctor or a researcher, it has a more profound message.
It speaks to the neurological health or integrity of the baby. For example the syndrome "Cri du Chat," can be often diagnosed at birth on the basis of the baby's crying pattern.
Here, in the notes, is a support group for such children.
1 minute to 2 months--How do you spell Major Nuisance? U-n-d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t-i-a-t-e-d c-r-y-i-n-g.
The crying that follows during those days (nights) right after birth has been called by some a nuisance, and by others, un-differentiated crying. The latter is basically because the cry lacks variety. That is not surprising considering there is a paucity of neural connections, and taking into account that the infant's oral tract is too small and the tongue is too large for effective modulation.
In the Notes below, are some auditory samples of "Undifferentiated Crying."
How do you spell inconvenience: b-a-b-y ? Often the issue for new parents is how to respond to the baby's crying, especially in the wee hours of the morning.
There are those who say that we must teach the baby early to mold to the adults timetable if we don't wish to be greatly inconvenienced by the baby's crying in the middle of the night.
How do you spell opportunity: I-n-c-o-n-v-e-n-i-e-n-c-e ?
This means gritting our teeth and ignoring the ever undulating cacophony until it subsides. The reality, of course, is that if we don't want to be inconvenienced, we shouldnât have a baby.
Once we undertake that commitment, inconvenience is the name of the game and the more we are inconvenienced and meet the challenge, the greater that baby's chances for fulfillment will be.
Let's examine what we should do when the baby cries at 12 a.m., and again at 3 a.m.
Vygotsky called the baby's cry a social act of communication. Here in lies a concept of some importance.
If we respond quickly to the baby's crying, we are teaching the baby that the vocal mechanism is an excellent tool for communication.
This engenders an underlying positive attitude about oral communication. In addition it provides additional opportunities for the parents to stimulate the child with touch, voice and visual patterns ( e.g. the face).
Cast your crumbs upon the water and what do you get--soggy crumbs!
Stimulation, as we have discussed, is a major player in brain cell growth and the development of the neural infra-structure. For the infant, who is in the growth "fast-lane", the parents can be contributors to that growth each minute they spend with the child, day or night!
What happens if we don't answer the call? First of all, we need to recognize that a baby's metabolism is not the same as ours. So that the baby's body rhythm is different than that of an adult. Hence, they need to have their schedule of feeding prevail and not the adultsâ. When the baby cries and are ignored, their needs go unmet. (These are the crumbs, I was referring to.)
The oral mechanism to them appears to have little value as a means of communication.
In addition, what neural sub-systems are being stimulated here, so that they will be the ones to develop more fully?
2 months to 3 months--How do you spell baby-communication: D-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t-i-a-t-e-d C-r-y-i-n-g.
When the baby cries, the neurons being exercised and stimulated to grow are the ones in the circuits that generate the feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration, and hopelessness.
These systems will develop more readily and, because they are well developed, are more available to become the childâs reaction of choice to the problems they encounter throughout life. (These are the soggy crumbs that can come back to haunt us.)
Around the second and third months, the parents will have happily noticed that the babyâs crying has taken on some nuances in the form of an increased number of consonant and vowel type sounds, and voice pitch changes and rhythm. This is called, Differentiated Crying.
The sounds that the baby is making are reflexive and do not represent any particular language--only sounds that a human can make. This variety leads some mothers, however, to feel that they can interpret their baby's cries.
3 to 6 months--out of the mouths of babes comes BABBLING.
Research suggests to the contrary, noting that when the crying is taken out of context, the mothers are unable to decode itâs meaning. But then again, communication in context is what pragmatics is all about.
So that maybe there still may be something to be said for the communication effectiveness of Differentiated Crying. This may be an interesting area for further research.
Nonetheless, everyone does agree that the level of agitation of the babyâs message can be interpreted by the pattern of the crying.
Of course, all the points we have raised for responding promptly to the babyâs undifferentiated crying still hold for this stage of communication too.
Now about BABBLING...When professors do it, it is called "time for retirement," but when the 3 month old baby babbles, it is a sign of human genetic inheritance, and a forerunner of oral communication.
Babbling is a genetic inheritance for the human species only--no primates allowed.
Babbling occurs after that time when, as Luria suggests, the brain has gone through its re-organization. Modalities now work in consort, two at a time.
Hence, the noises that the baby makes are now correlated with the vocal movements that are producing them, and the baby revels in this awareness.
