Langauge Development
Children’s langauage development progresses at very different rates in all individuals. Below is a rough guide of what to expect in your child’s langauge development from age 0 to 5 years old. Babies start ‘talking’, or using words, around 9-12 months old.
Birth – 3 months:
From the very start, infants pay close attention to language. In the first year, they can distinguish all of the speech sounds that occur in natural language; then they begin to specialize in the sounds of their home language. Most infants will:
- Respond to speech by looking at the speaker
- Respond differently to the voice of a parent than to other voices
- React to changes in a speaker’s tone, pitch, volume, and intonation
- Respond differently to their home language and another language
- Communicate with bodily movements, by crying, babbling, and laughing
- Attempt to imitate sounds
3 – 6 months:
Even small babies love to have “conversations.” Most children of this age:
- Exchange sounds, facial expressions, or gestures with a parent or caregiver
- Listen to conversations
- Repeat some vowel and consonant sounds
6-9 months:
Children’s vocalizations increase. Most babies of this age:
- Begin repetitive babbling (deaf children also start to babble with their hands)
- Associate gestures with simple words and two-word phrases, like “hi” and “bye-bye”
- Use vocal and non-vocal communication to express interest and influence others
9-12 months:
Children are getting ready to talk. Around the first birthday, language production doubles. Many babies of this age:
- Understand the names of familiar people and objects
- Show their understanding with responsive body language and facial expressions
- Say a few words
- Respond to a firm “no” by stopping what they are doing
Langauge development 1-5 years
1 – 2 years:
Children begin to learn many new words and begin to use simple phrases. Many children can:
- Understand many words, as well as simple phrases and directions (“Drink your juice”)
- Follow a series of two simple but related directions
- Respond correctly when asked “where?”
- Say a few words clearly, and a few dozen additional words so that family members can understand. The words denote important people and common objects, and a few prepositions such as “on,” “in,” or “under.” Many can say “more” and “all gone.”
- Say successive single words to describe an event
- From about 18 months, begin learning about 9 new words a day
- Use “my” or “mine” to indicate possession; begin to use “me,” “I,” and “you”
2-3 years:
Both understanding of language and speaking develop more rapidly at this stage. Most 2-year-olds can:
- Join familiar words into phrases
- Begin to use modifiers (adverbs and adjectives)
- Point to common objects when they are named
- Name objects based on their description
- Respond to “what?” and “where?” questions
- Enjoy listening to stories and asking for favorite stories
- Recount events that happened that day
3-4 years:
Language usage becomes more complex. Most 3-year-olds can:
- Make themselves understood to strangers, despite some sound errors
- Use and understand sentences
- Use more complex grammar, such as plurals and past tense
- Understand sentences involving time concepts (for example, “Grandma is coming tomorrow”) and narrate past experiences
- Understand size comparisons such as big and bigger
- Understand relationships expressed by “if… then” or “because” sentences
- Follow a series of two to four related directions
- Sing a song and repeat at least one nursery rhyme
4-5 years
4-year-olds use language not only to converse, but also to exchange information. Most can:
- Retell a story (but may confuse facts)
- Combine thoughts into one sentence
- Ask “when?” “how?” and “why?” questions
- Use words like “can,” “will,” “shall,” “should,” and “might”
- Combine thoughts into one sentence
- Refer to causality by using “because” and “so”
- Follow three unrelated commands appropriately
- Understand comparatives like loud, louder, loudest
- Listen to long stories (but may misinterpret the facts)
- Understand sequencing of events when clearly explained (for example, “First we plug the drain, then we run the water, and finally we take a bath”)
