Linguistic Masterminds:
Children’s Early Language Trajectory
Laura Justice
The Ohio State University
Language development represents one of the most exciting and
mysterious aspects of young children’s development. Children
who cannot yet count to ten can produce sentence structures as
sophisticated as most adults. This webinar discusses language…
what it is, what it is not, and how to make sense of the things
children are saying. Additionally, this webinar explores what to do
when children are ‘late talkers’ and how to facilitate the language
growth of children with whom we might be concerned.
TOPICS TO BE EXPLORED
Language: What Is It?
Language: What It Is Not
How to Make Sense of the Things Children Say
What To Do When Children are Late to Talk
How To Facilitate All Children’s Language Growth
What Is It?
Language is a “system of conventional spoken or
written symbols used by people in a shared culture to
communicate with one another.”
Pence Turnbull & Justice, Language Development From Theory to Practice, 2/e
System
Conventional
Spoken
Written
Symbols
Communicate
Group of
interrelated
elements
that form a
complex
whole
In accordance
with general
agreement
Expressed
orally
Expressed
in writing
Something
that
represents
something
else
To convey
information
“Statue Momma”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ZwNF26snA
&feature=player_detailpage#t=5s
Language: More Than Just Words
It is a multi-dimensional symbol system
CONTENT
FORM
USE
Domains of Language
FORM:
rules governing the structure of sentences and words (e.g.,
inflections)
CONTENT:
rules governing the structure of meanings and concepts
PRAGMATICS:
rules governing the structure of delivery and use of language
Semantics
Syntax
Morphology
Phonology
CONTENT
FORM
USE
Pragmatics
Addie, 2 years:
“I’m almost
here!!!”
Addie, 2 years: “I’m almost here!!!”
Form: simple sentence, contracted copular verb (am), subjective pronoun,
adverbial phrase (almost here), consonants and vowels
Content: locational reference (here), adverb of manner (almost), highly
contextualized (need context to understand meaning!)
Use: function/intent = inform/explain, clear recipient in range, appropriate
paralinguistic cues (eye contact, proximity, etc.)
Important Features of Language
• Rule-governed
• Sensitive period
• Innate-learned
Rule-Governed
NOUN PHRASE
ARTICLE
+
ADJECTIVE
+
NOUN
How many noun phrases can a child make who knows this rule???
Rule-Governed
SIMPLE SENTENCE
SUBJECT
+
VERB
+
OBJECT
How many sentences can a child make who knows this rule???
Rule-Governed
SIMPLE SENTENCE
him
+
got
+
karate
How many sentences can a child make who knows this rule???
Sensitive Period
• In the first years of life, children’s brain matter
is rapidly developing
• Synaptogenesis
• Activity dependence
• Synaptic pruning
• Interconnections are being made that
organize and stabilize language skills
• No future period will allow such remarkable
gains in language to occur
Innate-Learned: Experience Dependent
INPUT
How do these develop?
From: Relationship between preschool teachers’ complex syntax use and children’s
Syntactic comprehension. From Huttonlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., Cymerman, E.,
& Levine, S. (2002).
Why Language?
• Language is the “what” of effective communication
…Communication is the mechanism
• Language is very malleable…. It reflects time and
experience
• Children show variability in their language skills: and this
variability is important for many areas of academics,
including reading and content-area skills
Why Language?
Head Start Outcomes
Framework (2010)
What Is It NOT?
• It is NOT how well children articulate
• It is NOT speaking ‘correctly’
• It is NOT simply the size of a child’s vocabulary
• It is NOT equated to IQ
What Is It NOT?
Up here is
my brain!
• It is NOT how well
children articulate
What Is It NOT?
I dot a daw a diddle
biwdie!
• It is NOT how well
children articulate
What Is It NOT?
• It is NOT
speaking ‘correctly’
Harvard Dialect Survey:
been
RED: as in "sit" (64.82%)
BLUE: as in "see" (3.59%)
GREEN as in "set" (28.60%)
PURPLE: other (2.99%)
What Is It NOT?
• It is NOT the size of
a child’s vocabulary
Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously….
(Noam Chomsky)
What Is It NOT?