This particular aural circuit, however, is unique only to humans. Other primates do not engage in this activity. Nor do other primates develop speech.
All during this period, the production of sounds increases in frequency and variety in terms of consonants (from back to front) and vowels (from front to back).
The sounds, however, are still relatively reflexive or by chance and do not reflect any language background. The initial babbling is personal and occurs usually when the child is alone, usually before or after a nap. There is lot of cooing and chuckles.
So what is the child doing motorically at 3 to 6 months during the period of Babbling?
This quickly gives way to a modified consonant-vowel kind of cooing interspersed with nasal and nasal and labial fricatives.
Later it begins to carry some social significance and is used as a tool for gaining attention--a very positive sign for the development of aural communication. There will be identifiable combinations as well as one syllable utterances.
At the start of the babbling period, most notable motor behavior is the ability of the baby to hold his/her head up from a prone position (lying on his stomach). My feeling is that if you have been letting the baby roll and play a lot on the floor that he/she will gain this ability a little earlier.
It's a desirable skill so that the baby can focus on more objects.
By half way through the babbling period, the baby should be able to sit with support; and by the end of the period, sit without support.
6 to 8 months--Babies are not just LALLING around, but are also using the JARGON of their language.
Actually, I like to talk about Lalling first, and then Jargon to clarify the difference between the two.
Look Dear, they're not playing our song!
That is what prosody is, a melody and all languages have their own particular song.
I'm reminded of the one time I left the USA, to visit Japan. I stood on the Ginza in a state of intense culture shock, as people dressed in strange clothes drove on the wrong side of the street, ate pink and white oddly shaped foods and read signs from up to down instead of left to right.
To regain my composure, I did what any true American would do·I went to see a John Wayne movie (dubbed, I later learned, in Japanese). Not understanding the currency, I believe I paid $30 for the movie, but that is another story. The real surprise came when John Wayne, in boots and chattels, came out and hissed in chopped syllables, "Oh hai yo go zaee masu." I was totally destroyed.
No more, I am sure, than a citizen from Japan would be at hearing Toshiro Mifune (my favorite Japanese actor) speak (dubbed) in a drawling American tone.
We have learned to expect a specific melody or prosody from a speaker of a specific language.
Lalling is a term favored in old-time language texts but not used so much now. I like the term, however, partly because I am an old-time professor, and partly because it underscores a particular oral growth feature--articulation control.
During the babbling period, the sound combinations that the baby made were reflexive or random. Now, the baby can make a sound voluntarily, at his desecration. Itâs a sure sign that vocal motor patterns are beginning to be developed and stored in the "Mixer."
Baby can say, "ba" when he wants to or "da" or "bada" and do it again, "bada bada bada bada bada bada bada," and again and again.
The range of consonants produced voluntarily, in terms of type and frequency, will at first be limited. Quickly new vowels and consonants will appear, and will increase in frequency.
Consonants appear from front to back and vowels from back to front--and all this in just on semester!
Typically, the front consonants will be used first. The range of vowels will also be restricted, with the back vowels appearing first.
This could easily account, at least in part, for the fact that the names of close family members in many languages are words that start with front consonants and back vowel, as in "mama" and "papa" or even "dada."
Perhaps the most striking thing of all is the fact that the sounds the baby is making are now recognizable as being the sounds of the baby's language environment.
In just 6 short months, this speck of humanity, who has spent much of his/her time peeing and pooing, crying and cooing, has found time to secretly extract from the surrounding stream of vocal sounds, many of the allophones of the language!
That's more than I accomplished in a year of Russian in college, with the exception of the pooing and peeing.
Why should babies even notice speech sounds at all? Chomsky suggests this focus is a function of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that humans alone possess. Certainly the human brain has a neurological readiness to process these kinds of sounds.
What does this mean to me. It means that from day one, I will be talking to my baby a lot, even, if people think I've gone "nuts." Babies may appear to not be listening, but they are!
Jargon adds another surprising element to the baby's vocal ability. Many parents have heard their babies, when they are alone after a nap, talking to the "fairies." From the other room it sounds as if the baby is having a conversation with someone.
Someone is talking to the fairies.
What the baby is doing is lalling, with the added quality of Prosody. Now if this were a lower division course, we would have called it the Melody of the language, but that's progress.
Prosody is not just a tune--it is a percussion
This feature of prosody is one of the hardest things to acquire in a new language. Yet the baby is demonstrating a knowledge of it as early as six months!
