48-60 Months

Normal Language Acquisition Milestones for children starting at 48 months (four years) 0ld to 6o months (five years) old

Phonology/Articulation

Like said in the previous section, at 48 months old, the child decreases their use of phonological processes such as weak-syllable deletion and cluster reduction. (Textbook)
Between 52-56 months, the child is very intelligible in connected speech. They have also mastered almost all consonant sounds, but they may not be mastered in all contexts. (Textbook)
Also between 56-60 months, they will know the letters that make up their own name. The child will also show only languishing difficulties with later-developing sounds. They will also have some persisting phonological processes such as liquid gliding and substitution. They can also understand rhyming. (Textbook, RR)

(Speech Milestones)

(Textbook, RR)

Morphology/Syntax

At 48 months, they are combining four to seven words in sentences. They are also using contractible auxiliaries and contractible auxiliaries. The child can also use irregular third person verbs like "has."
At 52 months, the child is using subordination and coordination in sentences. They are also using irregular plural forms consistently.
Between 56-60 months old, the child is now combining five to eight words in sentences.

(Language Milestones)

(Textbook)

Semantics

At 48 months, they are now overextending new words on the basis of object function. They also use animacy information to infer the meanings of new words. Reflexive pronouns are being used as well such as himself, herself, and itself. (Textbook)
At 52 months old, the child is using "what do, what does, what did" type questions. (Textbook)
Between 56 months to 60 months, the child is now using 1,500-2,000 words and comprehends 2,500-2,800 words. They are also using deictic terms like this, that, here, and there. (Textbook)
At 5 years old, the child can sort items based on different categorization qualities, use a continued variety of words based on interests and experiences, understand temporal concepts, provide simple definitions, and use past knowledge to help understand new words. (Semantic Development Milestones)

(Language Milestones)

(Textbook, Semantic Development Milestones)

Pragmatics

At 48 months, they are using interpretive, logical, participatory, and organizing functions. They also construct true narratives. (Textbook)
At 52 months, they are using indirect requests. (Textbook)
Between 56-60 months, the child uses imagination narrative with a sequence of events but no main character or theme. In this, they understand time sequences (what happened first, second, third, etc.) (RR)
At 5 years old, they use compound and complex sentences and they engage in conversation. (Textbook)
Between 4-5 years, the child can share feelings, predicts outcomes to stories, expresses opinions. They can also identify colors, understand spatial contexts, understands certain pronouns like he/she, understands comparative and superlative adjectives, gets time concepts, knows positional contexts. They can also produce 4-5 word utterances, answers "wh" questions, and asks "wh" questions. (Textbook, RR)

(Textbook, RR)

(Language Milestones)

Preliteracy Skills

At this stage, it is incredibly important to let the child see their parents read magazines, cookbooks or car manuals. If you like to read, they will, too and imitate you.
Read backwards, top to bottom, or back to front sometimes. This will prompt them to correct you.
By the time they turn 5 they understand that letters make words and that words can make stories that they will learn to read. Many 5 year olds can also read and write their own name.
At age 5, the child will sound like they are reading when pretending to read, enjoy being read to and retell simple stories, use descriptive language to explain or to ask questions, recognize letters and letter-sound matches, show familiarity with rhyming and beginning sounds, understand that print is read left-to-right and top-to-bottom, begin to match spoken words with written ones, begin to write letters of the alphabet and some words they use and hear often, begin to write stories with some readable parts
They will also orient books to be right-side up and begin to read on the front cover, point to words to demonstrate understanding that the print carries meaning, recognizing and producing rhyming words, recognizing that words are separate units that make up a sentence.
They will also blend and segment syllables and sounds to form words, identify the first and last sounds in spoken words, recognize and name upper and lower case letters, especially letters in their first name and recognize the sounds associated with letters. They come full circle in this stage and will make big steps towards language develop and literacy skills.

Preliteracy skills are a building block of Language Milestones

(RR, understood.org, northeastohioparent.com, eugene.libguides.com)

Four year old demonstrating Preliteracy Skills by Storytelling

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