PHASES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Pre-linguistic Period
First Month
1 to 4 Months
4 to 8 Months
9 to 12 Months
Linguistic Period
11 to 18 Months
18 to 24 Months
3 years onwards
PRE-LINGUISTIC PERIOD : FIRST MONTH
RECEPTION
Can make out difference between /t/ & /d/
Can identify mother’s voice
EXPRESSION
Three types of vocalizations :
Cry
Reflexive vocalizations (cough, burp)
Pleasure sounds
Crying to indicate:
Hunger
Pain
Discomfort
PRE-LINGUISTIC PERIOD : 1 TO 4 MONTHS
RECEPTION
Eye-contact
Social smile emerges
Starts enjoying communication
Can discriminate between /m/ & /p/ or /a/ & /i/
EXPRESSION
Variations in crying (pitch/loudness/continuity)
Cooing (/u/ or /oo/ sound)
/k/ & /g/ sound emerges
Pre-linguistic Period : 4 to 8 Months
RECEPTION
Understands supra-segmentals (rise/fall of voice, loudness, pauses etc.)
Discriminate more speech sounds
EXPRESSION
Vocal play (suck/play with thumb)
Babbling (chain of repeated speech sounds) – important milestone
BABBLING
Importance:
Evidence of innate linguistic capacity
More controlled action
Practice of speech mechanism
Visual, Auditory & Tactile feedback
Characteristics:
Chain of speech sounds are produced
Common combinations : /VC/, /CV/, /VCV/
Starts with back sounds (/k/), but common speech sounds are - /p/,/b/,/t/,/d/
PRE-LINGUISTIC PERIOD : 9 TO 12 MONTHS
RECEPTION
Understands meaning at phrase & word level.
Popular baby games : “Show me ……” (pointing game), Peek-a-boo etc.
EXPRESSION
Echolalia : immediate reproduction of speech sounds.
Jargon : string of supra-segmentals, but no meaning.
Proto-words : word-like utterances
LINGUISTIC PERIOD : 11 TO 18 MONTHS (ONE WORD STAGE)
RECEPTION
Starts behaving like a communication partner
Vocabulary development
Responding to utterances
EXPRESSION
First Word & single word utterances
Referential units: label objects, persons, actions etc.
Holophrases: single word functioning as the whole sentence
LINGUISTIC PERIOD : 18 TO 24 MONTHS (TWO WORD STAGE)
RECEPTION
Vocabulary explosion
Start understanding one word – two meaning concept
Stories & poems
Responding to different sentence structures – negative, questions, imperative etc.
EXPRESSION
Can speak most consonants & vowels
Two word utterances – telegraphic speech (Agent + action or Action + object)
LINGUISTIC PERIOD : BEYOND 2 WORDS : 3 YEARS ONWARDS
Rapid increase in reception & expression.
Peer-child interaction – better language development
Beginning use of complex sentences
Starts understanding all 4 types of negation formation : “No cake”
Non-existence “There is no cake”
Rejection “I don’t want cake”
Denial “I did not eat cake”
Prohibition “Don’t eat the cake”
Question formation : Supra-segmentals & Wh- words