Language Order of Acquisition

Language Order of Acquisition

Babies

Adults

Teens

Kids

Language Order of Acquisition

Babies

Adults

Teens

Kids

Adriana de los Santos Morales

Use spoken sentences of 9 to 13+ words on average.

Be able to switch easily between informal and formal styles of talking depending on the audience.

• Be able to follow complex directions.
• Be skilled in using a range of arguments to persuade others.
• Read and understand a wide variety of topics.
• Be able to tell long and complex stories, making sure the listener understands the thread of the story throughout.
• Follow instructions with complex words such as: ‘clarify’, ‘estimate’, ‘outline’.
• Use a good range of descriptive words and expressions, for example, ‘dynamic’, ‘complimentary’, ‘succinct’.
• Be able to use difficult joining words to make complex sentences, for example, ‘provided that’, ‘similarly’.

• 3 – 4 years old: Use sentences that have 4 – 6 words in them, for example, "I want to play with cars"

• 7 – 11 years old: Use sentences that normally have between 8 and 10 words

• Take turns in ‘conversations’ where you talk and they babble back to you.
• Use a lot of babble and single words while they are playing. They often sound like they are saying little sentences even though you can’t make out what the words are.
• Copy a lot of things adults say or do, like saying ‘hi’, waving bye-bye or clapping.

3 – 4 years old

• Start to be able to answer questions about ‘why’ something has happened, although this still might be at quite a basic level.
• Start to link 2 sentences together by using ‘and’. For example, ‘I went to the park and I had ice cream’.
• Talk about the future and the past.
• Ask many questions using words like ‘what’, ‘where’, and ‘why’.
• Can say the sounds p, b, t, d, m, n, w, k, g, s, f, l and y in words when they are talking. For example, they say ‘sun’ and ‘car’ as an adult would. They may still have difficulty using more complicated sounds like sh, ch, th and r. However, adults who don’t know them can mostly understand them.

4 – 5 years old

• Listen to and follow requests without having to stop what they are doing
• Understand longer instructions.

5 – 7 years old

• Understand long instructions.
• Learn that the same word can mean two things, such as ‘orange’ the fruit and ‘orange’ the color.
• Use long sentences and put the right endings on their words, for example ‘My teddy likes sitting on a bed because beds are softer’.

Talk in longer sentences; usually 7-12 words or more.

• Know that they talk differently to friends than to teachers. They can adjust the way they are talking easily depending on who they are talking to.
• Understand and use slang terms with friends. They keep up with rapidly changing ‘street talk’.

• Follow long and complicated instructions.
• Tell long and very complicated stories.
• Be able to change topics well in conversations.
• Join sentences together using a range of joining words, such as ‘meanwhile’, ‘however’, ‘except’ so that they can explain more complicated ideas.
• Show some understanding of idioms, such as “put your money where your mouth is!”.

• 2 – 3 years old: May have difficulties being understood by unfamiliar people.
• 3 – 4 years old: Understand and often use words for colors, numbers, and time. Start to be able to answer questions about ‘why’ something has happened, although this still might be at quite a basic level.
• 4 – 5 years old: Say most words clearly when they are talking – people who don’t know them can understand them all the time.
• 5 – 7 years old: Can take turns to talk in conversations with adults and children in lots of different situations, either with one person or in a group.
• 7 – 11 years old: Start conversations with adults and children they don’t know.

• Make sounds to themselves, like cooing, gurgling and babbling.

• Make noises, like coos or squeals, to get your attention.

• Start to recognise some familiar words, e.g. ‘Daddy’, ‘milk’, ‘eyes’.

Fully understand sarcasm

Know when and why they don’t understand, and ask for help in a specific way: Can you explain that to me again?

Start to like simple jokes even if they don’t understand them. 7 – 11 years old: Understand other points of view and show that they agree or disagree.

• Be able to use sarcasm and know when others are being sarcastic to them.
• Use more subtle and witty humor.

Know when they haven’t understood something. They will ask to be told again or will ask for something specific to be explained.