Prosody is made up of a number of elements that include rhythm, inflection, stress and juncture.
The rhythm of a language involves the combinations of vowels and consonants and the treatment of the vowels. It creates a cadence that we come to expect of a language. It is what poems are made of, and poems are a good way for foreign students to practice the rhythm of the new language.
This rhythm is very important for effective listening as far as speech is concerned, because is helps to break the stream of sounds into their proper units.
When we impose the wrong rhythm on a language, we are segmenting the stream of speech incorrectly and it becomes much more difficult to decode. Notice, that when foreign speakers speak English using their native rhythm, English becomes very difficult to understand.
Look Dear, they're playing someone else's song!
While I was working at the Airport in Hawaii years ago, I decided to learn Japanese, so that I could welcome visitors off the plane from Japan in their native language.
After struggling for one semester at the University in Japanese 100, I finally opened the door to a plane arriving from Japan, and drawled "Oh-oou Haii-yoou go-ou zaiiii maaas."
The Japanese passenger, first off the plane, politely apologized to me, in halting English, saying that he didn't really understand English. He didn't even recognize my drawling Japanese as being Japanese! It was back to the ãdrawlingä board for me.
The child is actually working on this difficult problem of prosody (rhythm) from the day he/she is born. Studies have shown that when a language is being spoken around an infant, that infant will be moving in unison with the rhythm of the language--kind of like dancing.
From personal experience, I know that once I have danced to music, it becomes more meaningful. Of course, my wife say's that once I have danced to music, it becomes agonizing, but she only said that in an emotional state after her foot surgery.
May I have this dance? May you have this dance!
Not only is the baby busy teasing out the phonemes of the language but also the elusive rhythm.
What this all means, again, is that there is a good reason to talk to the infant a lot. Not only is he/she busy teasing out the phonemes of the language but also the elusive rhythm.
Understanding the rhythm will set the stage for improved recognition of syllables and words later on down the line.
Inflection is another element of Prosody. When people speak, their voices typically raise and lower in pitch. For example, if one reads the two underlined headings above ("May I have this dance?" and "May you have this dance!"), the first will probably end in a rising pitch, while the second will probably fall.
A monotone voice is unnatural and reminds us of computer generated speech, or of speech made via an artificial larynx. This is typical also in Parkinson's disease where control of the vocal folds is weakened.
Learning Prosody can be stressful. Stress is a third component of Prosody.
Besides changes in pitch (inflection), we tend to hit certain syllables and words in sentence with more intensity than others.
For example in the three syllable word, "banana," which syllable is stressed? It has to be the second (baNAna) or the word is almost unrecognizable.
Juncture is the fourth element of Prosody. This refers to a short, almost imperceptible pause between words in a sentence. If you think of a "white house" and then say the words, you will put a slight pause between the words. But if you remember that the President lives in the "White House," and say those words, you may note that that pause is missing.
Prosody includes Junk-sure to be missed by a non native speaker.
These minute pauses would probably be missed by non native speaker of English, yet for the adult, as you can see from the examples above, they can actually change the meaning of a sentence.
We are not talking Supra-calafragilistic-espialadocious here.
What we are talking about here are...
"Supra-segmental-Phonemes".
...This is what prosody ultimately develops into; and the ability to understand supra-segmental-phonemes is absolutely necessary if a person is to be an effective native speaker of a language.
We all remember that the phoneme is the smallest unit of a language that can change meaning. "My wife bit me," versus "My wife beat me," illustrates this point. There is a significant change in meaning brought by changing the phoneme "i" to "ea." But prosody, superimposed over a string of words in the sentence can also change the meaning of the sentence in subtle but important ways. We saw above how changing the inflection on the end of a sentence changes it from a question to, perhaps, an exclamation of horror (illustrated below--keeping in mind, of course, that this is a class II University).
Asking a person to dance can create all kinds of Stress
Stress: Changing the stress pattern brings different contexts into the meaning of a sentence. For example:
"MAY you have this dance!" suggests to me that the process of asking permission is a major prerequisite here.
"May YOU have this dance!" suggests to me that the person was expecting (hoping) any one else than me to ask.
"May you HAVE this dance!" just sounds a little strange (unnatural) to me since there is nothing else I could do with a dance (other than what my wife says to do, and I canât repeat that).
"May you have THIS dance!" suggests to me that almost any other time would have been better to ask.
