Essay on Language Development in Childhood Development

In this writing it will be discussing childhood development, as well as some vital issues that might come along during those stages of development. Child development consist of the stage where the child is developing physically, cognitively, socially and spiritually. During these stages of development a child is maturing from infancy to becoming a young adult. For many years theorist such as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky’s have researched how children mature from infants to adulthood. Each of the theorist have profound facts to how children develop, but which of the three men are correct on their findings?

All children and young people develop at different rates, but the order which they advance in differs very little. Children’s development tends to progress from head to toe, inner to outer, from simple to complex and from general to specific.

A foundational aspect of all children’s learning is oral language. Communication orally entails the ability to include four components of spoken language to incorporate, and build on, a child’s vocabulary and grammar. These four elements consist of the phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic components. Development of a child’s language skills should form together resulting in literacy success later in life. In order to master the teaching of oral language, three strategies are used. These include, the use of open –ended questions, talking about sophisticated words and incorporating sociodramatic play in to lessons, which in the end, enhance expressive and receptive oral language skills. Fellowes & Oakley and numerous other literature sources explore the significance of oral language in the child’s development.

The purpose of this assignment is to closely observe the development of a child through an interview and apply the theories and concept of child development in his particular cultural and educational context. I selected the child who lives in my neighborhood for the interview and began with seeking the permission from his parents. The child’s name is ‘Abdullah’ and he is seven years old. He lives with his family in Terre Haute and his family consists of parents and two sisters. Abdullah goes to Sugar Grove Elementary School in the Terre Haute city along with his two sisters and he is in grade 2. The interview was conducted at his home and I ensured his convenience. He was cooperative and provided insightful responses to the questions and he provided significant detail in the interview. I was able to track his development stages and connect it to different theories of Developmental Psychology including psychoanalytical perspectives and Piaget’s stages of development. In the following paragraphs, I will explain my observations about Abdullah’s development in the light of developmental theories with special focus on cognitive, social, linguistic, and emotional development followed by making connections between his socioeconomic and cultural background and development. Lastly, I will conclude paper by highlighting that the observations during the interview can facilitate my future practice as a teacher.

Here we will be looking at each child’s physical development, social and emotional development, intellectual development, and language development. Not one area of development is less important than another, and they all have an impact on each other.

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 theories/approaches established by historical and contemporary pioneers provide valuable insight, underpinning the understanding of how children develop, allowing teachers to enhance the holistic development of every child. This essay will analyse the: behaviourist theory; cognitive-developmental theory; and socio-cultural theory.

There are many theories of child development largely because many different people have studied the field for many years. Each theory has their different factors; biology, sociology, genetics, environment, and relationships are just a few of them. “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous -- and how well I know it. ”! (Psalms 139:14).  One might ask the question: "If theories are so useful, why do we need so many?"  Having a multitude of theories allow us to see how children develop from a variety of

Bee H., & Boyd D. ( 2003). The Developing Child, 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Development of a child have been a thing that most of the parents have been neglecting without noticing that it is very important in the development of a child’s character and social

Four well known theorists each created their own ideas on how children develop mentally and physically, how they learn from others and the conceptual of what they are like when they are first brought into the world. Through research and their own experience, these scientists challenged the current beliefs of their time on two topics: active and reactive development and constant or ever changing development. The philosopher John Locke supported reactive development where children developed completely based on what was happening in their life and growth was constant. In his eyes, society determined how a baby boy or girl would mature and has stages that can provide an advance declaration of their physical and mental growth in the following years.However, the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau supported active development and ever changing development. To Rousseau, kids progress in how they think and look is set in stages where each stage is not the same as the last. Each theory is based on an angle different from the others that affect the researches questions, processes and interpretation: psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, contextual and evolutionary.

Although coming from a lower social economic status does not always mean that the quality of children's language is poor. Some studies mentioned were able to show that even though families lived in poverty it did not hinder the parents from really engaging with their children. The kids in fact did show abundant progression and proficiency in language building and vocabulary. Surprisingly when the researchers questioned the mothers on their children's language building they were unaware of how much of an impact child-directed speech could have on them long term. The research team believes that this is due to a lack of knowledge and education that the lower social economic status parents neglected to receive during their youth. Without the confidence of having received more knowledge and a higher education, it would put a strain on the push to help the children learn more. Now scientist are working on ways to help these parents engage with their children, further lessening the learning gap between those lower status families and the more advantaged

Language is a communicative system of words and symbols unique to humans. The origins of language are still a mystery as fossil remains cannot speak. However, the rudiments of language can be inferred through studying linguistic development in children and the cognitive and communicative abilities of primates as discussed by Bridgeman (2003). This essay illustrates the skills infants have that will eventually help them to acquire language. The topics covered are firstly, the biological aspects, the contribution of the human brain to language development? Secondly, key theories of language development will be considered. Is the development innate? Is there a critical period? Thirdly, what must be learned? What are the rudiments infants must

Constant book reading during a young child 's life helps their language development to grow. Also, it consists of many benefits. Researchers believe that parents should read either during the day or right before bedtime with their child before the child can even understand what is being read to them. Shared reading should begin at around eight months, but not as early as four months, which is on average, when the infants begin to sit up on their own (Karrass & Braungart-Rieker, 2005). Previous research has shown that early shared reading can predict higher language scores at 12 and 16 months of age (Karrass & Braungart-Rieker, 2005). Starting to read early around 8 to 9 months can help infants to develop their language abilities and specific vocabulary later on in life.

Ever walk past a child who is engaged in an activity while talking to themselves out loud? If so, do not worry, after reading this research paper you will understand it is perfectly normal. Language has many dynamics including: words, private speech, inner speech, syntagmatics, paradigmatics and much more. According to Craig and Dunn (2010) by age three, most children can use 900 to 1,000 words; by age 6, most children have a productive vocabulary of 2,600 words and can understand more than 20,000 (pg. 161). Some children I work with who are in the toddler room are able to talk, but leave out the pronouns a sentence. For example a child would say, “Us go on walk?” Language and cognitive development go hand in hand, as children learn about