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Language Development

Understanding how children develop communication skills and language abilities

"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we think about."

— Benjamin Lee Whorf

Language Development Milestones

Typical age-related language markers. Use these as general guidance — every child develops at their own pace.

0–12 months

Crying & cooing
Babbling
First words

1–2 years

50+ words
Two-word phrases
Follows simple commands

2–3 years

Simple sentences
Asks questions
Tells short stories

3–5 years

Complex sentences
Grammar emerging
Conversational skills

Principles of Language Development

Quantity matters: more language exposure supports later production.
Child-led learning: children learn best through interests and interaction.
Active communication: turn-taking and responsive talk boost outcomes.
Contextual learning: meaningful situations make language stick.
Diversity of input: varied vocabulary and sentence structures support thinking.

Key Language Skills

Listening

Understanding spoken language and responding to it.

Speaking

Expressing thoughts, needs, and using words to communicate.

Reading

Recognizing written words and making meaning from text.

Writing

Forming letters, words and connecting ideas in writing.

Language Components

Phonology: how speech sounds are organized
Semantics: vocabulary and meaning
Grammar: syntax and morphology for combining words
Pragmatics: social use of language like turn-taking and tone

Neural and behavioral research studies show that exposure to language in the first year of life influences the brain’s neural circuitry even before infants speak their first words. Infant attention, measured in the original studies, was significantly higher in response to the live person than to either inanimate source. During live exposure, tutors focused their visual gaze on pictures in the books or on the toys as they spoke, and the infants’ gaze tended to follow the speaker’s gaze, as previously observed in social learning studies.

The degree of infants’ social engagement during sessions predicted both phonetic and word learning—infants who were more socially engaged showed greater learning as reflected by ERP brain measures of both phonetic and word learning. Both studies show activation in brain areas responsible for speech production (the inferior frontal, Broca’s area) in response to auditorally presented speech [in sentences and different languages].

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) prefer to listen to non-speech rather than speech, when given a choice, and this preference is strongly correlated with the children’s ERP brain responses to speech, as well as with the severity of their autistic symptoms. These findings suggest that early social interaction and rich, responsive language exposure are important for shaping neural systems that support later language learning.

Note: This may be how your child feels when they have issues with learning English or Math. They might feel overwhelmed, tired, or overstimulated by the sheer amount of information that they need to learn. (not to offend but to just give a little perspective)

"Children's early exposure to a rich set of language practices is critical for their later reading success."

— Neuman, Kaefer, Pinkham (2018)