Some Factors that Influence Language Development in Children - Essay Example

1. Introduction Language development is a fascinating phenomenon, which has attracted the attention of philosophers, psychologists, linguists, educators, and others. In general it refers to the various regular stages that a person's language goes through right from early and later childhood to adulthood, and beyond. Throughout these stages, a person acquires a language (and possibly a second one), steadily increases his or her store of words and expressions, learns how to speak and think in the acquired language(s), and develops reading and writing skills. There is no upper limit for this process of development. It continues as long as one continues to use the language in speaking, thinking, reading, writing, and communicating with others. Childhood has its own peculiarities. It marks the beginning of the process of language development. Infants become sensitive to the distinctive language sounds. They acquire words at a certain rate according to their age. With these words infants start the activity of making indistinguishable pronouncements, and the process develops until they are able to make grammatically correct and meaningful sentences. Interaction with the community outside the family takes place during this period. This interaction is important for the child's language development since it teaches him how to use the language in a community. Going to school marks the end of early childhood and the beginning of a new phase where the child learns basically the important skills of reading and writing. The process of the child's language development has been well described by a number of researchers. It begins at the moment the child is born, and lasts well beyond that. Although many people, as McCarthy (1960) says, "think that language development begins when the child uses his first word … there are many things which happen in a child's prelinguistic babblings long before true speech is heard which have important developmental significance." (p. 5). Among these things is the child's sensitivity to sounds. As Knudtzon (1998, p. 2) reports, the child is able to differentiate between the elements of the entire world's phonemes, which are the basic distinctive units of meaningful speech sounds. This ability explains why very young children acquire the language of the environment that they live in faster than older ones. Following McCarthy (1960), the main stages that follow in early childhood can be summarized as babbling and cooing, pronouncing a variety of syllables (not complete words), imitating sounds and voices of others, and ending up with the pronouncement of a limited number of complete words. Knudtzon (1998) notes that in the second year the child can use two-word sentences. And in the third year he is a keen user of language. The progress continues by interacting with other members of the community, and by joining school, where speaking, reading and writing skills are developed. In the very early stage the children are mainly under the effect of their parents and siblings. Developments in their cognitive abilities affect them as they grow up. Interacting with the community and going to school may require the child to learn another language different from what he uses at home or in the community. It is the aim of this paper to report on the empirical findings by different researchers on family structure, cognitive abilities and second-language learning as factors that influence the child's language development either positively or negatively. These findings are mainly the result of observing samples of children of different ages over a specific period of time that may extend for months, and of conversations with parents. 2. Family Structure Families consist usually of two parents, but there are families of one parent only. There may or may not be siblings for the child whose development of language is considered. One parent or both may be working or not, and have different educational levels. Some families assume an active role in their community, while others just keep to themselves. Family structure then, while taking into account parents work, education and relations to others in the community, surely has an immense effect on the child's language development. This effect can speed up the child's language development, or slow it down, depending on how many hours the children are close to their parents, the type of vocabulary the parents use, and the amount of talk input by them. According to Panscofar and Vernon-Feagans (2006), there seems to be little research to judge the nature of the parents' language input to their children, and by how much they contribute to the children's language development. The authors continue: "Most previous studies on early language development focused on mothers. These findings underscore that, for two-parent, dual earner families, fathers should be included in all efforts to improve language development and school readiness.” 1 However, as unexpected by many, the authors have found that in such families fathers have a greater influence than mothers on language development in their children between 2 and 3 years of age. Such findings, if they are consistent in all similar cases, can be explained on the basis that the parents spend the same time at home, and while the mother is busy doing her routine tasks, the father will have more time to spend with the child and talk to him. The study has emphasized the impact of the type of the father's vocabulary on his child language development, an impact greater than that of the mother. The effect of siblings on a younger brother or sister is paramount. From the personal experience of some parents, it has been found that the first child will have slower language development, in terms of how many words that he or she can pronounce, and sentences that can be formed at a certain age; while the second or third will be faster in acquiring more words, and using them at the same age. In these cases, older siblings act as language teachers of a special kind. The same age range, the similar cognitive abilities, and the close ways of pronouncing will make it easier for the older and younger to get on well. In such an interaction, the transfer of skills, from the older to the younger, flows in a natural and smooth way and greatly enhances language