"May you have this DANCE!" suggests to me perhaps that I mis-read the situation and they were really practicing judo. (Ironically, this is how my wife describes my behavior on a dance floor).
We are not talking supra-segmental-phonemes at this age, however, only their precursor, Jargon; so what is the child doing motorically at 6 to 8 months--during the period of Lalling and Jargon?
This is not to imply that the 6 month old baby is using supra-segmental phonemes here.
Instead what we are underscoring is the fact that the basic rudiments of prosody for the language have been recognized, and are being practiced by the baby.
Later these well rehearsed patterns will be available for the more complicated supra segmental phonemic function to occur.
In terms of motor development, babies at this point are actually able to stand by holding on to something.
When they grab an object, they will hold their thumb in opposition to the fingers.
8 to 12 months--It sounds like speech but it's really ECHOLALIA to me.
You may say to the baby of 8 months, "Daddy's coming!" and the baby may reply, "Daddy's coming!" It sounds great but in most instances it is just a fancy bit of jargon in which the child has put the phonemes in the "proper" order.
It is a sign of some good eidetic imagery and a well developed mixer, but there is no semantic content involved. The child has no concept of meaning of the words "daddy" or "coming" let alone the significance of the two word combination. Although it is a step above jargon, it is not yet speech and language.
This occurs a lot with older nonverbal children who are progressing through the milestones of speech at a much slower pace.
They will often fool us (not purposely, of course) into thinking they have reached that symbolic milestone when they in fact haven't quite made it yet.
So what is the child doing motorically at 8 to 12 months during the period of Echolalia?
Motorically, when it comes to creeping, the baby is the expert.
And when they pull themselves up to a standing position, still using objects as support, they will begin to explore making little side steps while still hanging on.
ONE YEAR--a time to be one! .
Luria hypothesized that the human brain achieves a level of organization, at around one year, that no other mammal is able to reach. That is the unification of the brain into one single functioning unit. It is at this point that symbolic communication becomes possible
And it is at this point that the child speaks one word. (While all this may be true, the one year old child has accrued a receptive vocabulary of around 50 words.
1 year to 1 1/2 years--Identification Language
Actually, the receptive vocabulary of the one year old child will probably be much larger than 50 words, if you have been reading to him/her every day, and talking to the child a lot.
It is a thrill at 10 and 11 months to tell the "speechless little speck of humanity" we call our baby to get daddy's shoe and have him/her actually do it.
This first word that the child utters may not be a perfect pronunciation. It may be, for example, "dada" for "father" or "baba" for "bottle." But the consistency with which he/she uses the word in the presence of the object (referent) leaves no doubt as to its meaning.
Sometimes the word is a composite, like "bye-bye-now." Although to the adult, it may seem like two words, to the child it is all one. If this were a 400 level course, we would call this a progressive phonological idiom.
The vocabulary will grow slowly from this point on.
For the next six months (1 to 1 /1/2 years), the words will be used after their referent appears. Daddy may come into the room and baby says "dada." A bottle is shown to the baby and the baby say, "baba." This is called Identification Language. The second six months will bring a subtle but significant change.
So what is the child doing motorically at 1 year to 1 1/2 years during the period of Identification Language?
Motorically, like the wild boy of Avyron, the baby is running an all fours with great efficiency.
He/she can stand alone now and may even take that first ONE step alone. Outside of that he/she will walk haltingly when held by the hand.
1 1/2 years to 2 years--Anticipatory Language, and the Holophrastic sentence.
A subtle change that takes place by in the second six months (1 1/2 to 2 years) is the generation of the word before the stimulus appears.
This is called Anticipatory Language and it takes speech out of the realm of the old stimulus-response paradigm. Now speech gives the baby some control over his/her environment.
For example, the baby says, "dada" and daddy appears. She says "baba," and someone gives her a bottle. This was the level of language that Itard longed to achieve for Victor the wild child. Unfortunately with the exception of perhaps only one instance in the visual modality, this goal was not achieved. On at least one occasion, Victor did spell out the work "milk," when he was thirsty.
The Holophrastic Sentence. The words that the child is generating during this period are more than simple referent-symbol relationships.
If one notes the context in which the words are uttered, it will become apparent that the same word may be conveying different messages at different times.
"Baba" on one occasion may mean, "Bring me a bottle." On another occasion, it may mean, "That is my bottle." An still on another it may mean, "That is mine--don't touch." It might even mean, "That is white like my bottle."
