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Language Development in Young Children
Objectives
• To examine different theories of first language development.
• To explain the importance of interactions and input in the
development of first language(s).
• To identify the steps a young child goes through in acquiring his/her
first language(s).
• To analyze how interactions and input are also important in second
language acquisition.
• To identify where different emotions can affect a person’s sequential
language acquisition and to propose ways to work with them.
The Story of My Name
• Pick a partner and decide who will speak first and second
• First speaker tells the story of his/her name for 3
minutes.
• Second speaker speaks 3 minutes.
Large group
• Briefly introduce your partner and why their name is
important to them.
• Introduce where you work and where you are from.
The Story of My Name
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Who chose your name?
When was it chosen?
Were any other names considered?
Are there any other people in your family with the same name?
Do you know anyone else with the same name? Do you share your
name with any famous people? Is your name unique?
• What are your feelings concerning sharing (or not sharing) a name with
someone else?
• Have you always been called the same name? What other names have
you been called? By whom? When?
• What are your feelings about your name? Have they changed through
time? In what ways?
The Story of My Name
Questions:
• How was listening for you?
• How was speaking for you?
• What did learn about names?
Extension Activities with Names
• Children write books about names –interviewing family
members
• Parents write books about their children’s names
• Write a Book About Naming Traditions
What is language?
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Language is uniquely human
Language is linked to cognition
Language is natural
Language is culturally bound
Language has many varieties and is
constantly changing.
What is language?
Language has structure
• Phonology (sounds)
• Morphology (structure of words)
• Syntax (structure of sentences)
• Semantics (structure of meaning)
• Pragmatics (rules and conventions of
language)
How do we learn language?
• Behaviorists believe that children learn by imitating what
they have heard and that parental modeling and
reinforcement are the major promoters of language
acquisition.
• Nativists believe that innate, biological mechanisms are
responsible for language acquisition (Chomsky, 1976 –
language acquisition device) and that children just naturally
acquire language with minor feedback from the social
environment.
How do we learn language?
• Interactionists acknowledge both the child’s role and that
of the caretaker in the social environment and consider the
communication in social interactions to be essential to
language acquisition. The process of language acquisition
is both a personal and social invention. Parents, teachers,
and others shape its development by the way they respond
to the language learner.
• We speak differently to young children than to other adults. We
adapt our language.
Interactionism
Social constructivism: Vygotsky viewed
cognitive development as the result of
dialogue and that the main purpose of
language is social.
We learn language through social
processes.
The Importance of Interactions
We know that interactions are important in all
development including early language development.
Video: Serve and Return Interaction Shape Brain
Circuitry at
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/v
ideos/three_core_concepts/serve_and_return/
The Importance of Interactions
Infants begin life with brain systems that allow them to acquire
any and all languages to which they are exposed.
The ability to make different sounds are pruned from their
brains if they are not heard and supported in social
interactions.
The language adults use with infants and very young children
known as ‘motherese,’ and is an example of interactionism
and the value of social processes in language development.
The Importance of Interactions
Video: Watch the video, The Pyramid of Speech
and Language Development that shows the
building blocks of communication.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z0rvMbLP2o
Discussion Question: How do very early
interactions that infants have with caregivers
build the foundation for speech development?
The Importance of Interactions
A child needs a strong foundation to get to the point where they are talking and using
accurate speech in their first language(s).
5. Using
accurate
speech
4. Talking
3. Understanding of
language (words,
phrases, sentences)
2. Turn taking Eye contact
Shared attention Listening
1. Opportunity/Reason/Motivation to
Communicate
Language as a Developmental Process
• Babbling
• One word
• Two words
• Short sentences
The Four Stages in Acquiring Language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxtLhgzntg8
Language Acquisition 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZatrvNDOiE
Language as a Developmental Process
At approximately two years of age, children’s
ability to use language suddenly increases
rapidly. The size of their vocabulary grows and
children begin to string words together in short
sentences.
Children are acquiring 6 to 10 words a day about
the time they are entering preschool. They are
also broadening their understanding of the
meanings of the words they already know.
Language as a Developmental Process
Children also begin to acquire the more
complicated grammar forms during this
period. Their understanding of grammatical
rules, however, can result in creative
mistakes. These mistakes demonstrate
that they notice consistent patterns in
language and apply them to the language
system, as they understand them.
