stage 1: the preverbal stage

Question 1

how long does the preverbal stage last?

Answer 1

0-12 months

Question 2

what do children do in the preverbal stage?

Answer 2

• children don’t typically speak their first ‘proper’ word until about 12 months, but it would be a mistake to think they are not communicating.
• children begin recognising language whilst they are still in the womb.
• experimenting with noises/sounds but without producing recognisable words

Question 3

what are the 3 substages of the preverbal stage?

Answer 3

1. the vegetative stage (0-4 months)
2. the cooing stage (4-6 months)
3. the babbling stage (6-12 months)

Question 4

what is the vegetative stage? (0-4 months)

Answer 4

• babies start communicating through crying, coughing, burping (natural sounds) from the day the day they are born.

Question 5

why is crying significant in the vegetative state?

Answer 5

• this is the first noise a baby makes. they exercise the vocal cords to: learn to make different sounds, they learn that making a noise will gain attention, and signal a physical need like hunger or tiredness.
• often parents will be able to differentiate between cries, which will vary depending on the baby’s needs (food, changing diapers, attention etc.)
• research suggests that what parents really pick up on are changes in intonation/intensity.

Question 6

what is the cooing stage? (4-6 months)

Answer 6

• distinct from crying but not yet forming recognisable vowels and consonants.
• babies experiment with the noises that can be made when the tongue and the back of the mouth come into contact; the baby begins to develop control over the vocal muscles.
• around 4 months in laughing starts.

Question 7

what is the babbling stage? (6-12 months)

Answer 7

• the baby produces phonemes, often in the form of combinations of vowels and consonants/CVC words (e.g. ma, ga, ba, baba, gaga.)
• they are largely those that appear in the child’s native language.
• does not yet produce any recognisable words.

Question 8

what is reduplicated babbling?

Answer 8

appears first and consists of a child making the same sounds again and again (e.g. babababa)

Question 9

what is variegated babbling?

Answer 9

• merges later and involves variation in the CVC sounds being produced.
• this does not resemble recognisable words yet (e.g. daba, manamoo)

Question 10

what are proto words?

Answer 10

• ‘made up’ words that a child will use to represent a word they cannot pronounce (e.g. rayray for raisin)
• however, these are not true first words as they have no semantic content.

Question 11

what is the concept of child directed speech?

Answer 11

when a caregiver/parent’s linguistic characteristics alter when communicating with their children. this is different from the language they use with adults.