Oral Language Development

Newborn – 2 Months

• Cry : Main form of communication• Sense and turn toward human faces

– What about a blind infant?• Know and prefer their mother’s voice • React to their mother’s smell• Respond to vocal prompts (Video 2)

Bardies, 1999

• Turns head when hearing a voice• Participate in turn taking, echoing,

and fleeting• Coos single syllable (Video 4)

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

3 Months

• Babble strings of consonants (Video 8)• Produce first laughter and cry (Video 7)• Produce sound for showing emotion and

demand

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

4 Months

• Vocalize vowel sounds to toys and to image in mirror

• Experiment with sounds (Video 9 and 10)• Imitate some sounds• Respond to names

5 Months

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

Babies’ SmilesEffect on Others:

–Calm others–Establish affect

Kinds of Smile1. Sleeping Smile

Medieval Legend Legend of Cypselus

2. True Smile

Bardies, 1999

• Vocalize to show pleasure and displeasure (Video 11-14)

• Interrupt their vocalization at will• Voice is higher when they are with

their mother than with father

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

6 Months

• Play vocally (Video 15)• Listen to vocalization of others• Imitate cough, hiss, and tongue

click

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

7-9 Months

Babbling

• Shows that all languages are syllabic• Groups syllables and repeats sequences• Becomes clear and well articulated

–Consonant-Vowel–CVC–VCV–CVCV

Bardies, 1999

Stand about Babbling

Jakobson (1972/1941) on BabblingBabbling is only an exercise that produces

series of sounds. It has a period of silence which is not linguistic.Lenneberg (1964) and Chomsky (1959)

Babbling is a stage of maturation. Its forms are universal.

Bardies, 1999

Biochemical Approach to Babbling

• A baby has a small chance to escape babbling.

• Individual differences and biological mechanicals create the babbling differences.

Bardies, 1999

Babbling and Sign Language

Age in Months

Description

5-6 Vocalizes like a hearing baby7 Do not babble8 Babbles manually

12 Babbles “ba”

Bardies, 1999

• Obey some command• Practice gesture of pointing

–Begin to point toward a distant object• Demand• Call attention • Ask names of objects

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

10-11 Months

• Recognize own name• Follow simple motor instruction with visual cue• React to “no” intonation• Practice word vocalization• Interpret and take into account the adult’s

reactions to guide their exploration of the world

Hermosa, 2002

1 Year

Expression of Emotion

• Express physiological states and emotions–Crying (Hunger, Distress, Uneasiness)–Facial expressions–Arm waving–Foot stamping–Staring

Bardies, 1999

Expression of Emotion

Age in Months

Reaction to Emotion

4 Change of expression on portraits5 Face and voice6 Voice7 Slight facial expression 8-9 Sometimes misinterpret angry facial

expressions as jokes

Motherese

• AKA fatherese, maidese, care giver talk• Does this consciously or unconsciously• Shows willingness to adapt to the capacities of

the baby Purpose:• Gets baby’s attention• Heightens baby’s interest

Bardies, 1999

Characteristics of Motherese

1. Clear and slow articulation2. Emphasis on word or message3. Long, soft, melodic forms4. Frequency of repetition5. Rhythm of body movement6. Exaggerated facial expression

Bardies, 1999

Culture and Motherese

Culture PracticeAmerican Indians in Guatemala

• Monotone• Repeat after me Technique

Soloman Islands • Indirect infant speech

Bardies, 1999

Culture and Motherese

• Kaluli in New Guinea – Adults speak seldom to infants and rarely look at them directly. – Receive certain instructions– Prevent from touching an object– Correct errors of pronunciation– Do not show objects and teach names– Repeat words and sentences

Bardies, 1999

Motherese and Language Dev’t

• There is no correlation between the child-directed speech of the mother and the linguistic development of the child.

• Parents do not teach. They furnish language models.

Bardies, 1999

Components of Language

For Sale: An antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs

and big drawers.

(Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2003)

Forms1. Phonological2. Morphological3. Syntactic

Semantics

Study of Richard Aslin (1993)• Present words in sentences in teaching

How to Teach Children to Understand?1. Repeat sentences2. Simplify previous utterance3. Reformulate their utterance4. Clarify and comment on remarks

Bardies, 1999

Syntax and Pragmatics

• Imperative and Interrogative sentences are numerous on the speech of parents

Study in the Luo Society: Case of a Father:Son – 3% imperativeDaughter – 43% imperative

Bardies, 1999

Elissa Newport (1976)Sentence

TypeChildren Adult

Declarative 30% 87%Interrogative 44% 9%Imperative 18% 2%Total 92% 98%

Bardies, 1999

Language ProgressAge in Mos.

Phonology Semantics Syntax Pragmatics

15 Common Everyday

Object

4-6 • 2-word utterance

• Sing/Hum• Q/A• Use of “I” and

“Mine”• Rhyming

Games

18 2021

Language ProgressAge in Years

Phonology Semantics Syntax Pragmatics

2 Parts of Speech

200-400 • Short, incomplete sentences

• Short dialogue

3 900-1000 • 3-4 sentences• Follow 2-step

command• Talk about

present

Language ProgressAge in Years

Phonology Semantics Syntax Pragmatics

4 1500-1600 • Ask.• Narrate.

5 90% Grammar

Acquisition

2100-2200 • Discuss feeling • Follow 3-step

command• Use request• Produce short

passive

Language ProgressAge in Years

Phonology Semantics Syntax Pragmatics

6 26000 words

• Complex sentences

• Keep conversation7 • Reason

• Direction8 Produce all

sounds• All passives• Consider

intention.• Start to brag.

Theories of Language

Acquisition

Behaviorist

• B.F. Skinner• Language learning through environmental

conditioning and imitation of adult modelsStudy of Darwin, 1872

Darwin’s son at 6 months assumed a melancholy expression, with the corners of the mouth turned down, when he saw his nurse pretend to cry.

Bardies, 1999; Hermosa, 2002

Nativist

• Noam Chomsky• Language is native and innate. • Language is creative.

Interactionist• Combines

behaviorist and nativist

• Language is a product of genetic and environmental factors.

7 Functions of Language

1. Instrumental

• Baby cries. Mother gives milk. Baby stops crying.

2. Interactional

• New child in the neighborhood celebrates party and invites the kids in the community.

3. Personal

• A student writes a diary entry before sleep.

4. Heuristic

• A child points to an animal in the zoo and asks his mother “What is that?”

5. Imaginative

• Girls play with each other. They pretend to be princesses who are about to attend a ball.

6. Informative

• A student goes home and recounts school experiences to his parents.

7. Regulatory

• In the classroom, the sergeant at arms stands and writes the names of the noisy students on the board. Suddenly, the class becomes silent.

Implications

• Children need to grow up in a linguistic environment with a very rich input.

• Do not judge late-developing children. • Give importance to eye contact and turn

taking in the classroom. • Provide “Teacherese”.

Bardies, 1999

References

Bardies, B. d. (1999). How language comes to children: from birth to two years (pp. 38-93). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. M. (2003). An introduction to language (7th ed.). Boston: Thomson, Heinle.

Hermosa, N. (2002). The Psychology of Reading (249-254). Philippines: UP Open University.

The Baby Human from the Discovery Channel