7TH MONTHS OLD

DIAN ANGGRAENY

A. BACKGROUND
The mastery of a language by a child begins with the acquisition of the first
language which is often called the mother tongue (B1). Language acquisition is a very
long process since children are not familiar with a language until they are fluent in
language.
Mother tongue is the first language that humans have mastered since the
beginning of their lives through interactions with fellow members of the language
community, such as family and environmental communities. This shows the first
language is an initial process obtained by children in recognizing sounds and symbols
called language.
Language acquisition or language acquisition is a process that takes place in
the brain of a child when he acquires his first language or mother tongue. Language
acquisition is usually distinguished from language learning. Language learning is
related to the processes that occur when a child learns a second language after he has
obtained his first language. So, language acquisition is related to the first language,
whereas language learning is related to the second language (Chaer, 2003: 167).
Dardjowidjojo, (2005: 243-244) states that in general most experts now view
that children everywhere also get their first language using the same strategy. This
similarity is not only based on the same human biology and neurology, but also by the
mentalistic view that states that children are equipped with natural provisions at birth.
Besides that, in language there is also a universal concept so that the child mentally
knows these universal natures.
Need to know is that a child does not suddenly have the B1 grammar in his/her
brain and complete with all the rules. B1 is obtained in several stages and each
subsequent stage is closer to the grammar of adult language. According to experts,
these stages are more or less characterized by universality in various languages of the
world.
There are some linguists who divide the stages of language acquisition into
pre-linguistic and linguistic stages. However, this stance is refuted by many who say
that the pre-linguistic stage cannot be considered an initial language because sounds
such as crying and whining are controlled solely by stimuli (stimulus) solely, namely
the child's automatic response to stimuli of hunger, illness, desire to be carried, and
feeling happy. Therefore, the stages of language acquisition discussed are the pre-
linguistic and babbling stages.
At around the age of 6 weeks, babies begin to make sounds in the form of
screaming, whining, and sagging. The sound issued by the baby is similar to the
sound of consonants or vowels. However, these sounds have not been determined yet
because they are not clearly heard. The question is whether the sounds produced
earlier are languages? Fromkin and Rodman (1993: 395) state that the sound cannot
 be considered a language. Some experts say that the sounds produced by these babies
are pre-language / sagging / language vocalization / stage cooing.
After the vocalization phase, the baby starts babbling. Chirping is a saying that
has single syllables like ma and a. The age of the babbling baby cannot be determined
with certainty. Mar'at (2005: 43) states that this stage of babbling takes place between
the ages of 5 and 6 months. Dardjowidjojo (2005: 244) states that the babbling stage
occurs around the age of 6 months. Not only that. There are also some experts say that
babble occurs at the age of 8 to 10 months. Differences of opinion like this can be.
The thing to remember is that the ability of children to chatter depends on the
development of a child's neurology.
The following is the description of the baby being observed:
Name : Muhammad Faiz
Age : 7 months
Address :-
The child observed was normal development, where at the age of 7 months he was
able to babbling (babbling) with the letter vowel / a / and consonant / m /, and also
this child was active.
In this observation the author focuses on the pre-linguistic and linguistic (phonology
in babbling)

B. DISCUSSION OF OBSERVATION RESULTS

Extract 1: Train
When Faiz’s mother puts him in his baby walker while inviting him to play the toys
attached to his baby walker and Faiz will babbling with a happy face

Child: "aaaaaaaa"

From the child's response that the child is accustomed to being placed in his baby
walker and has started to babbling on his own by sounding the vowel / a / which
indicates that the child is cool playing. So it can be concluded that the 7th months old
child can make a vowel / a / sound.

Extract 2: Lie down

When Faiz’s brother asked him to play in his mother's room while Faiz was lying.

Child: "mmmaa mmmaaaa

From the response that the child has begun to say two syllables namely consonant /
m / and vowel / a /. It can be concluded that the 7th months old child can make a
consonant / m / and vowel / a / sound.

Extract 3: Name
When I met Faiz who was in his father's arms, I called out the baby's name and the
baby responded by laughing.
 Child: "laugh but make no sound"

The baby's response above shows that the child is used to hearing the word repeatedly
from those around him. So it can be concluded that the 7th months old child can
respond when his name is mentioned even though he has not been able to provide an
answer in the form of words.

Extrack 4: Recognize
When the child was in the mother's arms and I want to take him from the mother's
arms, the child refused.

Child: Turn his body (back to back)

The response indicates that the child can already recognize the closest person. So it
can be concluded that the 7 months old child can already distinguish the closest
person and not.

Extract 5: Sensitive
When his mother would have came out and Faiz was drinking his milk, Faiz
immediately turn his body into a stomach and start cried.

Child: "turn his body into a stomach."

The response indicates that the child is sensitive to the surroundings. The child feels
that the mother will come out so that he turns his body into a stomach which indicates
that he wants to go with his mother. So it can be concluded that child the 7th months
are sensitive to their surroundings.

Extract 6: Uncomfortable
When a child's diaper started to feel heavy, the baby would have cried.

Child: "Crying"

The response indicates that the child is feeling uncomfortable with the crying
response.

Extract 7: Cheer up
When the mother laid the child and gave a bottle of milk, I invited the child to play
and the child raised his feet with enthusiasm.

Child: "lift both legs"

 The response indicates that the child was very excited to be invited to tell stories so
that he raised his legs up and then lowered them, the child did it repeatedly.

Extract 8: Understand
When the older brother says "handsome", the child will blink his eyes.

Child: "blink his eyes"

From this response, the child has begun to understand the meaning of handsome by
blinking as if to show a handsome face.

Extract 9: Mimic
When the father was on his stomach, the child also follows on his stomach.

Child: "Face down"

From the child's response that the child has begun to imitate what is done by those
around him by following his father on his stomach.

Extract 10: Comfortable

When the child was in my arms and the father were in front of me, the child extends
to his two hands which means he wants to be carried by his father.

Child: Extends both hands

The child's response above explains that the child is more comfortable in the arms of
the closest person.

C. CONCLUSION
The author can conclude based on observations that the 7-months-old child has started
babbling by sounding consonant / m / and vowel / a / even though babbling is not very
clear. Already started to respond if his name was called, could already recognize the
closest person, could be sensitive to the surroundings, responded by crying if feeling
uncomfortable, excited when invited to play, was able to understand the spoken
words, imitate the people around him, and be able to distinguish comfort towards
people closest to new people.

D. REFERENCES

Cowles, H. Wind. 2011. Psycholinguistics 101. New York: Springer Publishing

Company

Brown H. Douglas. 2007. Prinsip Pembelajaran Bahasa, Person Education Inc.

Oktradiksa, Ahwy. (2013). Pemerolehan Bahasa Pertama. Jurnal Penelitian &
Pendidikan Islam, 4, 236.

Rosmanuddin, Safriandi A. (2009). Pemerolehan Bahasa Pertama di

https://nahulinguistik.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/pemerolehan-bahasa-pertama/
(akses 30 November 2019)