Language Development

Language Development

      Language, otherwise known as a basic form of communication, is one of the most complex things to learn; And yet, for an infant, it is one of the very first things they come to work with and understand, before even formulating any words on their own. The ability to pick up on such a complicated concept stems from their rapid neural development and in interaction with those who do actively practice language, as in accordance with Vygotsky's theory on social learning and the plasticity of their brains. Assisting a child in their understanding of language is very important in infancy, as it leads to deeper interaction on a social and emotional level.

     

      To begin to understand language, babies need to reach a certain point of brain development to be able to form words and interact regularly, heavily influence by the association of particular words through intense socialization and exposure to those words. This is called receptive learning, which is how all language learning begins. Receptive learning is the ability to recognize and understand a language before beginning to speak it, as seen in how an infant can come to recognize its own name over time and repeated usage. This is why practicing language in the presence of and talking to an infant is key to its cognitive development and ability to replicate the feat of intelligent speech.

     

      The first official step of language development is when the baby begins to cry, with particular cries indicating a particular need, as is the way in which word association works. This occurs up until they are two months old, where infants learn to coo in their throat to communicate pleasure with something. At five months, a child will begin to babble, uttering out forms of consonants that are simple for their mouths to form. As this is the start of communicating through language, encouraging babbling is just as important as speaking to the baby. It will only be around seven months that an infant will actually begin to use individual words to interact with those around it.

Editor's note: I began to speak in words at around six months, a little earlier than average. This feat was due to my father taking the time to read to me aloud, my mother conversing with me regularly while he was at work, and them both leaving me to soak in language from various television programs they would allow me to observe with them. This enhanced the speed of my receptive learning, resulting in my mental pathways forming connections between words and their meaning more efficiently than they would have otherwise.