Development of Language

 Language development is an essential aspect of cognitive development. Studies have suggested that individual differences among children can be found in language development. Some children acquire language more rapidly than others. Nevertheless, by the age of 5, the language of most children starts resembling to an adult’s speech.

Language in Infants

·         Speech perception in Infancy

Language acquisition stage begins with the ability to distinguish between the smallest sound units, i.e., phonemes, of their language. Studies have suggested that infants are very efficient not only in recognising phonemes but also in recognising differences among different phonemes.

·         Language Comprehension in Infancy

Can infants understand the language? To answer this many studies have been done suggesting, infants between the age of four to five months can turn their heads to the location from where their name is spoken, suggesting they can recognize their name. Further, they can understand “the correspondence between a speaker’s facial expression and emotional tone of the speaker’s voice” (Matlin, 2009, pp. 479). Children start to understand their name, usually by about six months, followed by commonly used words like “bottle,” “mama,” and “doggie” by 10 to 12 months (Mandel, Jusczyk, & Pisoni, 1995).

·         Language Production in Infancy

Language production in infants follows a series of a stage. The intentional vocalization beings by the age of two months with cooing noises, it is a one vowel sound (e.g., oo). By the time infant reaches the age of six to eight months, infants start doing babbling, “a vocalization that uses both consonants and vowels, often repeating sounds in a series such as dadada” (Matlin, 2009, pp. 480). Further, infants use different type of gestures to communicate with adults. Infants shake their head “no” around 6–9 months, and they respond to verbal requests to do things like “wave bye-bye” or “blow a kiss” around 9–12 months.

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