Language Acquisition Overview
• Language terms/features and their functions
• Theorists – ideas as to how/why children
acquire language.
• Ways of communicating – social interaction,
writing, reading and multi-modal.
Ordering Early Language Development
In the womb – Fitzpatrick
(2002) found that the
heart rate of an unborn
baby slowed when it
heard its mother’s voice.
At the cooing stage
babies start to make a
small range of sounds.
Petitto and Holowka
(2002) argue that
babbling is the beginning
of speech.
Crying is one of the first
vocal expressions a
baby makes. It is more
of an instinctive
response to how it
feels.
Intonation patterns and
the production of words –
rhythms can resemble the
speech patterns of adults
which then lead to baby’s
first words.
Ordering Early Language Development
1) In the womb –
Fitzpatrick (2002) found
that the heart rate of an
unborn baby slowed
when it heard its
mother’s voice.
3) At the cooing stage
babies start to make a
small range of sounds.
2) Crying is one of the
first vocal chord
expressions a baby
makes. It is more of an
instinctive response to
how it feels.
4) Petitto and Holowka
(2002) argue that
babbling is the beginning
of speech.
5) Intonation patterns and
the production of words –
rhythms can resemble the
speech patterns of adults
which then lead to baby’s
first words.
Learning Objective:
Introduction to Language Acquisition:
To be able to identify the techniques
used in language development, and
their functions.
Pre-verbal Stage
Main
Techniques/Features
Approximate
Timings
Vegetative
(Vocal Chords)
Reflex crying noises
0-4 months
Cooing Stage
Open-mouthed vowel
sounds
3-6 months
Repeated consonantvowel sounds and
combinations of these
6-12 months
Babbling sounds that
seem to match actual
word sounds – a grey
area between preverbal and grammatical
stages
9-12 months
Babbling Stage
Proto-Word
(Intonation
Stage/Production of
words)
KEY TERMS
Comprehension
Production
Productive
Vocabulary
Look at the examples of children’s language. They are all taken from three
children in the same family as they grow older. What do you observe
about each utterance? How do they develop as the list progresses? What
particular functions does their speech have? (page 107)
Task

1.
2.
Read the article ‘A baby’s babble leads to language’ and complete the questions below:
What was the hypothesis for the experiment?
What did the researchers conclude?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077446/ ‘A baby’s babble leads to language article’
Babbling
Easy
stopped sounds: where air is momentarily
stopped from being released (‘p’)
(aspiration)
reduplication: where the same vowelconsonant combination is repeated (da da)
variegated babbling: as above except that
the vowel sound changes (da de)
consonant cluster: where a number of
consonants are combined, as in /fr/
Difficult
friction sounds: where there is vibration
whilst air is released (the ‘s’ in pleasure)