Childhood Language Acquisition

“When I was born, I was so surprised I couldn’t talk for a year and a half.”Gracie Allen(22 slides)

creatively compiled by dr. michael farnworth

What really bugs me is the first twelve months of a kid’s life their parents are teaching them to walk and talk, and

the next twelve years they are telling them to sit down and to shut up.

Justine Myers, 5th grade Children’s Rules for Parents

Children are born polyglots: they naturally have German gutturals, French nasal, Russian palatal and Chinese tonal. They cannot remain this way for long, however, for to learn

a particular language is simultaneously to unlearn the sounds not common to that language.

Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge

Levels of language development

• 1. Phonemes: sounds

• 2. Morphemes: smallest unit of meaning

• 3. Syntax: words put into meaningful structure

The dos and don’ts

• Do provide opportunities to talk

• Do build their vocabulary by using new and different words

• Do model good speech and grammar yourself.

• Don’t draw attention to problems.

When it comes to language development, parents are gardeners not dog trainers.

Common language concerns

• 1. Improper pronunciation: “I'm free years old”

• 2. Overgeneralization: “I seed five sheep!”

• 3. Omission: “I water.”

• 4. Spontaneous revision: “One naked individual, with liver tea...”

In each case...

• Repeat the proper use of the word without drawing overt attention to the mis-use:

• 1. Oh, you’re three years old.

• 2. You saw five sheep! Cool.

• 3. Oh, you want some water.

• 4. Repeat the proper words more slowly...

Spontaneous revision

• A four year old boy was asked,” what do you think “take a bite out of crime” means?

• He responded, “I guess it means that they want you to bite a piece, taste it, and see if you like it.”

Should you engage in baby talk?

• As a general rule do not talk baby talk to your children unless you are being affectionate with them, then be any way you want.

• In any other setting talk normal.

Motherese...

• Have you ever noticed when adults talk to children they have a tendency to:

• Up their pitch a notch or two...

• Speak louder than normal...

• And use more rhythm...

All of which are unnecessary.

Toilet talk and swearing

• Childhood is the time to learn and use new words and some of these words may cause social embarrassment depending on the use and timing of them. As general guidelines:

• Do not react by laughing or by getting upset

• Teach them the acceptable use or non use with calmness

• Provide acceptable other vocabulary.

What kind of parent are you going to be?

• Referential:• Ball • Truck• Toy• Box• Food

• Expressive:• More• All gone• Mommy• Daddy• Pretty

Be positive, expressive and interactive.

There was a study done to determine why toddler’s vocabularies were different. One group had words that referenced things and the other had

words to do with what they felt and wanted.

What they discovered was that parents who were expressive and attentive to giving their children opportunities to express how they felt had the

vocabularies that referenced how they felt inside.

While the parents who were more matter of fact and not tuned into reinforcing their child’s attempt at communication had a vocabulary that

referenced things outside themselves.

Examples of the two kinds of parents

• Referential• Matter of fact• Business like• Correctness• Low energy

• Expressive• Positive• Enthusiastic• Reinforce attempts• Higher energy

Examples: afternoon at home, visiting parents, first word: dada

Courage...

• Our children need courage to learn and to explore their world.

• We can give them that courage by reinforcing their efforts to learn and by sharing our positive energy with them.

• Never rob your children of courage.

Autonomy

• Every no is an affirmation of themselves.

• And a manifestation of their will and growing awareness of separateness.

• All of which you need to nurture as a parent. (hopefully your own self worth and esteem will be up for the challenge)

the end