© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition DEVELOPING LANGUAGE: Language Acquisition

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition The average child speaks his or her first words at about a year old. Between the ages of a year and 18 months, the child speaks in single-word utterances: Teddy Mummy Gone

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition Occasionally, more than one word may seem to be involved. This happens when a group of words has been learned as a single unit: Allgone Wassat

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition Much of what is first learned serves a naming function: Juice Biccy Daddy Sometimes, however, single words may convey a multitude of meanings.

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition Holophrases This is the term given to single words which may convey a multitude of messages. The utterance Juice, for instance, may have many meanings. Can you suggest some?

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition A child’s understanding of words and syntax is more advanced than his or her spoken language suggests. Children between 12 and 18 months old respond to two-word instructions such as: Kiss teddy Tickle daddy

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition Two-word utterances Two-word sentences usually begin to appear when the child is about 18 months old. This is known as the two-word stage.

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition The two words are usually in a standard grammatical sequence: Subject/verb – Stephen sleep Verb/object – Draw mummy Subject/object – Louis juice Subject/complement – Daddy busy

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition When a child repeats adult utterances, some of the words may be missed out. The grammatical structure, however, usually mimics that of the parent/care-giver. The words uttered will also carry the meaning (content words). Adult: Danielle’s playing in the garden Child: Play garden

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition Try to assign different meanings to the following two-word phrases: Mummy sock Paul eat Teddy bed Notice the reliance on intonation for meaning

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition During this stage, the child often has trouble separating possessive pronouns from personal pronouns: This is hims car.My finished now. I can see shes bed.Mys want to come in.

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition Children also often use the object case instead of the subject: Me want it Him did it Her gave me one Thems all gone now

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition … and the subject case instead of the object: Let she do it I gonna push they over … and inconsistent use: She like that, her do

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition From the age of about two children begin producing three- and four-word utterances. Children become capable of distinguishing between the subject and the object. Adverbs are acquired to indicate time, manner and place.

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition As well as declaratives, other sentence moods will be used, such as interrogatives. Children begin to ask questions using the ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’ formation, rather than a reliance on intonation.

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition By the age of three, children can use: Determiners – a, the Inflexions on the ends of adjectives – bigger, biggest Past tense formations – kicked Co-ordinating conjunction – and Auxiliary verbs - do, have, can and will

© Oxford University Press 2008 Language Acquisition By the end of the third year, children can use most parts of speech more or less correctly, with appropriate intonation and stress.