These are in essence, one word or Holophrastic sentences. They have within them in the deep structure, the implicit beginning of grammatical functions including, for example, verb categories, nouns and the possessive case.
So, what is the child doing motorically at 1 1/2 years to 2 year, during the period of Anticipatory Language?
Motorically, the child is now walking, albeit with a somewhat stiff gait. He/she is beginning to build towers two blocks high, and shows some preference for one hand or the other.
TWO to 2 1/2 YEARS--SYNTACTIC SPEECH--50 small words for baby and a big bang for language development!
At one year the child communicated symbolically for the first time. But language is more than just symbols and referents.
What gives language its big edge, as a means of communication, is the convention of putting single words into strings to express ideas! This is part of what the text refers to as Duality of Patterning.
We could try to create a symbol for every thought we would like to communicate, but very soon we would find our lexicon to be unmanageable and still growing. But by combining words to express new ideas, all of a sudden, a limited vocabulary can go a very long way!
So this is that time (2 years) when the child exhibits a subconscious knowledge of the concept (part of what is called language competency) and puts two words together to express and idea!But not until they have accumulated an expressive vocabulary of at least 50 words.
Language and the Big Bang Theory--duality of patterning.
The illustration below is a little obtuse, even for a Class II University, so I better give a small explanation. It is supposed to show how the process of changing the sequence of words or symbols, changes the meaning.
C ME 2 ? ( or phonetically, "See me too?"
E MC 2 ! (or phonetically, Energy, equals mass times a constant squared.)
(It's not the most scientific kind of illustration but then, as I may have mentioned, we are only a Class II University so we can get away with that kind of stuff.)
Separating the babies from the gorillas.
Surprisingly, humans are not the only species that put symbols together to express ideas. At least one Gorilla (Koko) and some chimpanzees will do this, up to three visual symbols, (and maybe four, except that the fourth is usually a repetition of one of the other symgols in the sentence.
But there is one significant difference--sentence form, or as we discussed it, morphology and syntax, is missing! It is true, that if the Gorilla is responding to your question, they will copy to a degree your word order. But, when they generate a "sentence," the words may come in any order without any bound morphemes.
Surprisingly, again, human babies are tuned into word order before they ever utter a holophrastic sentence.
The reaction of babies, a little under one year old, to words presented in order versus words out of order was found to be significantly different. It is interesting, also, that there are no languages, present or past, in the history of humanity that lack a sophisticated grammar.
The search for Baby Grammar
If you think English grammar is hard, get a load of Aborigine grammar.
One major benefit of grammar, as we described it, is in the redundancy it provides for decoding or going from surface structure to deep structure.
The search for the "Holy Grail" to the developmental psycholinguist was to find and define a "baby grammar." In one description there were identified two classes of words, äPivot and Open." Pivot words were those used frequently by the child and these were small in number. Open words included all the rest of the child's lexicon. The big restriction (grammar) was that Open words were never combined in the same sentence.
This of, course would have been an explicit example of grammar. Unfortunately, although this was described in one study, it was not reduplicated in others. Apparently, the Holy Grail is yet to be found.
"All the world's a stage, and Morphemes and Semantic features are the players"( W. Shakespeare)
(Ok, Shakespeare did not say exactly that about the world stage, but what can you expect from a (your) professor who majored in Tropical Agriculture).
With children having an apparently innate ability to tune in to the structure of the language being spoken, semantic features in combination with morphemes seem to set the stage for the development of grammar.
In every child's environment, there are actors (parents), actions and objects etc. are the semantic features or elements that are related to the baby's needs. They are ordered through the structure and/or morphology of the language. The child is tuned in, at least initially, to that structure.
In English at the two morpheme stage, the child uses any two of the semantic features. Hence, you might hear in Stage I of Roger Browns Developmental Chart, the following two word...
"Daddy (actor) Ball (object)," or,
"Daddy (actor) throw (action);" or
"Throw (action) ball (object)." All of which may mean, "Daddy throw the Ball."
The human brain seems genetically predisposed to search out these noun phrase-verb phrase rules for ordering of these semantic features in a two word sentence.
From here, the development path leads to three and four word more complex sentences as described by Brown. This is our inheritance and a prerequisite to language development.
"So what is the child doing motorically at 2 to 2 1/2 years, during the stage of Syntactic Speech?
Motorically, babies can walk now with ease, and even run; and can manage going up and down the stairs, putting both feet on each step at a time.
