First Language Acquisition And Child Speech

First Language Acquisition and Child Speech

First Language/Native Language Acqusition

Our native languages surround us from birth. Babies start acquiring them as soon as they start crying, and then cooing (usually around six 6 weeks). Babbling (“mamamama, dadadadada”) doesn’t generally start until around six 6 months. Language acquisition occurs fastest around the age of two 2 years, when a child learns most at once.

Most children pass language milestones at similar ages. However, some children pass some milestones earlier or later than others. Even so, they pass milestones in the same order as most other children.

Babbling (6-12 months)

More or less all babies babble, even Deaf babies (with some exceptions). In the earliest stages of babbling, babies will use sounds that aren’t part of their native languages’ systems, as initial babbling comes from the baby, not from the baby’s linguistic environment (the language(s) being spoken at home).

Babbling becomes specific to a hearing baby’s native language between six 6 and twelve 12 months. After this, a hearing baby will only use sounds that are found in their native language(s). At this stage, Deaf babies will often stop babbling. However, if their caregiver uses a sign language, a Deaf baby will often start babbling in that sign language, repeating particular signs where a hearing baby would use combinations of vowels and consonants.

At the babbling stage, a baby will say, “Mama,” “Dada,” “Baba,” and “Papa,” which is why words with these sounds are used for parents in lots of languages; they’re sounds that stick to a particular figure in a child’s life, often present in the earliest stages. Parents tend to reinforce this by referring to themselves in the third person when talking to the child, e.g. “Do you want Mama/Papa to read you a book?”, “Dada’s taking you to the park this afternoon.”

Holophrastic/One‑Word Phase (12‑18 months)

In the holophrastic phase, a child will begin to speak in individual words. At this stage, these words are used in the places of whole phrases (holo‑=whole, ‑phrastic=phrase), and their meanings can vary with context, as well as from child to child.

“Milk” may really mean “I like milk,” but it may also mean “I want milk,” or “I don’t want milk,” or “Have some milk.” You really need to know the child and the context well in order to understand properly.

At this stage, children may also overextend the meaning of a word, so that “milk” refers to all liquid. Meaning may also be underextended, so that “man” only refers to the child’s father, and “dog” only refers to the family dog; other dogs aren’t called “dog”, and other men aren’t “man”.

A child may also pronounce words differently in the holophrastic phase, contracting consonantal clusters like “pl” [pl] into “p” [p] or “l” [l] to make “plum” into “pum” or “lum”.

Combining the different pronunciation heard in the holophrastic speech with the overextension/underextension of meaning, and the use of single words in place of phrases, “lum” might be a child’s way of saying, “I would like a plum” (whole‑phrase speech and consonant contraction) or even “Where is the fruit bowl?” if the child overextends “lum” to mean all fruit, not just plums.

Two‑Word Stage (18‑24 months)

The two‑word stage is present in the acquisition of more or less all first languages. This stage is similar across different languages, and all children will use the right syntax (word order) for their native language.

Japanese and Korean word order is Object‑Verb (“store go”), and English word order is Verb‑Object (“go store”). Children acquiring their first languages get syntax right automatically, and don’t have to sit down and learn it like in a second‑language lesson. They observe speakers around them, and mimic their syntax. Grammar is usually missing at this stage, but word order is usually accurate.

At this stage, auxiliary words (such as “will” in “I will go”, “to” in “go to playgroup”, and “can” in “can I go?”) are omitted. So are articles (“the”, “a/an”, etc.) and pronouns (“she”, “him”, “their”, “your”, “we”). Therefore, an English‑speaking child between 18 and 24 months will say “go store” rather than “I will go to the store”.

Semantics at this age are very simple. A child at the two‑word stage won’t have a large vocabulary, so will call all shades of blue “blue”, rather than specifying “turquoise” or “cerulean” etc. They might not distinguish between “cat” and “kitten”, “walk” and “crawl”.

Telegraphic/Multiword Stage (24‑30 months)

This stage is also called the telegraphic stage because children speak as if they’re writing a telegram. This is because 24‑30 month‑old children don’t use auxiliaries. They say things like, “I want go park” when they mean, “I want to go to the park”. Little grammatical words are missing, like they are in a telegram. Only words that carry real meaning are used; sentences can still be understood, but an adult will think of them as having gaps.

