Language And Cognitive Development Based On A Longitudinal Study

Language is very important for one’s development because it can affect other areas of development and is critical to a child’s future success. For many other aspects of development, including cognitive, social and psychological language is very necessary. Language occurs before the baby is even a month old. For a developing child, the biggest thing that will contribute to our eventual language development is what we hear. Very soon, as a young infant, we demonstrate a sense of language just by simply the noise, movements, and expression that we make. Within the first year of life the baby is already babbling and speaking a hand full of words in their native language. Also they are much better at comprehending simple words spoken to them around

in the first language, and it is the language that children begin to construct their knowledge and form meaningful communicative relationships” (p. 1). According to Karen Ford (2017), “Parents are also instrumental in supporting early language development” (p. 3) in the ELL student. With that being said, successful early childhood programs build upon the knowledge the young learners bring from home. Children come to literacy learning with varying knowledge; henceforth, the pathway to literacy is developmental. It’s the educator’s responsibility to assess and start where that child is developmentally and build on `prior experiences and knowledge. Educators must know their students as individuals, including their interest, their attitudes about reading, and their school and home experiences to provide robust classroom instruction with learning opportunity to meet individual needs.

Cognitive development in stage two of lifespan development correlates to shifts in infant’s thinking, reasoning, and use of language, problem solving, and learning. A child’s linguistic abilities develop swiftly around three years old. Then take into account by four years old, most toddlers are verbal intellectuals speaking in their native tongue proficiently (Dyer J., 2002a. pp. 87-92).

Nature and nurture both play a significant role in language development. Language development refers to how children understand, organise, speak and use words in order to communicate at an effective, age-appropriate level (Karen Kearns, 2013, P.105). For centuries, theorists have been debating the roles of nature versus nurture. Although, each child’s language will develop at their own pace and there will be many individual differences based on culture, ethnicity, health and ability. As well as physical, social, emotional and cognitive development in which will contribute to a child’s language development.

The acquisition of language is essential to the development of a child. Though some children are born genetically mutated, specifically children with Down’s syndrome, the capabilities of acquiring language during developmental markers is far less than a child with just 21 chromosomes. Parents and/or guardians of infants and toddlers with Down’s syndrome believe that their child will one day be able to verbally communicate with them. They presume the possibility, but does research support their beliefs? For the purpose of this paper, the child from infancy through three-years old will be discussed in regards to the developmental domain that are affected by Down’s syndrome. The undeniable assumption is if an institution provides early intervention for an infant or toddler with Down’s syndrome, then that child’s social-emotional and language will be affected.

As this research was based on the Cross- Sectional design, only the information relevant to the age group the child belongs has been stated. The history of each subject’s language development from birth has not been discussed. The names of the participants have been changed to maintain their anonymity. All other details are accurate and factual.

They focused on the effectiveness of the treatments for preschool children with language delays. Specifically, the direct language treatment was analyzed for syntax acquisition and generalization. This study utilized 44 preschool children from 38 months to 69 months. M.K fits within this range of children because she is 43 months old. Research indicated that this treatment was conducted for a period of 32 weeks, for 2 hours sessions, five days a week. The children were seen in both classroom and clinical settings. Conducted in a language instructional format, this procedure was initiated by the teacher, incorporating imitations of lengthened utterances for appropriate responses to stimuli(Cole & Dale, 1986). A significant difference was found in from pretest to post-test in all measures, in particular, the mean length utterance (MLU). Language quotients increased significantly from 74.1 to 82.0 with a p-value equal to .01. Direct Language Instruction is a good choice for intervention, but not the best selection for K.M and her family dynamics because it focuses mainly on syntax acquisition, the sessions are too intensive during the day and it does not allow for her to incorporate this in her limited schedule with her two

To understand children’s language learning we have to go beyond language classrooms. Regarding the child as a language learner we have

One of the most essential experiences in shaping the architecture of the developing brain is “serve and return” interaction between children and significant adults in their lives. During this process infants or young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at them (Center on the Developing Child, Harvard, 2013). This

Johanson, M., Justice, L. M., & Logan, J. (2016). Kindergarten Impacts of a Preschool Language-Focused Intervention. Applied Developmental Science, 20(2), 94-107. doi:10.1080/10888691.2015.1074050

Language and communication impairments are primary features of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and are the some of the earliest emerging behavioral markers of ASD. “Research with typically developing populations highlights the importance of both infants and maternal gesture use in infants’ early language development” (Talbott and Flusberg, 2015, p.1). Investigations of infant siblings of children with autism, who are at increased genetic risk, have shown delays in language and gesture production during their first year of life; these children are later diagnosed with ASD. Therefore, due to the commonness of language and gesture difficulties amongst high risk siblings and the impact of language on functional outcomes, it is important

In order to do so, researchers would have to obtain MRI images from several participants, ideally isolating the age range of 5-12, given that language impairments are most commonly developed among kindergarten or school aged children, as discovered by previous studies (Buckwalter et al., 1997). By comparing MRI images among these groups it will help isolate any common neurological abnormalities in order to help see a correlation between neurological abnormalities and language impairments. Identifying this correlation might help individuals receive treatment and therapy for their language impairments sooner as it may help diagnose an individual’s risk for developing a language impairments by early identification of neurological abnormalities. By helping treat language impairments sooner, it could help reduce the impact language impairments would have throughout a child’s

The study solidified the theory that social interaction is key to a toddler developing his language. This study proved that children with mothers who talk and text frequently, or disengage from their children, are less likely to learn the new words. This disengagement distracts the toddler and thus interrupts the important cognitive processes occurring in the brain to map the new words. This study was effective because of the intention and concern in its design. The researchers did an amazing job explaining the material and taking great pains to control as many

Everyday we are developing no matter our age, but it is how we develop children that will tell a tremendous amount an individual. How a child developments is fundamentally important at a young age as it affects all aspect of their lives once the child matures. Throughout the class, we looked at many theorists during the course of the semester as well as looked at many articles pertaining to the concepts of the development of children. The theorists and articles opened up our minds to a world that we have never seen before and concepts about child development we have never been taught but have seen in the practical work we do every week. What makes humans unique is the ability that we have to interpret the language being used, as Lois Bloom

Most young children develop language rapidly, moving from crying and cooing in infancy to using hundreds of words and understanding their meanings by the time they are ready to enter kindergarten. Language development is a major accomplishment and is one of the most rewarding experiences for anyone to share with a child. Children learn to speak and understand words by being around adults and peers who communicate with them and encourage their efforts to talk.