Child Language - Key Words

Question 1

Preverbal Stage

Answer 1

-From months 0-12
-Can be split into four categories.

Question 2

Vegetative Stage

Answer 2

-Months 0-4
-Child can produce sounds of discomfort and reflex actions.

Question 3

Cooing

Answer 3

-Months 4-7
-Child can perform basic comfort sounds, playing using open mouth sounds.

Question 4

Babbling

Answer 4

-Months 6-12
-Child can produce repeated patterns of consonants and vowel sounds.
-These sounds are universal.
-Can be broken into two further stages: Reduplicated and Variegated.

Question 5

Reduplicated Babbling

Answer 5

-When a children repeats a sound with the same consonants and vowels: ‘dada’.
-Usually plosive.

Question 6

Variegated Babbling

Answer 6

-When a child repeats a sound with the same vowel but different consonant: ‘daba’.
-Usually plosive.

Question 7

Proto Words

Answer 7

-Months 9-12
-Vocalising small words but not matching them.
-Sometimes called Scribble Words.

Question 8

Holophrastic/One Word Stage

Answer 8

-Months 12-18
-One word utterances
-More than one word may occur occasionally, but child sees it as a single unit (allgone).
-Tend to overextend.

Question 9

Two Word Stage

Answer 9

-Months 18-24
-Producing two word combinations.
-‘Noun-noun’ or ‘noun-verb’ forms.

Question 10

Telegraphic Stage

Answer 10

-Months 24-36
-3 or more words combined.
-Some sentences are grammatically correct but other key features will be missing: Determiners, auxiliary verbs, prepositions and conjunctions.
-Halliday’s Functional Language.
-A child will make rapid progress in this stage.
-Lean ‘-ing’ suffix first.

Question 11

Children and Pronouns

Answer 11

-Young children are more prone to egocentricity.
-Often use the pronoun ‘me’ instead of ‘I’.

Question 12

Children and Verbs

Answer 12

-Young children sometimes invent verbs from nouns they already know.
-This does not need to be corrected, as they appear to naturally discontinue it when they don’t need it anymore.

Question 13

Virtuous Errors

Answer 13

-Young children apply incorrect grammar rules to sentences, yet can still be understood.
-There is often logic behind these errors.

Question 14

Scaffolding.

Answer 14

-Modelling how speech ought to take place in order to help the child’s language to develop.

Question 15

Deletion

Answer 15

When a sound or syllable is omitted due to difficulty. (Do(g))

Question 16

Substitution

Answer 16

When a difficult sound is replaced with those that are easier to sound. (‘Pip’ for ‘Ship’)

Question 17

Addition

Answer 17

When a child places an additional vowel set on the end of the word. (‘Doggie’ for ‘Dog’).

Question 18

Assimilation

Answer 18

When a consonant sound is repeated for another consonant sound in the word. (‘Gog’ for ‘Dog’).

Question 19

Consonant Cluster Reductions

Answer 19

When a child simplifies a group of consonants into an easier sound. (‘Pider’ for ‘Spider’).

Question 20

Deletion of Unstressed Syllables

Answer 20

Omitting opening syllables in polysyllabic words. (‘Nana’ for ‘Banana’).

Question 21

Child Language Acquisition

Answer 21

The process where babies and young children acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language.