Language as a Developmental Process
By the time children enter preschool, they have
become experienced talkers and are engaged in
an extended oral language development. This is
because their caregivers have been encouraging
them to extend their statements through talking
with them. Children also augment their own
language experiences by listening to others’
conversations in which they are not active
participants.
Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism
Simultaneous acquisition of two languages occurs when
children are exposed to both languages from a very early
age, sometimes as a result of each parent speaking a
separate language with the child or both parents
speaking one language and a caregiver speaking another
language with the child.
If a child learns two languages simultaneously, and if the
two languages are developed equally during childhood,
then the language development process is expected to be
the same in both languages. (Tabors, 2008)
Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism
Sequential acquisition occurs when a child
begins to learn a second language after the first
language is at least partly established, for
example when a young child enters a preschool
setting in which her home language is not the
language used in the classroom.
Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism
Sequential language acquisition however is
different:
• Children already have some knowledge of how
language works so they are not learning how
language works in general but how the new
language works and is different from the first
language.
Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism
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The acquisition of the second language
can take place at any age.
• The acquisition of the second language
may be more dependent on individual
characteristics such as aptitude,
personality (whether social or not), and
psychological factors such as wanting to
be like others.
Krashen’s Hypothesis
Stephen Krashen (1982) presented several hypothesis
that today help us understand how children and adults
learn new languages:
• The Acquisition versus Learning Hypothesis. It
states that new languages are actually best acquired in
the same way that children acquire their first
language(s) and not learned by formal teaching.
Acquisition requires meaningful interactions in the new
language in natural communication in which native
speakers are focused on communication and not on
form.
Krashen’s Hypothesis
• The Input Hypothesis: Learning to speak the
new language requires meaningful input that is
at the optimal level. It suggests that learners
acquire language by “intaking” and
understanding language that is a “little beyond”
their current level of competence or “input + 1“.
• zone of proximal development
• scaffolds where possible.
Krashen’s Hypothesis
• The Affective Filter Hypothesis: Emotions
such as anxiety can directly interfere or assist
with in the learning of new language. Some
emotions can create a kind of filter that blocks
the learner’s ability to learn and use new words
or grammatical structures because it can block
the input that is needed.
Krashen’s Hypothesis
The three main things that can make the affective
filter’s openings larger and allow more input in
the new language to reach the leaner include that
the learner have:
• high motivation to learn the language,
• have low anxiety levels,
• high self-confidence in ability.
Krashen’s Hypothesis
Discussion: Give personal examples of what helped you or did not
help you learn a new language by:
• Increasing the level and quality of input you received in the new
language.
• Acquiring it in a natural way instead of learning new vocabulary
and grammar rules.
• Lowering or increasing your affective filter by lowering or
increasing your anxiety, increasing or lowering your selfconfidence, or increasing or lowering your motivation to learn a
new language.
Developmental Phases in Acquiring
Second Language
1. Home language use phase : There may be a period
of time when children still use their first language. This is
because they do not yet understand that there is
difference in the 2 languages.
2. The silent or nonverbal period: When children
discover that their home language does not work in the
new setting, they enter into a nonverbal period as they
collect information about the new language and perhaps
spend some time in sound experimentation. In an officiallanguage classroom, this means that the children will
enter a period when they do not talk at all.
Developmental Phases in Acquiring
Second Language
3. Going public with the new language: This is when
children begin to use individual words and phrases that
they have learned.
Verbalizations such as “what is that?”, or reciting the
names of colors, the alphabet, numbers, etc. or formulaic
phrases in situations in which others have been observed
to use them such as “yes, no, hello, goodbye, O.K., look,
be careful,” etc.
Developmental Phases in Acquiring
Second Language
4. Productive Language Use in the New Language:
This is when children can begin building their own
sentences, not just continuing to repeat formulaic phrases
or names for people and things. During this process the
children must analyze the language being used around
them and begin to make guesses about how the
language is constructed. Typically, they use everything
they already know about their new language, and, not
surprisingly, make many mistakes as they work their way
through the process of acquiring the more complicated
aspects of second language.
Developmental Phases in Acquiring
Second Language
For older children and adults the process is similar and looks like
(Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2003):
• Silent/receptive or preproduction stage: This stage can last
from 10 hours to six months. Students often have up to 500
“receptive” words (words they understand but may not be
comfortable using) and can understand new words that are made
comprehensible to them. This stage often involves a “silent period”
during which students may not speak but can respond using a
variety of strategies, including pointing to an object, picture, or
person; performing an act, such as standing up or closing a door;
gesturing or nodding; or responding with a simple “yes” or “no.”
