THE DEVELOPMENT OF BABY TALK

By Christopher Hylton

Professor Bass

Child development 30

The Development process

Many factors affect the rate at which a child develops language. Sometimes language development slows down while a child is learning other skills, such as standing or walking. In other words, the bulk of the child's concentration and energy may be going to gross motor development at this point with little reserve for the development of language.

The rate a child learns

The rate of language development may also be affected by how people respond to the child. For example when a caregivers communication attempts are greeted with eye contact, acknowledgement ("Uh huh. Tell me more. What else happened?"), and expansion of his or her ideas is likely to develop language faster than the child whose communication attempts receive little or no response.

How dose it Start?

Language develops; books, audio books and active storytelling will help this process. A child begins to form relationships with other children, and play is a key part of this.

Babies also learn about communication through crying. In the first year, crying is a central part of their communication system. When a caregiver responds to a babies cries, our babies learn that they will be listened to and that the world is a safe place where their needs will be met.

Piagets Therory

Stage  Characterized by  Sensory-motor  (Birth-2 yrs)  Differentiates self from objects  Recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally: e.g. pulls a string to set mobile in motion or shakes a rattle to make a noise 

Achieves object permanence: realizes that things continue to exist even when no longer present to the sense (pace Bishop Berkeley) 

Pre-operational  (2-7 years)  Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words  Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others 

Piaget theory continued… Classifies objects by a single feature: groups together all the

red blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks regardless of color 

Concrete operational  (7-11 years)  Can think logically about objects and events  Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9) 

Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size. 

Formal operational  (11 years and up)  Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically  Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems 

Piaget’s Cognitive Stages…

How to help with the development process?

Respond to your baby’s cries Have "conversations" with your baby Talk naturally with your baby's throughout the

development process Sing songs or tell her stories. Extend language by describing what you see the

baby's doing. Read books. Talk about your own actions as well

Thank you

Works Cited

http://www.columbuscityschools.org/lee/pioneer/stage1.htm

http://www.ehow.com/list_7881148_piagets-types-cognitive-play.html

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm

http://www.ivillage.com/baby-talk-8-easy-and-fun-ways-improve-your-babys-language-skills/6-n-136622