Language Acquisition by Paula Mancuso Thivierge

12-18 months

4 -6 Months

• Cooing • Different cries for different needs • Smiles when spoken to/sees you

Birth-3 Months

Early Milestones in Language

• Babbling sounds (p,b,m) • Laughs • Vocalizes pleasure/displeasure

7-12 months

• Uses gestures for intentional communication • Uses many different consonant sounds • Rapid increase in vocabulary daily

• Varied babbling • Uses speech/sounds to get attention • Imitates speech sounds • Produces first meaningful word

18-24 months

• Says 50-150 words • Names common items • Starts to put 2 words together

24-36 months

• Says 100-250+ words • Uses 2-4 word phrases • Uses sounds (k ,g, f, t, d, n) • Requests objects by name • Starts to use grammar rules of language

Reference

Martins, K. (2024, March 10). Language development milestones 0-3 years-Early childhood communication stages. Orthophonie VoxLingue Speech and Language.https://www.voxlingue.com/post/early-communication-development-stimulating-speech-language-development-birth-3-years-old

Later on...

1 Year Olds+

High-Amplitude Sucking

Babies pay attention and hear sounds in the womb.

Language Acquisition Begins...In the Womb!

When the baby sucks aggresively on their pacifier it shows that they are stimulated by what they are hearing.

Lots of development takes place in the first year to help with language acquissiton before a child can speak:-fine motor skills-brain development-throat and vocal cord development

Babbling...

Then parents use child directed speech with their child which can be different from fanily to family. Children may copy or mimic words after 1 years of age.

Children can learn other languages by scaffolding and building on the languages they already know.

Reference "Language Acquisition: Crash Course" [CrashCourse]. (2020, December 11). Linguistics #12.YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccsf0yX7ECg

References

Improved Cognitive Abilities

Will learning more than one language make me smarter?

-enhanced memory and attention span -improved memory formation and retrieval-enhanced attention control-superior problem solving skills-increased mental flexibilty-more linguistically advanced -increased ability to code switch-ability to switch between languages -increased empathy towards others-a deeper knowledge and appreciation for other cultures

Andrade, M. (2023). The Power of Bilingualism: Advantages in Education and Career. Lingo Pie.https://lingopie.com/blog/the-power-of-bilingualism-advantages-in-education-and-career/ Wood, G. (2022, April 13). Why is it harder to learn a new language when older? Rosetta Stone. https://blog.rosettastone.com/why-is-it-harder-to-learn-a-new-language-when-older/

"A study from Harvard and MIT found that children are able to absorb new languages faster than adults until the age of 18 or 19, and that the best age to learn a language is before 10 years old."-Wood, 2022

References

"Adults learn in a classroom setting whereas kids often learn from immersion settings. For example, immersion school programs or moving to another country where the 'second' language is spoken." -Cowley, 2024

Why is it so hard to learn a language when your older?

• reduced time to learn
• social world is different from childrens
• adults generally work with people who use the same language
• too comfortable with their native language

Pros Cons

• adults have higher executive functioning skills such as planning, focusing and achieving goals

• adults are better at intentional learning

Cowley, S. (2024). How Does Age Affect Your Ability to Learn a Second Language? Chatterblog. https://blog.chatterbug.com/en/how-does-age-affect-your-ability-to-learn-a-second-language/ Wood, G. (2022, April 13). Why is it harder to learn a new language when older? Rosetta Stone Blog. https://blog.rosettastone.com/why-is-it-harder-to-learn-a-new-language-when-older/

The Facts

-The neuroplasticity of the brain's ability to adapt to new experiences decreases after 18 years of age.-Childrens neuroplasticity is greater allowing them to reconfigure and learn new langauges and skills quickly.