Child-Language Development - Essay Example

Child-Language Development Introduction As they grow, children need to learn a language that will make communication with other people possible. The time taken, and the process required for a child to comprehensively develop their communication skills vary from one child to the other. Equally, there are factors that contribute to how fast children manage to develop these skills. This paper seeks to discuss the child-language development. By taking a case study, this paper seeks to advice the parents of Tam, a twenty months old child who seem to have problems with language development. The paper will rely on knowledge gained throughout the semester on child-language development to appropriately advice these parents. How Children Develop Speech and Language Skills Human communication is an acquired skill gained over time. Human communication can be compared to technology in that both have a basic structure of function, but change over time as the needs of a society change. While human communication development is procedural, the amount of time it takes should not result in a child taking too long to understand comprehensively their first language. Children start developing their language skills immediately they get born. However, at the very early stage of their life, these developments can hardly be noticed (Bochner & Jane 122). As a child grows, their parents should keenly observe how their development in language is fairing. Parents must be in a position to realize any cases of abnormality in their children’s language development. This should help them address the problem as early as possible. At the age of six months, a child should have started showing signs that indicate that they are indeed learning how to communicate. They should be able to turn to sources of sound upon hearing them. They should further respond in shock to sudden, loud noises. Children in this age start making cries for different needs watches people's face as they walk and start to imitate coughs and other sounds (Bochner & Jane 123). These are the first signs that a child is learning their communication skills. Although the skills can hardly be noticed by most parents as signs of language development, they help a child to start having a memory on how to respond to different situations. This includes when they are in shock, hungry or in pain. At the age of nine months, a child should manage to respond to their name and anything else that rings around them, for example, a telephone. At this age, a child understands when they get told ‘no’. They can also get what they want through gestures and starts playing social games with those around them. A child gets to enjoy when people are around her and starts to babble or repeat sounds. Communication skills at this age can be identified. It is, however, worth noting that some children may take a slightly longer period than this. The period should not extend one year since they were born. At the age of one year, a child can follow simple one-step instructions like ‘sit down’. When someone near them points to something, a child gets to look for it. A child at this age uses three or more than three words in their communication but will mostly use gestures. A child also combines many sounds as though talking (Pressley & Christine 99). At the age of eighteen months, a child understands the concepts of 'in and out'. A child at this age can also point to body parts when asked to do so. They further can respond to simple questions and make at least four different consonant sounds. A child at this age can also manage to point at a picture using one finger. Up to the age of eighteen months, Tam should have been able to do most of the above tasks. However, this does not seem to be the case. In order to address the situation, Tam’s parents should be aware of the various factors that help a child’s language development. One such factor is the environment in which the child gets brought up (Pressley & Christine 100). There are several environmental factors that affect a child’s language development. One such factor is how the child gets nurtured. The way a parent gets to treat their children affects to a large extent how fast the child can develop their language skills. Parents who have more time with their children are more likely to experience a faster language skills development in their child than those who spend less time with their children. Equally, when the environment provides love and care to a child, such a child tends to develop their language skills faster. This is because the child concentrates more on developing their language skills rather than seeking acceptance and praise. Helping children in solving their challenges can also help increase the rate at which they learn new concepts. Another factor that affects a child’s language development is stimulation. When a child gets to be exposed to new things, they learn faster than when limited to places of cognition. A child should further be provided with adequate learning opportunities. Parents should ensure that the environment in which their children get brought up in has adequate opportunities from which their child can learn how to communicate. Encouraging a child to read and write as they grow up can also help them in their language development. Nutrition can also affect the development of a child’s language skills. Lack of proper nutrition can interfere with the way the brain of a child develops and gets to mature. Nutrition further helps the overall development of a child’s body and their health. When a child is in good health condition, learning gets accelerated. Children in their formative age require a balanced diet that provides all the necessary nutrients. Children who are malnourished tend to take very long to learn basic concepts (Pressley & Christine 102). It is worth noting that malnutrition does not necessarily mean that a child does not get enough food but the quality of the food they take. Socioeconomic status can also affect their language development skills. Children from families that have adequate financial resources are more likely to develop their language skills faster than those whose families struggle with financial issues. This can be attributed to the fact that these children have everything they need at their disposal. Children from families in the low