Gradually, a child at this stage will start adding functional words, such as pronouns, as well as inflections (for the ends of words), like “‑ing” and “‑ed”, so that “Holly walk” becomes “Holly walked” and “Joey swim” becomes “Joey swimming” (to mean “Joey is swimming”).

Complex sentences (30+ months)

Complex sentences have two clauses, e.g. “I know that she likes toffee” and “This is the bus which broke down yesterday”. Children will start to produce these sentences from about 30 months.

Questions and negative statements are grammatically complicated, so many children still struggle with them at this age. “Where has she gone?” requires the inversion of “she has” as seen in “she has gone.” “I don’t like peas” requires the auxiliary “do”, which the positive “I like peas” doesn’t. Most grammatical structures like this will be in place by the time a child reaches three 3 years, so having a child older than that speak in telegraph or holophrase will seem odd to a reader unless there’s a reason for it, explained in the story. Most children won’t speak in telegraphs past 30 months.

At this stage, some children will still have trouble with irregular past tenses, saying “I swimmed” instead of “I swam”, and “I runned” instead of “I ran”. However, they’re not likely to confuse “I swim” with “he swims” and say “I swims” or “he swim” at the complex sentence stage.

Children hypothesise rules to produce words and sentences that they could never have heard. They might overregularise language, hearing “happy/unhappy” and assuming they can also say “sad/unsad”, or “fat/unfat”. A child might hear “can you butter my bread?” and produce “can you jam my bread?”, because they think that “jam” can be a verb in this context, as “butter” can.

Correcting Grammar

Linguistic input has an important role in first language acquisition, but direct teaching or covert correction by adults is generally fruitless unless the child is cognitively ready to understand what’s being said to them. You can’t teach a two-year-old how to make questions or relative clauses, because they’re not old enough to understand your corrections.

For @sins-virtues and @givethispromptatry From university lecture notes, organised by Hilary Hale, AKA @thorlokibrother.

prompts — casual affection

covering the other with a blanket when they fall asleep on the couch

making playlists/mixtapes/cassettes for the other

showing the other a meme/video that reminds them of them

smiling at each other from across the room

teasing each other good-naturedly

laying their hand on the other’s leg

embracing them from behind

talking about how much they love the other to their friends/family

giving the other the comfy seat in the car/kitchen/living room/etc.

plugging in the other’s phone when they fall asleep

bringing the other leftovers

rubbing the other’s back when it hurts

looking in each other’s eyes during a conversation

taking a photo of the smiling or in their element

doing the other’s hair/painting the other’s nails

doing the other’s laundry/dishes

changing the lyrics of a song so it says the other’s name

buying the other something small they mentioned they wanted

winking at the other

putting an arm around the other’s shoulder

letting the other have the umbrella/hoodie

bumping the other’s shoulder when they say something funny

ruffling their hair

laying their head on the other’s shoulder

squeezing the other’s shoulder

fixing the other’s clothes

cleaning the house when the other is at work

leaving cute notes for the other on the fridge

asking the other how their day was

hyping the other up before they do

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m0th-b0nes

9 months ago

he must be stopped

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m0th-b0nes

1 year ago

Alcohol tips for newbie writers (or non drinkers!):

At bars, people who order “chasers” after their shots are ordering something to wash down the taste of their shot with. This can be juice, soda, more alcohol, or even pickle juice

Hard liquor is generally sold in stores as shots (tiny bottles), fifths, liters, and handles or in ml (50, 100, 200 etc)

Most people can’t finish an entire fifth of hard liquor (vodka, etc) on their own without being very ill

Conversely, many people can finish an entire bottle of wine on their own without being ill

Liquor can be “bottom shelf” or “rail” or “well” – all synonyms for the cheapest version of alcohol a bartender has. Bars generally keep several “levels” of alcohol stocked

You order a drink with the alcohol first, then the mix – e.g., a “vodka soda” or a “Tito’s and tonic”

When you “close out a tab”, you pay for all of the drinks you’ve had that night. Either the bartender already has your card (you “opened a tab” earlier) or it was quiet enough that they just kept an eye on you and tallied your bill up at the end

“Doubles” are drinks or shots with double the standard pour of alcohol

In the US, most shots (pours) are 1.5 oz by default.

