Three perspectives of
language development
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Behaviorist
Nativist
Interactionist
Behaviorist perspective
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B.F. Skinner (1950s)
Babbling that sounds like words is reinforced
through operant conditioning; nonsense
babbling is ignored by parents and is
extinguished
Imitation and reinforcement are keys to
language development
Wrong because most parents respond to ALL
babbling
Nativist perspective
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Noam Chomsky (1950s)
Believed language was guided by an innate
language acquisition device (LAD) that
contains a set of rules common to all
languages
LAD tells babies what to look for in speech
they hear
Evidence: overregularizing verbs (age 3)—
shows they’re making rule-based grammatical
errors
Problems with Nativist
perspective
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What is the LAD exactly?
Where is the LAD?
Toddlers don’t really have a good
understanding of grammatical rules, as
Chomsky thought.
They don’t acquire language as quickly as
Chomsky thought.
Progress is steady and gradual, not
immediate.
More learning and discovery involved than he
thought.
Interactionist perspective
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Combination of both theories
Language involves some native capacity
and some learning
Rich linguistic environment is necessary
for language to develop
Don’t know how much is learned and
how much is innate
Getting ready to talk
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Cooing—begins at 2 months or so; baby
makes pleasant vowel sounds
Babbling—starts between 4-8 months;
baby adds consonants (baba, dada)
Deaf children don’t babble; babbling is
dependent on hearing human speech.
Babies start experimenting with real
word sounds around first birthday
Receptive language
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Ability to understand language
6 months of age—babies can discriminate
among all sounds heard in all languages in
the world, including sounds they don’t hear
spoken to them.
This ability fades by 12 months as they focus
on native language sounds.
By 9-10 months, babies understand 50
words; by 13 months, they understand 100.
Expressive language
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The ability to talk
First word is usually spoken around 12
months; doesn’t have to be a “real”
word as long as baby uses it
consistently to mean a specific thing
First words
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Usually refer to important people,
objects that move, or familiar actions
Rarely name things that just sit there
and don’t move or talk
Children often refer to words by the
sounds they make (dog = ruff ruff)
67% of words a 2-year-old speaks are
nouns; 8.5% are verbs.
Expressive vs. referential style
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Children with expressive style: first
words are linked to social relationships
instead of objects (yes, no, please,
thank you, etc.)
Referential style—first words are mostly
names and pronouns; much more
common than expressive style
Holophrases
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One word combined with a gesture to
indicate a two-word meaning
Common at 12-18 months
Common errors
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Overextension: child uses word too generally
Underextension: child uses a general word to
mean only one specific thing (cat = only the
family cat); much less common than
overextension
Overextension reflects a child’s sensitivity to
categories. May know the correct word but
just be unable to say it, so they call it by the
next closest word.
Naming explosion and
telegraphic speech
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Usually occurs around 16-24 months
Vocabulary increases to around 300 words
(from 50 words)
Telegraphic speech: combining two words
into a small, concise phrase. Occurs once
baby has learned about 200 words.
After telegraphic speech, children start adding
more words to sentences, and they add
emotional expression (18-24 months)
Child-directed speech
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Form of language made up on short
sentences with high-pitched,
exaggerated expression and very clear
pronunciation.
Lots of repetition, simplified words, and
questions.
Parents naturally gravitate toward this
way of speaking with toddlers.
How to increase language
development
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Respond to early coos and babbles with
speech sounds
READ often. This is the most important
thing you can do!
Ask questions about what they’re
seeing and what you’re reading.
Play social games like peek-a-boo, and
play make-believe with your toddler.
Ideally…
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A child should speak 1-5 words by 12
months and 50 words by age 2
If he’s not speaking at all by age 2,
consider early intervention or speech
therapy.
Frequent ear infections in
infancy/toddlerhood can delay speech
production.