Development of children’s language: phases and advice

Although each child follows a personal trajectory of language development, it is possible to identify some common phases and help him in this important path with daily activities and stimuli

“The exams never end”, the title of a famous comedy written by Eduardo De Filippo, is now a phrase of common use to remind us that in life we ​​never stop learning. Also it development of language It certainly does not end with childhood, but this period of life is undoubtedly important because it is the one in which The foundations are placed of the adult individual and in which progress is on the agenda. Every interaction, each experience contributes to the linguistic and cognitive growthconfirming that learning is an endless path.

In this article we will explore the main ones phases of language developmentto know what to expect during the different evolutionary stages: from gestation to the first 4 and a half years of life of children. We will also discover, moreover, How to help children to develop language, through stimuli and daily activities, and what are the bells Of alarm to pay attention to.

What are the phases of language development?

A premise is needed: each child follows his own personal development trajectory. This applies not only for the development of languagebut for all areas, the motor, cognitive, emotional, etc. Hence a further clarification: Childhood is not a race. Everyone will come to certain goals with their times, perhaps jumping steps or making some more. This because The growth of the individual is guided by two fundamental factors: The genetic heritage (which is different for each of us, with the sole exception of homozygous twins) and interaction with the environment.

Below we describe the characteristics of the phases of languagejust as experts distinguish them for study practicality, but we always keep in mind the existence of individual variables:

• Gestationaround the 16 weeks from conception (when it is only 11 cm long) the fetus has a hearing almost totally developed And the recording of some of his reactions to sounds begins to be possible. According to some recent studies, inside the belly, the external noises come very caught; What is clearly felt is the Mom’s voicethe beat of his heart, his breath. It’s the right time for parents to start talking to the child! Not everyone is predisposed to interact with the little ones, so a training period when the child was not born still allows the adult to understand what his communicative style is; ù

• 0 monthswhen he just born, but knows how to recognize the voice of those who take care of him and discriminate the own (and language/and mother from the others. It already emits sounds, called vegetative sounds because they are linked to vital functions and above all … cries;

• 3-4 monthsaround this age the social smilethat is, the smile in response to visual agancio with another person, especially if familiar. There are gods vocalizations That is, the sounds formed by vowels, with noteworthy variations and tone up to seem a kind of singing. At this age Learn to listen to others and himself And the sound of his voice amuses him a lot;

• 6-7 months, It’s time for “canonical lallation“, That is, when the child produces repeated consonant and vocal sequences, such as “Mamama” It is easy to exchange these productions for first wordsbut I’m not at all! The variety of sounds it produces in this phase decreases compared to the previous months because it begins to respect the phonological restrictions of the language to which it is exposed. At birth, in fact, we have the extraordinary power to reproduce all the sounds of the languages ​​of the world. Then listening to only a few we focus on those who serve to speak the language of the environment in which we live. This is one of the reasons why bilingual families are recommended to interact immediately with the child in all the languages ​​of the family contextso that his perception and pronunciation are facilitated;

• 9-10 monthsthe lallation changes and in this period the “varied lallation“. The sounds vary, alternating different consonants and vocals, for example “Totati”. The child at this age should prove to understand between 20 and 100 words: There is a great variability! The use of gestures as indication begins to appear (or POINTING);

• 12-13 monthshere is finally the first words! It should be taken into account that the transition from lallation to first words is not sudden but gradual. The child now also includes simple contextualized phrases and his repertoire of gestures is wider: healthy, beat his hands and so on;

• 12-18 monthsat this age the number of words used increases quickly. At 18 months the vocabulary should contain approximately 50 words. Precisely for this reason this phase is called the “emerging lexicon“. Sometimes the child uses a single word which, however, represents an entire phrase: “ball” said with the intention of describing that “the child has pulled the very strong ball”. Technically that “ball” is defined Olophrase;

• 18-24 monthstwo words are combined for form a sentence. There is also one Vocabulary explosionup to 50 new words per month! In this phase (in particular between 20 and 30 months), however, there are showy individual differences. The language of the child is understandable to 25-50% because the pronunciation is not yet completely accurate;

• 24-30 monthsthe sentences become more and more complex, even if it is normal that they are incomplete. There are still distortions in the pronunciation because not all sounds are pronounced correctly. Adults should be able to understand 50-75% of what is said by the child. They can be counted About 250 known words. The onomatopoees begin to transform into words in the strictest sense of the term: the “bau” therefore becomes the “dog”;

• 3 and a half yearsthe sentences are complete and 75-100%is understandable, therefore almost everything that is said. However, that “almost” is very important, because there are still sounds that can be pronounced with difficulty. In particular, there may be simplifications of groups of consonants: for example “Copa” for “broom”;

• 4 and a half yearsthe most difficult sounds such as /R /. It can be said that at this age the basic linguistic skills are acquired. This is fundamental because from now the child will be able to focus on the prerequisites to learn to read and write, in particular those skills that are called “metaphonology“And on more” high “language skills, such as recreational use, irony, implications. As mentioned in the introduction, one never ceases to learn and in some respects (vocabulary, grammar, pragmatic) Language will progress for the entire life of the individual.

How to help children develop language?

Those who study the development of the child come across, sooner or later, in an author who gave an important turning point to the pedagogical perspective: Lev Semënovič Vygotsky, psychologist and pedagogist who has even been defined as “Mozart of psychology“.

He based his theories on the idea that in the child there is a distance between the current level of development and the level of potential development that can be achieved with the help of other people; This distance is called “proximal development area“. It therefore represents that task that requires the child a little more effort of what he can do with looseness and that can complete with minimal help from others. For example, a 3 -year -old girl could be able to pull up the jacket zip to close her after her dad took the lower pin inside the cursor.

The concept of “proximal development area” (also called “next development zone”) is important when we want encourage language development And, by definition, it works at any phase it is going through. So here’s a simple rule: “Always add an extra piece“. For example, when the child exclaims “Mom, dog!”, The parent can respond “yes, a big dog!”. In this way we stretch his sentences of one element at a time, offering him an example to follow and within his reach. When it is the pronounceon the other hand, not to be precise, we also provide the appropriate modelwithout however insisting because it repeats it correctly: “Ino!” “Balloon!”.

Thanks to this trick any occasion can be a good time for Give our child a starting point. However, there are activities that are particularly good for the development of language. Which? First he does all, reading books, but also listening and musical activities, sensory workshops (the words that are learned best are those related to 5 senses), playing in nature, meeting new friends, visiting new places.

Alarm bells in the development of language

Each child follows his development trajectory, however certain parents can alarm seeing him in difficulty and doing comparisons With asylummates, children known to the park, children of friends or brothers. How to understand when to really worry? During the health budgets, the pediatrician investigates through some questions the presence of any alarm bells concerning the development of language:

• at 10 months absence of lallation;

• At 12-14 months he does not use gestures to communicate;

• At 18 months he uses a vocabulary less than 20 words and does not include “simple” requests such as “give me the hand”;

• At 24 months he pronounces less than 50 words;

• At 30 months he does not combine at least 2 words to make a sentence;

• At 36 months the language is poorly understandable.

Attention: the presence of one of these signals does not necessarily establish the presence of a language disorder! Many children who at 18-24 months seem late, then recover spontaneously without problems: they are the so-called “late speakers”. Depending on the story of the child and the story of the parents, the family pediatrician will be able to make the first observations and, if he deems it appropriate, indicate a study advising to contact the most suitable specialist.