Developmental Phases in Acquiring
Second Language
• Early production stage: The early production stage can last an
additional six months after the initial stage. Students have usually
developed close to 1,000 receptive/active words (words they are
able to understand and use). During this stage, students can
usually speak in one- or two-word phrases and can demonstrate
comprehension of new material by giving short answers to simple
yes/no, either/or, or who/what/where questions.
• Speech emergence stage: This stage can last up to another
year. Students have usually developed approximately 3,000 words
and can use short phrases and simple sentences to communicate.
Students begin to use dialogue and can ask simple questions,
such as “May I go to the restroom?” and are also able to answer
simple questions. Students may produce longer sentences but
often with grammatical errors that can interfere with their
communication.
Developmental Phases in Acquiring
Second Language
• Intermediate language proficiency stage: Individuals may need
up to another year to reach intermediate proficiency after speech
emergence. Students will have typically developed close to 6,000
words and can now make complex statements, state opinions, ask
for clarification, share thoughts, and speak at greater length.
• Advanced language proficiency stage: Gaining advanced
proficiency in a second language can typically take from five to
seven years. By this stage students have developed some
specialized content-area vocabulary and can participate fully in
grade-level classroom activities if given occasional extra support.
Reflection Question: What phase of the process in acquiring a
language that is not your first language are you? What would help
you progress to the next level?
Misconceptions on language development
True or False:
Bilingualism causes language
delay.
Misconceptions on language development
Bilingualism causes language delay.
• FALSE. While a bilingual child’s vocabulary in each individual
language may be smaller than average, his total vocabulary (from
both languages) will be at least the same size as a monolingual
child. Bilingual children may say their first words slightly later than
monolingual children, but still within the normal age range
(between 8-15 months). And when bilingual children start to
produce short sentences, they develop grammar along the same
patterns and timelines as children learning one language. If a
bilingual child demonstrates significant delays in language
milestones, they could have a language disorder and should be
seen by a speech language pathologist.
Misconceptions on language development
True or False:
When children mix their languages
it means that they are confused
and having trouble becoming
bilingual.
Misconceptions on language development
When children mix their languages it means that they are
confused and having trouble becoming bilingual.
• FALSE. When children use both languages within the same
sentence or conversation, it is known as “code mixing” or “code
switching”. Parents sometimes worry that this mixing is a sign of
language delay or confusion. However, code mixing is a natural
part of bilingualism. Proficient adult bilinguals code mix when they
converse with other bilinguals, and it should be expected that
bilingual children will code-mix when speaking with other
bilinguals.
Misconceptions on language development
True or False:
A person is not truly bilingual
unless he is equally proficient in
both languages.
Misconceptions on language development
A person is not truly bilingual unless he is equally
proficient in both languages.
• FALSE. It is rare to find an individual who is equally
proficient in both languages. Most bilinguals have a
“dominant language”, a language of greater
proficiency. The dominant language is often influenced
by the majority language of the society in which the
individual lives. An individual’s dominant language can
change with age, circumstance, education, social
network, employment, and many other factors.
Misconceptions on language development
True or False:
An individual must learn a second
language as a young child in order
to become bilingual.
Misconceptions on language development
An individual must learn a second language as a young
child in order to become bilingual.
• FALSE. There is a “Critical Period” theory that
suggests that there is a window of time (early
childhood) during which a second language is most
easily learned. This theory has led many people to
believe that it is better to learn a second language as a
young child. Young children have been found to
achieve better native-like pronunciation than older
children or adult second language learners. And they
seem to achieve better long-term grammatical skills
than older learners.
Misconceptions on language development
True or False:
If a family wants their child to
speak the majority language, they
should stop speaking their home
language with their child.
Misconceptions on language development
If you want your child to speak the majority language, you should
stop speaking your home language with your child.
• FALSE. Some parents attempt to speak the majority language to
their child because they want their child to learn that language,
even if they themselves are not fluent in the majority language.
This can mean that conversations and interactions do not feel
natural or comfortable between parent and child. There is no
evidence that frequent use of the second language in the home is
essential for a child to learn a second language. Furthermore,
without knowledge of a family’s home language, a child can
become isolated from family members who only speak the home
language. Research shows that children who have a strong
foundation in their home language more easily learn a second
language. Children are also at great risk of losing their home
language if it is not supported continually at home.