TWO and 1/2 to 3 YEARS÷COMMUNICATIVE INTENT--and a 1000 new bucks for your bang!
A new window of opportunity opens during this period. During the year from 1 to 2, the baby amassed 50 new words. From 2 to 3 they will increase their vocabulary by more than 1000 words!
The recurrent theme of this period is the phrase, "What's this?" or some variation. The child has an innate "inquiring mind that wants to know", and a brain that is ready to accept and catalog this new information in volumes. I was once introduced into a small group of people, which included a 3 year old little girl. I immediately forgot everyone's name (as usual) but was further embarrassed by the fact that the three year old remembered everyone's name with ease.
Then I remembered how in my beginning college Russian class, I wilted at the prospect of having to learn 10 new words per class.
This child eagerly sought out twice that many in a day and needed no study cards to remember them. I was left to ponder the differences in our brains.
BE THERE !
So what is the lesson to be learned here? We need to BE THERE to provide that input during this period. That means reading to the child a lot, and talking to him/her even more.
This is easier said than done. Answering the child's endless requests for names and explanations, like "mad cow disease," will turn any adult's mind into mush in short order.
It takes high dedication, intense focus and selflessness beyond belief to do this. Typically only well informed or fanatic parents (usually mothers or grandmothers) will do this. Baby sitters and day care attendants (who have other responsibilities) typically will not bother or may not have the time.
The time will pass, however, whether or not the input is provided, and the window will close slowly. If the input has been there, the impact on the child's language development will be profound! You will become impressed with the child's awareness of his/her environment, and the precision of his/her thought processes.
You will marvel at the childâs ability to express their thoughts and/or to explain in detail why they are not doing what you told them to do (the fruits of a formal language code).
So, what is the child doing motorically at 2 1/2 to 3 years, during the stage of Communicative Intent?
Motorically, the child is stressing his/her mother out by climbing and jumping a lot.
They can stand on one foot in precarious places. They will get into all kinds of containers using their enhanced hand and finger coordination.
They will master the six block tower, although dad may have some problems with it.
THREE YEARS to Senescence--INDIVIDUO-WHAT?
With the lexicon and grammar of the child well underway, the next number of years will see a rhetorical style emerge, including a host of favorite words and phrases. This will continue throughout life and will change as the settings of the individual change. This is referred to as INDIVIDUOLECT.
There is something more to be said about style, however, which has a profound effect upon the child's future and is tied into the parenting philosophy of the family. Two styles of language were described by Basil Bernstein: Restricted and Formal.
Restricted Language--More Bang for your Buck
Restricted Language is the code used by people who are very familiar with each other. I've been married for over 40 years. My wife says, "Can we....," I say "I don't...," and she says, "How about..." and I say "Fine!"
Translated, that restricted language means that she wanted to watch television tonight but I had to work on school stuff, so she suggested as an alternate plan that we go for walk later, and I said that it sounded like a good idea to me.
Restricted Language is also the language used in a family who subscribes to an authoritarian approach to child rearing.
For example, in a family where both parents work and there are several children, there is precious little time or energy to get things done in the few hours before and after work.
Efficiency is the key, so when dad or mom speak, children are supposed to hop-to. Crisp commands like "Turn it off! Eat quietly! Sit up! Brush your teeth! Stop yelling! Get dressed! Pick the toys up!!! Don't hit your sister!" keep things under control and get things done with a minimum expenditure of time and energy!
Notice that much is accomplished with supra segmental phonemes and body "language." On the other hand there is a paucity of grammatical structures and transformational rules. That, of course, is what makes it so efficient.
Formal Language--More Bucks for your Bang
Formal Language is the code of a democratic family philosophy. Discussions abound but often not much gets done too quickly.
For example, a supper scenario might go like this. Dad says, "Children, I have just noticed a thick column of black smoke issuing from under the kitchen door. Would anyone like to venture a guess as to the possible causes, and to the options the family has in the event some kind of exodus is required? If we compare this statment to it's restricted counterpart, "FIRE GET-OUT !" it becomes apparent that the former is laden with many more grammatical structures.
Below is another illustration with more serious implications than a cartoon might typically imply...
So now, here is the child's problem
I have used restricted language myself, for the same reasons outlined above. It's kind of a "just this one time to get things done," situation.
The problem is that because it is successful we tend to use it more and more (kind of a Skinnerian or operant conditioning effect I suppose).
