Analysis of Five Internet Sites Related to Language Development - Assignment Example

Language Development Site The site childevelopmentinfo.com is hosted by a Child Development Institute which is claimed to have been founded by Robert Myers, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California who has 25 years of experience working with children, adolescents, families and parents. The site aims at providing information to parents of growing children and teens about various aspects of their development including language skills. It hosts an online store which provides books, software and other material for purchase. The site hosts a chart showing the language developmental stages of children ranging from 6 months to 8 years of age on the first page. Responses of growing children at specific age ranges are well defined in this chart. The first section deals with children below six months of age when vocalization and cognition of vocal stimuli begin to manifest. The child is able to discern between friendly and angry tones. In the next six months and by the end of first year children begin to use fragmented or whole monosyllables for communication and begin to comprehend the social value of verbal communication. After the elapse of another six months the child has a vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words, develops the habit of repeating words over and over and starts following simple commands. Vocabulary increases in the subsequent months although volume and pitch of the voice are often not well controlled. By the end of three years the child starts making intelligible use of verbs as well and develops reasoning ability. Cognitive ability is enhanced as the child attains the age of 5 years and can speak about things not present in its immediate environment. Speech at this stage is usually grammatically correct and the child comprehends the concept of time. Subsequent years result in dramatic developments and by the age of 8 years the child is expected to read and write as well. At this stage pitch and volume of the uttered sentences are well developed and can carry out healthy conversations. The site provides further links to parents to develop better communication with their off springs and handle speech and language problems at the right stage. It highlights the role of parents as instruments in assisting their children to develop better language skills. Site 2 The site hosted by the popular search engine ‘About.com’ has a scholarly article on language development in the early years by Kimberly L. Keith, under the major title of Child Parenting. It focuses on the psychological aspects of the senses and their role in language development. It begins by an introduction to the various factors which influence language development and highlights the importance of biological as well social factors in this matter. According to Keith, the social interaction between parents and children is an important aspect which enhances the child’s abilities to learn new words and their meaning. She believes that parents can teach conversation skills to their wards during the elementary years of their life. Reading out aloud to children and letting the children express their emotions verbally is an important aspect which enhances their learning ability and social interaction. Playing games on the computer and arranging excursions has a profound effect on the young mind. The website has hyperlinks to other aspects of learning and one such link leads to another article which lists and explains the steps to developing language skills in young children. It focuses on teaching children the different letters in a step-wise manner spread out over a period of 25 to 26 weeks. According to this article, the children should be taught the significance of each letter, beginning with ‘A’ gradually and with reinforcement method spread out over a particular time span. The site provides hyperlinks to further areas of specialization in the field covering a wide variety of aspects. It advises parents about tackling different issues of language development and makes appropriate suggestions in different situations. Video links cover different aspects encountered by kids while growing up. In the left pane it has hyperlinks to other topics, parenting offers, tools and a buyer’s guide. Site 3 This site focuses on the intricacies of language development in internationally adopted children who come from diverse cultural backgrounds and the difficulties in learning the language of the country of their foster parents. The site has been developed by Sharon Glennen, Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Towson University, Madison but has not been updated after 2002. It provides answers to general questions from parents going in for international adoptions. The main page has hyperlinks to some of the burning issues regarding this subject. It advises parents about pre adoption questions, difficulties expected in learning a new language and the regulations in force in different parts of the world. The site addresses some vital issues in the difficulties faced by parents like language development in children who are adopted at older ages and have already been exposed to their parent culture and language developmental issue in toddlers and infants from other countries. Adopted children usually come from orphanages where they have already suffered great psychological trauma. After adoption the language development becomes arrested for a short period due to the sudden change in cultural environment. This further complicates the issue and slows down the language learning process. The site highlights some projects undertaken to study these disabilities and hosts scientific data in the form of charts to comprehend the occurrence of learning disabilities in adopted children. Older adopted children also suffer a sudden arrest of the development in the language of their country of origin and have to accomplish the schooling tasks of the adopted country at a relatively rapid pace. This results in cultural conflict and takes some time to resolve. The article suggests ways and means of overcoming these problems in a very comprehensive and scientific manner. Site 4 This site is hosted by American Speech-Language-Hearing association. The main page addresses various issues on speech and development and provides hyperlinks to six typical speech and language development aspects. On clicking the hyperlinks, a brief explanation of the pertinent question marked on the main page is provided. The first link distinguishes between language and speech. Language is constituted by words and more words which are combined together to form some intelligible explanation of a certain aspect in daily life while speech is a verbal means of communication in which articulation, voice and fluency are important aspects. Accordingly a speech disorder is exemplified by stuttering while a language disorder is one in which there is difficulty to distinguish and use various words in day to day vocabulary. Both speech and language disorders can coexist in a child. This site too hosts charts of features in language development at different ages, what to expect at a specific age and ways and means to achieve those goals. On noticing any abnormality at any particular stage, it is recommended that the parents take the help of qualified audiologists and speech therapists. On all pages there is a prominent colored advertisement which offers the services of qualified audiologists and speech therapists and their availability according to different locales in the country. Further hyperlinks in subsequent pages explain in detail about the technical intricacies of language and speech development. The site offers printed information packets which can be got by contacting the action centre through e mail. Site 5 This site is managed by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the US Government. It is also available in the Spanish language. It defines speech and language development on the main page. According to the information provided, the most intensive period for speech and language development is earmarked as the first three years of life. Best development of these abilities occurs when there is constant and repeated exposure to sounds, sights and the presence of other speaking individuals in the immediate vicinity of the child. There is anatomical development of the speech organs such as the jaw, tongue and lips with increasing age which leads to better articulation with the passage of the early years in one’s life. The site then explains about the milestones in language development and what to expect at different stages of growth and development in children. There is a specific ‘Time Table’ of the expected language skills according to the chronological age. The website hosts an interactive checklist to find out whether the child’s speech and language skills are developing according to schedule or not. If there is a disorder, then ways and means of overcoming it or initiate therapy are suggested. The site has hyperlinks to research, its funding, health info and the latest news about the specialty. The website can be viewed in three different text sizes. Free publications on the subject can be ordered from the site and read online as well. A communication address is offered for additional information. Sites Evaluated: 1. http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/languagedevelopment.shtml 2. http://childparenting.about.com/cs/childdevelopment/a/languagedevelop.htm 3. http://pages.towson.edu/sglennen/index.htm 4. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/ 5. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/speechandlanguage.asp Read More