socioeconomic class struggle when learning. This can equally be attributed to the challenges they face when growing. However, this factor sometimes does not affect a child’s language development skills. Tam’s parents need to consider the above environmental factors in order to establish if any or some of them might be responsible for their child’s slow language skills development. Software and videos developed to help a child enhance their language development can as well help. However, in most cases, care gets required because too much use of these videos and software can impact negatively on a child. Regulation of their use gets required for them to impact positively on a child. This is because most of them get created for commercial purposes. This method of helping accelerate the communication skills of a child is not advisable because of the risk factors associated with it. There are several steps that Tam’s parents can take to help their child improve on his or her communication skills. One such way is through constantly talking to them. A parent should be able to narrate the day’s activities to their child as a way of helping them understand concepts involved in communication processes. Although the child may not understand, this method works with time as the child gets to relate the various activities carried out throughout the day. Parents can also read to their children. Professionals believe that it is never too early for a child to learn their reading skills. In the case study provided, Tam’s parents can start with simple books that entail more pictures than words. The books should further contain simple common words that get used in day-to-day activities. Tam’s parent can also undertake to listening and enjoying music together with their child. A child will get to learn and love music and its movements. This makes the learning process active as the child gets actively involved in the music. A child learns the world around them through music and the rhythm of their first language (Hoff 453). It is worth noting that this method works best only if the child gets involved in music that uses the child’s first language. In a case where a child’s first language is English, music done in the English language would be the most preferable. Tam’s parents can also make up stories for their child. These stories should have characters, conflict and adventure. The stories should fit the child’s interests. Parents should take caution not to provide too many scary stories that may impact negatively on their children. Tam’s parents should also keenly observe and establish their child’s interest. If Tam gets interested in an item, his or her parents should follow that lead and keep talking about it. This may include repeating her bubbles back to her and asking her questions. Parents can further record their child on a tape recorder and play it back to them. The main target is to get the child to be interested in learning. Tam’s parents should ensure that their child does not get to watch television at all. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that children below the age of two years should not watch television. Television tends to impact negatively on children below two years since they cannot relate the activities going on in a television. Children may also e frightened by some of the programs on television (Hoff 453). Tam’s parents should also seek to identify any ear infections and treat them thoroughly. This ensures that the child’s hearing abilities do not get hindered. This should include ensuring that any antibiotic prescribed by the doctor gets appropriately administered to the child. These parents can also take their child to field trips. Field trips provide a child with the opportunity to learn new concepts and new names. Care should be taken, however, not to expose the child to scaring things that may affect them psychologically. Parents can also involve other older children in helping a younger child to learn her communication skills. This involves giving the two times to play together (Charlesworth 32). Tam’s parents should further consider maximizing on the time they have with their child. The environmental factors should be considered in order to address Tam’s problem. Spending more time with the child will help her identify herself with her family and learn how to communicate from them. A child will feel more accepted when always with their parents than when not with them. They get to express their various needs well when they get attention. Sometimes, some of the reasons for slow language development result from a child having no one from whom to learn. Although leaving a child to play with her fellow older children is helpful, quality time with her parents remain paramount (Charlesworth 34). The above steps should help Tam accelerate her language development skills. However, it is worth noting that this may not always be the case. In a case where the child has health complications, the above steps may bear little success. It is, therefore, advisable for Tam’s parents to seek medical attention if the problem shows little levels of improvement. Conclusion Child language development is a process that can be very involving to parents. This can be the case especially if the child happens to take too long to learn their communication skills. There are various factors that should be considered in order to establish how best to help such a child improves on their communication skills. This includes both internal and external factors. The environment of such a child should be scrutinized in order to ensure that it provides the suitable conditions for a child’s development. When these factors get considered, the parents should further look at the various ways recommend by pediatrics that seek to help improve a child’s communication skills. Works Cited Bochner, Sandra, and Jane Jones. Child Language Development: Learning to Talk. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print. Charlesworth, Rosalind. Understanding Child Development. Australia: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Hoff, Erika. Research Methods in Child Language: A Practical Guide. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Print. Pressley, Michael, and Christine McCormick. Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. New York: Guilford Press, 2006. Print. Read More