We may use it in the morning to get everyone off on time; and we may use it in the evening just to get supper, clean the house; and in between to keep our sanity.
I think only a grandmother or grandfather can appreciate how unbelievably quickly the weeks (months-years) sneak by while your doing this. And without realizing it, this has become the linguistic style of the child-restricted language.
In essence, the child does not have a decoding system that deals well with many syntactic nuances. He/she finds these tedious and incomprehensible. This does not set the stage favorabley to have good learning experiences in school.
So now here is the teacher's problem, part A
Let's say that little Edward, who grew up in a restricted language scenario as described above, is now in the first or second grade. In a moment of high spirits he is doing a Gene Kelly tap dance on top of one of the classroom tables.
The teacher may say, "Edward, Edward, would you immediately climb down from that table. You may hurt yourself, and you are putting scuff marks on the table, which are difficult to remove. Besides, you know how upset the principle would be if she saw you. She would probably keep the whole class after school!" Of course, this is a formal language code and not within Edward's ability to understand.
As he stands there looking at the teacher and thinking, "HUH?" she wisely switches styles and says, "GET DOWN NOW !"
Comprehending the message Edward obediently complies. A successful communication has taken place.
So now here is the teacher's problem, part B
Part A was solvable, but now the teacher tries to share with the class some of the wonders of Science.
She tries to explain how... the earth is a large round ball with molten lava at its core, above which large landmasses slowly float. In millions of years some of the land masses actually crash together, wrinkling the surface to make what seem to us to be large mountain ranges.
As before, Edward thinks, "HUH?" But now what is the teacher to do.
There is nothing she can say that is analogous to "GET DOWN!"
Edward will not be able to follow this lesson or almost any other lesson. He will be bored and will perform poorly.
He has a significant language problem that is not a consequence of brain damage or basic intelligence, but of a restricted language code. How can a teacher with 20 or 30 students and a curriculum to follow reach this child?
So now here is the solution
Sorry folks, there is no easy solution to this one! The best course of action is PREVENTION.
This takes the form of counseling young parents to be aware of the existence and consequences of restricted language.
This is not to say that there is not a place for restricted language. The child's safety and the parent's sanity sometimes demand it. What the parent needs to consider, however, is insuring EQUAL TIME for formal language.
This means they must take care to include ample formal language experiences each day.
For example they must follow restricted discourse with a formal explanation, after the need has passed.
I might say, "Edward-out of the Street-NOW!" and then follow it later with an explanation. "Edward, I yelled at you because you were in danger. The drivers of cars cannot see you and may actually hit you etc. etc."
Here is some food for thought--Serve some Formal Language for Meals
Meal times for many families serves as a great opportunity to discuss daily events using formal language. In general, discussions should be encouraged for as many as family functions possible.
As of course, the "earthquake" insurance for this earth shattering linguistic catastrophe (restricted language) is READING to the child every night, almost without fail.
Books are paragons of formal language, and by reading to the child, we come as close as we can to insuring their competence in understanding the complex syntactic and morphological rules of language, not to mention thousands of more words than they would have had.
It may not be an example of good etiquette, but in the Hawking family, they spent much time reading at the diner table. Stephen Hawking, of course, is one of the most brilliant men alive today.
So, what is the child doing motorically at 3 years, beginning the stage of Individuolect ?
Motorically, the child of three years is hopping on one foot...
and running proficiently...
...and climbing stairs with alternating feet.
A definite hand preference has been established.
He/she can walk on a straight line...
...and can throw a ball to a receiver, and can catch a ball with both arms.
What more can I say?
There are two more important situations to note, that occur during this, the Individuolect period. One has to do with fluency, and the other with phoneme pronunciation.
Fluency: From around two to seven years of age, the child is engaged in an activity that puts many college students in fear--learning a new language. All things being equal, it is a more daunting task for the child because they not only have to learn the phonemes, morphemes, syntax and pragmatics, but they also have to learn the concepts that go with the symbols. In addition, they have not had much time to sharpen their study skills.
With the help of Chomsky's Language Acquisition Device, and many other biological aids (as outlined by Eric Lenneberg in his book, the Biological Foundations of Speech), however, the child prevails and becomes a linguistic communicator in fairly short order.
We almost forget that young children are still beginners at the language game.
Come together, right now·over me
But it does not, to semi quote the Beatles, ã...come together right now,ä for the child.