Mixed drinks (gin and tonic, vodka lemonade, cosmos, etc) are generally made up of 1-2 shots and a mixer

If you don’t specify which type of alcohol you’d like in a mixed drink (vodka cranberry, for example) the bartender will put whatever the “house” liquor is – and this depends entirely on the establishment. A dive bar will pour rail by default, whereas a nicer tavern might make all vodka cranberries with Tito’s

PLEASE TIP YOUR BARTENDERS THEY WILL REMEMBER YOU I PROMISE

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m0th-b0nes

4 months ago

Admiring himself

(via)

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m0th-b0nes

1 year ago

REAL

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m0th-b0nes

2 years ago

intimacy in a relationship (reposted)

helping your partner undress/into the shower after a night of drinking/during sickness

being the only one capable of calming your partner down during a stressful situation

sharing clothes or showers

routine kisses

dancing to some silly music at the crack of dawn

writing each other love-letters

holding hands or interlacing fingers even when it's inconvenient

helping each other deal with loss of family members (not only in the emotional-aspect)

creating a memorial for a family member

helping each other furnish or decorate each other's house if not living together

letting your partner have their own drawer/things scattered all over the place if not living together

driving through the city at night

being ok with your partner showing up at your house at 2am, for any reason, no matter how small

texting your partner late at night asking them to come over, for intimacy, or to cuddle, for comfort or to eat

using your partner's love language to make them feel loved

being really competitive during board or video games

or starting a discussion because you clearly let me win but ''it's because you'd never win otherwise''

gossiping about things you aren't supposed to tell anyone

falling asleep while cuddling on the couch

playing pranks on each other (sometimes in public)

purposely making lame jokes to try and embarrass your partner

inside jokes/innuendos at improper times

discussing marriage/kids

from @quartermera:

slapping each other's butts casually and, depending on the situation, trying not to get caught doing it

video call when you are away from each other

ranting to each other about people you dislike

cuddling while being busy with your own things (ex. watching videos, reading, gaming)

arguing about what movie to watch together

teaching each other things about each other's hobbies or cultures

watching each other do things

getting each other snacks and sharing them

studying together if you're students. and i mean it literally

discuss "Am I the Asshole?" posts

be honest if something your partner did hurt you

joke or have a serious talk about your future together

from @purlturtle

discussing what to make for lunch/dinner/what groceries to get

divvying out who does what chores, both on a general basis (i'm usually the one doing laundry, my wife usually does dishes) and on a case-by-case basis (when one of us doesn't feel like or cannot do the chore)

decorating together (and discussing if teal is a good color to paint the bedroom in)

receiving visitors together (and cleaning the place beforehand)

hanging out together, doing something together or doing something individual (but still being together in the same room because you want to be close to each other)

"you left the bedroom window open and now it's fucking freezing in there!"

negotiating different styles and wants (or even needs) for decoration, music, lighting, workplace design if one or more of them work from home etc

have date nights at home

take care of pets or kids or family members or neighbors

cuddle in bed together (but, and this is rarely depicted, not always sleeping in each other's arms or even in the same bed - my sleep is too light; I'd wake up each time someone moves close to me. other people run hot in the night and don't need other bodies in bed with them. people snore. people have different circadian rhythms.)

"have you taken your meds today? remember you wanted to stretch before bed!" (okay, this is the middle age edition, I suppose 😅)

stumbling over something you partner did around the home that you weren't aware of, or simply discarded socks lying around randomly.

breakfast in bed

witnessing your partner's hobbies and idiosyncrasies

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m0th-b0nes

1 year ago

I cannot understand how some people "don't know how to portray Gaz" in fics, if we literally have this clip

Like, it's enough to understand so much! His sense of humour, his relationships with Kate and Price, his sarcastic chill energy. It's all right in front of you, just open your eyes!!

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m0th-b0nes

1 month ago

a comic about friends

in preschool someone read us the story of the red oni and the blue oni and it still gets to me a little

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m0th-b0nes

9 months ago

Representative Rashida Tlaib (the only Palestinian member of the US Congress) holds up a sign saying "WAR CRIMINAL" and "GUILTY OF GENOCIDE" as Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress.

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m0th-b0nes

1 year ago