• It is NOT equated to IQ
Language Intelligence
The Special Case
of Specific
Language
Impairment
General Trajectory
Birth:
hard-wired for language; no receptive or expressive
use; vocal play and reflexive sounds
3 months:
coo and goo; engage in back-n-forth routines; orient
to others
6 months:
Understands approximately 2 words; babbling
(mamama dadada)
8-10 months:
Becomes an intentional communicator (gesture,
persistence, eye contact)!
12 months:
understands 10 words, produces first word
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm
General Trajectory
18 months:
understands 150 words; expressive vocabulary of
50 words; produces simple sentences (two-word
combinations); understands simple sentences
24 months:
understands 300+ words; expressive vocabulary
of 100 words; produces some three-word
combinations, including negative sentences!
36 months:
ask questions using different forms; uses fourword combinations frequently; understands many
wh-questions; makes simple inferences;
understands some ‘hard’ words
60 months:
language system more or less complete – looks
adult-like in terms of grammar, although lexicon
and social competence will continue to refine
(e.g., ability to enter conversations).
Late Talkers
Late Talkers
• Children who are meeting most/all other milestones
typically (walking, eating, playing)… except talking!
• Identified between 2 and 3 years of age due to expressive
concerns:
• small vocabulary (< 50 words used)
• not yet combining words to create two-word
sentences
• Language understanding is typical (but be sure validly
assessed!)
Late Talkers: Words Spoken
Rescorla et al (2000)
Late Talkers
• Affects more than 1 in 10 children
(Zubrick et al., 2010)
• Tends to run in families
• Tends to affect more boys than girls
• Tends to affect more preterms
• Tends to occur with increases in externalizing and internalizing
behavioral concerns
• Although many children will outgrow these
problems, some children will not – which
argues against the wait and see approach
Language Screening
• Ages and Stages
Questionnaire – 3
• Language Development
Survey
• MacArthur-Bates
Communication
Development Inventories
Indirect or
Direct
Treatment
Options (often
by SpeechLanguage
Pathologist/
SLP)
Facilitating Language Growth for ALL Children
Children “feast” on the language scraps in
the world around them…they learn what
they hear
learn what they hear… and what they
OVERHEAR
As children feast, what really matters?
QUALITY
OF
INPUT
ADULT INPUT
TO CHILD
CHILD’S
LANGUAGE
SKILL
FREQUENCY OF
EXPOSURES
INFORMATIVENESS
OF EXPOSURES
QUALITY
OF
INPUT
ADULT INPUT
TO CHILD
CHILD’S
LANGUAGE
SKILL
2-year-old learning the word VENT
Exposure 1 –
establishes a
shallow
representation
of meaning
and
phonological
form
Exposure 3 –
Increasing
mapping and
differentiation in
lexicon
Exposure 2 –
solidifies
phonological
form (vent –not
went) and
refines meaning
overgeneralization
Frequency of Exposures:
Use of known words to “cement” a base
•
Meets one’s basic communication needs
Use of unknown words to “extend” the base
•
Provides precision and clarity
Frequencies of Exposures:
Children’s exposure to specific forms and functions occurs
repeatedly
Children’s exposures build cumulatively over time to become more
precise
INFORMATIVENESS OF EXPOSURES
Adult language features diverse content, form, and use
Content: many words, ideas, and concepts
Form: many different syntactic structures and word inflections
Uses: many different purposes
Changing Developmental Trajectories
Zone of Proximal Development
Knowledge that is beyond the grasp of the child
Learning Potential
What the child already knows
Adult Input
Zone of Proximal Development
Knowledge that is beyond the grasp of the child
HUGE STEER
What the child already knows
Adult Input
COW
Zone of Proximal Development
Knowledge that is beyond the grasp of the child
That is a big dog, you are right!
What the child already knows
Adult Input
That’s a dog.
Well-Tuned?
Stimulates Language
Does Not Stimulate Language
Attitudes, points of view,
mental states, motives
Providing information
about objects,
information,
or events
not present
Similarities and differences between
people, objects, and events
Causes of events
(prediction)
Meanings of words
Connections between text and world
van Kleeck et al (2006)
THANKS FOR GIVING CHILDREN
THE GIFT OF LANGUAGE!