In other words, there are many times that the child will strive to find the correct word; to apply the best syntax; to correlate the semantics and pragmatics in order to most effectively communicate his/her thoughts. And, because this is all new, many mistakes will be made.
The "comparator" for the child will be busy sending error messages.
While the child gropes to make the repair, he/she may make additional errors. Children will also frequently supply "filler" sounds to hold their place in the conversation.
Children, like adults, sense that if they are silent, someone else will start talking, or the listener will just become preoccupied with something else.
Come, come, come, come, to..to..to..together right now, come together right, right now over, over, over, over, over, over, me.
The bottom line is that you may hear in the child's speech at this age, 2 to 7 years, some startling dysfluencies.
This can be very unnerving to parents. When it's your child that has the problem, it seems to be far more menacing. For example, when this happened to our two year old child, my wife became very upset and immediately wanted to call in a speech pathologist.
I had to keep reminding her that we both were speech pathologists.
In the notes are some of her dysfluencies that occurred in just one hourâs time.
Come together, right now, but then wait and donât say anything
When the child is dysfluent, the listeners (usually Mom and Dad, and frequently extended family and friends) should wait patiently, no matter how long it takes, and then respond positively to the child's verbalization.
No verbal comments nor body language signs should be made in the presence of the child to indicate concern or dissatisfaction with the childâs communication skills.
Parents, furthermore, should run interference for the child and ward off any derogatory comments by other children, teenagers or adults in front of the child.
For example, it is very natural for others to mimic the child's dysfluency.
Eventually, maybe in months, the dysfluencies will subside as mysteriously as they came.
Stuttering can be a self fulfilling prophecy
If the parents show their concern over the dysfluencies to the child, or should others mimic and make fun of him/her, the child's awareness of the "problem" will likely be come accentuated.
Disapproval can lead to fear of failure, and fear leads to failure when it comes to making the highly complex fine motor movements of speech.
A life long struggle with dysfluency, now called stuttering may ensue, and like a firestorm may escalate as fear brings failure, and failure brings more fear.
We have a problem! If there is evidence of struggling in the child's attempts to speak, such as blinking eyes or pursed lips or increased oral pressure, the cat is out of the bag and it is time to call in a speech pathologist.
This is not to say that stuttering in every case is caused by peoples response to a childâs dysfluencies. There are many other causes of stuttering, but this is one pitfall that can and should be avoided.
Not all sounds are created equal
The other issue for Individuolect period is the child's phoneme pronunciation. By four years of age, the child is a master of English. At least as far as the morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics are concerned.
Ironically, the mechanism upon which all these ride for expressive language may not yet be complete. Not all sounds are equal and hence not all sounds are learned at the same age.
Some are easy to see and require large muscle action, like /p/ and /m/. These you might expect the child to be able to make by age three. On the other hand, /r/, /l/ and /s/, for example are difficult to see and require complex motor adjustments of the tongue to produce.
It is not uncommon for children to acquire these sounds after five years of age.
We have no problem! So, when little 3 year old Edward says, "I thee the puthy cat thitting on the fenth." is there cause for alarm?
It all depends on the sound and the age of the child. In this case, for example, is the mispronounced sound, /s/, one that is typically is mastered by a three year old child?
For this we have a solution.
Most texts on speech and/or language provide charts of studies showing the average age of mastery of phonemes in English for children in the general population.
The text, Born To Talk includes a chart showing the results of three different surveys. It shows that the /s/ sound is not typically mastered by three year old children. Parents need to be aware of this to lessen their anxiety when it occurs.
It would be very unwise to chastise a 3 to 5 year old child for mispronouncing /s/ or to try and cajole him/her to produce a proper /s/ sound.
However, there is no harm in providing sound awareness and discrimination training, which is all receptive to these or any children. This can be done in a paradigm of games or in stories, by simply accenting the sounds when it occurs in the discourse.
So have we said it all now?
There is much more to language than we have presented, obviously. That is one reason why we have included a text. The folks who wrote this text have spent their lives studying language, as have scores of other scholars.
What we have done here, with the limited time that we have, is to reach into the heart of the matter so that we can set a course for ourselves in promoting language development, whether it is for our own children, our grandchildren, or our charges in the classroom.
It is clear that we can and should facilitate the course of language development for all children. What remains now is to do it.
I hope this has been as much of a learning experience for you as it has been for me. I have enjoyed working with you!
In the notes below, is a final comment from the Headmaster herself, your professor's wife, in person, thanking you for your perseverance for sticking with this course.
