Language
Development
By
D.r/ Ahmed Salim
Language is a form of communication-whether
spoken, written, or signed-that is based on a system
of symbols.
Language consists of the words used by a
community and the rules for varying and combining
them.
The communication process:
Man is essentially a social being.
The ability to communicate with others is one of the most important characteristics.
The primary goal of human communications is an accurate and rapid transfer of
information through the spoken, written or gestural modes.
The ability to do daily experiences, draw and record history is dependent on an
extensively developed communication system.
Speech and language provide an early and primary form of communication for
children and adults.
Language is one of the most complex system of rules.
The communication process:
All children in a wide range of different environments and cultures learn to
understand and use language in a remarkably short period.
It includes all systems of communication not only speech but also the expression and
understanding of written words, signs, gestures and music.
What are the differences between
voice, speech, and language?
Voice, speech, and language are the tools we use
to communicate with each other.
• Voice is the sound we make as air from our lungs is pushed between vocal
folds in our larynx, causing them to vibrate.
• Speech is talking, which is one way to express language.
• Speech is one of the highest abilities that human has achieved and has led
him to attain the top rank in the animal kingdom. It is defined as a system
of communication in which thoughts are expressed and understood by
using acoustic symbols.
They are produced by vibration of the vocal cords in the larynx (phonation),
caused by the flow of air (expiration) and given final form by movements of
the lips, tongue and palate articulation
Voice, speech, and language are the tools we use
to communicate with each other.
• Language is a set of shared rules that allow people to express their ideas in a
meaningful way. Language may be expressed verbally or by writing, signing,
or making other gestures, such as eye blinking or mouth movements.
Communication Models:
A number of theoretical models have been proposed to explain the speech
communication process.
The communication model based on Osgood's model is the most-simple
one.
This model emphasizes the interrelationship of all processes for the
smooth function of speech and language.
As can be observed from the communication model. The channels of
communication progress through three levels.
Level III
Level I Level II
Symbol Comprehension
Sensory Awareness and Perception and Motor
and Symbol
Motor Projection: Ideation:
Formulation:
Perception is the process of Symbol comprehension is the
Sensory awareness describes
attaching meaning to sensation ability to understand the
the level of reception when a
and involves detection, spoken and written words.
nonlinguistic stimulus (e.g.,
discrimination, identification Symbol formulation is the
sound or light) activates a sense
and association of incoming ability to linguistically express
organ (eye or ear).
stimuli. an idea.
Motor ideation is the ability to The role of memory is an
Motor projection in this level is integrated part of the
plan and execute the motor
an involuntary movements that communication model.
pattern necessary to imitate
are seen in the reflexive
tongue movements or correctly The association between the
function as breathing, sucking
repeat sound sequences is an reception and expression is
and swallowing.
example of oral ideation. closely related to memory
Memory keeps a record of
Graphic ideation at this stage events in order to provide a
refers to manual expression. basis for relating new events to
each other and to the past.
The Basic Components of Human
Language:
Human language involves both receptive and productive use.
Receptive language use occurs during the comprehension or
understanding of words and sentences.
Productive language use involves idea generation and the articulation
of words in speech.
Both reception and production utilize the four basic structural components
of language:
Semantics Grammar or
Phonology Pragmatics
Syntax
The system of patterns that
The system of rules by
determine how humans can
which words and phrases
The system of the sound The system of meanings use language in particular
are arranged to make
segments that humans use that are expressed by social settings for particular
meaningful statements.
to build up words. words and phrases. In conversational purposes.
order to serve as a means
of communication between Children need to learn how
Each language has a people, words must have a Children learn that
to use the ordering of
different set of these shared or conventional conversations customarily
words to mark grammatical
segments or phonemes, meaning. begin with a greeting, require
functions such as subject or
and children quickly come turn taking, and concern a
direct object.
to recognize and then shared topic.
produce the speech Picking out the correct
segments that are meaning for each new
characteristic of their word is a major learning They come to adjust the
native language. task for children. content of their
communications to match
their listener's interests,
knowledge, and language
ability.
These four basic systems can be extended and
elaborated when humans use language for special
purposes, such as for poetry, song, legal documents, or
scientific discourse.
The literate control of language constructs additional
complex social, cognitive, and linguistic structures that
are built on top of the four basic structural component.
Long before they begin to learn words, infants
can make fine distinctions among the sounds of
the language.
Recognizing Research has demonstrated that from birth up to
Language about 6 months of age, infants are "citizens of the
world": They recognize when sounds change most of
Sounds: the time, no matter what language the syllables come
from.
over the next six months, infants get even better at perceiving the changes in
sounds from their "own" language (the one their parents speak) and gradually
lose the ability to recognize differences that are not important in their own
language.
Babbling and other Vocalizations
Babies 'sounds go through this
sequence during the first year: Long before infants speak
recognizable words, they produce a
• Crying. Babies cry even at birth. Crying can signal number of vocalizations.
distress.
• Cooing. Babies first coo at about 2 to 4 The functions of these early
[Link] are gurgling sounds that are made in vocalizations are to practice making
the back of the throat and usually express pleasure sounds, to communicate, and to
during interaction with the caregiver. attract attention
• Babbling. In the middle of the first year, babies
babble-that is, they produce strings of consonant-
vowel combinations, such as "ba, ba, ba, ba:
Infants start using gestures, such as showing and
pointing, at about 7 to 15 months of age with a mean
age of approximately 11 to 12 months
They may wave bye-bye, nod to mean "yes"; show an
empty cup to ask for more milk and point to a dog to
draw attention to it.
Gestures:
Pointing is as an important index of the social aspects
of language, and it follows this developmental
sequence: from pointing without checking on adult
gaze to pointing while looking back and forth between
an object and the adult.
Lack of pointing is a significant indicator of problems in the
infant's communication system.
First Words:
Children understand their first words earlier than they speak them.
As early as 5 months of age, infants recognize their name when someone says it.
On the average, infants understand about 50 words at about 13 months, but they can't say
this many words until about 18 months.
2 years can speak about 200 words.
Two-Word Utterances By the time children are 18 to 24 months of age, they usually speak in
two-word utterances. To convey meaning with just two words, the child relies heavily on
gesture, tone, and context.
Thank You