CHAPTER 4 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS AND TODDLERS
Chapter Overview
This chapter describes the early settings and interactions in which infants and toddlers begin to develop the aspects of language knowledge:
phonological, semantic, syntactic, morphemic and pragmatic. Health problems related to phonological development (ear infections and physical malformations)
are also described. The importance of direct and vicarious experiences in conceptual and semantic development is explained.
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, students should be able to
· Explain the role of adult responsiveness in communicating with infants
· Describe the phonological development of infants and toddlers
· Explain the connection between concept development and semantic knowledge
· Provide several examples of a toddler's telegraphic speech
· Describe how infants begin to use gestures to show communicative intent
· Describe how toddlers begin to use language differently in different settings
Chapter Review
1. How may ear infections impact language acquisition of infants and toddlers?
2. Why is the I–you distinction difficult for toddlers?
3. Give an example of telegraphic speech. Identify the syntactic–semantic pattern in the example.
4. How is adult-to-child speech adapted syntactically to the needs of the toddler?
5. What are the components of symbol formation? Give an example. Explain "distancing."
6. What is the role of experiences in the development of semantic knowledge? Distinguish between direct and vicarious experiences.
7. Using Halliday’s categories of language function, explain how toddlers use language to serve different purposes.
8. Describe the way in which a zone of proximal development can be created when sharing a storybook with a toddler.
9. Describe infants' receptive phonological knowledge.
10. Why is there a big difference between what sounds infants can perceive and what sounds they can produce?
11. When do infants start cooing? What sounds are produced? Why is the cooing stage important?
12. When does babbling begin? Define babbling. Are the sounds in babbling similar across languages? Explain. Define echolalic babbling. What are two other terms for echolalic babbling?
13. How prevalent are ear infections among young children? What are the symptoms of ear infections? What are the possible long-term effects of otitis media?
14. What words do children typically learn first, (nouns or verbs? concrete or abstract?) ? Give examples.
15. What is telegraphic speech? Give an example. What "functions" of words are present in telegraphic speech? Give two examples.
Chapter Activity
1. Watch the video: Language Acquisition.
2. Record a toddler verbalizing in his or her home language for a total of 10 minutes. You may need to record multiple episodes. Analyze the vocalizations for
specific words and their relation to the child’s home environment. If the child is at the telegraphic speech stage, analyze the verbalizations for the
syntactic–semantic patterns discussed in this chapter. If the home language is not English, provide an analysis of the child’s speech with respect to the home
language for meaning and grammar.