development in both. 3. Cognitive abilities It has been shown before that infants at a very early age are mainly sensitive to sounds. As they grow up the faculty of understanding emerges, and with this emergence their cognitive abilities develop, and the child's language also develops. Cognitive abilities allow for the "reorganization of perception, [and the] transference of human consciousness from the stage of direct sensory experience to the stage of generalized rational understanding." (Eveloff, 1971, p. 1896.) Within these abilities we can identify association, categorization, problem solving, understanding of causal relationships, exploration of novelty, and symbolization. But not all these abilities will be at the same level of development in all children at any specific phase in the child's language development. It is assumed that there are no sensory difficulties that can hamper the natural development of these abilities. The emergence of the cognitive abilities seems to begin when the infants start to associate between their crying and the response that they get: "the baby learns that his cries are followed by a pleasurable or tension-reducing response." (Eveloff, 1971, p. 1898.) At a later phase the cognitive ability of novelty exploration emerges. Children in general are known for being curious. They are attracted to, and fascinated by, new things that take place around them. A clear sign of this curiosity shows itself in their using their sense organs to explore a new object that is presented to them, and in asking 'too' many questions (at a later and more developed stage). The result of this curiosity is twofold: it reduces the aspects of the new situations, and any added new aspects of existing ones, into pieces of information that can enhance understanding by relating emerging situations to existing ones; and it facilitates the faculty of problem solving. One of the most important cognitive abilities is categorization, whereby children develop an ability to sort out different objects into distinct groups, for example the group of red balls, the group of four-footed animals and so on. Many studies have observed that categorization emerges at 18 months of age, and develops in parallel to other cognitive abilities, such as "the ability to deduce the location of invisibly displaced objects or to use insight to solve complex means-ends tasks." (Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1987, p. 1524) At the same time categorization has been found to assist linguistic development in children in relation to 'naming explosion,' a sudden increase in the number of words (names, verbs, etc.) that occurs at 18 months. According to Gopnik & Meltzoff (1987, p. 1524), active categorization, as well as the other two cognitive abilities of deducing the object's location and using insight, involves some knowledge of the potential properties of objects under consideration. Categorization seems to proceed in two steps: first the child assumes that the object belongs to some category, and then employs his perceptions to determine the category it belongs to. An important phase in the child's language development involves giving different names to different objects. This process involves categorization: "The conceptual developments that are involved in the naming explosion seem to be relevant to the specific skill of categorization." (Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1987, p. 1524) In the study conducted by Gopnik & Meltzoff, the authors point out to a relation between the beginning of the naming explosion and the different cognitive abilities. They claim that a relation exists between the highest level of categorization and the naming explosion. In their findings, "none of the children achieved a naming explosion before they displayed level-3 categorization [and] children frequently developed a naming explosion very shortly after they first produced level-3 categorization." (Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1987, p. 1529) The study does not say whether the naming explosion is a pre-condition for categorization, and whether instances of categorization may precede the naming explosion. However we may assume that both activities are essential for each other and none can reach complete maturity without the other being in the same state. There is no complete discussion of the child's cognitive abilities without considering the ability of symbolization. Symbolization involves the substitution of linguistic utterances for things that affect the perceptual system of the child. Taken in this context, symbolization is necessary throughout all phases of the child's language development. When a child sees a dog and hears it bark, he makes some form of association between what he sees and hears. The result of this association is a certain perception. To refer to such a perception, he uses the development of his vocal system, and invents a certain utterance that symbolizes the visual and audible experiences. Symbolization can explain the naming explosion in children when they reach 18 months. Motivated by his curiosity and his interest to express himself, the child exploits his ability to make sounds to refer to the images and perceptions that he gets daily, and to make them public by communicating them to others. Symbolization is as important and essential for the child's language development as the other cognitive abilities. 4. Second-Language Learning In some societies, the language of instruction at school is different from that at home. So at home and with close members of the community the child uses one language, and when he goes to school he has to learn another one, which is totally different from the first. Such a situation can aide the child's language development in one way, and can as well retard it in another. To start with, a second language "is an asset, not a liability-an asset that needs to be protected." (McLaughlin, 1995, p. 4) Regardless of the many advantages of learning a second language in terms of cognitive advantages, career opportunities and social relationships, there seems to be a negative effect on the language development of bilingual children. This effect, according to McLaughlin (1995), appears in unbalanced knowledge of both languages, and in confusing one language with the other. According to some researchers "it is rare for bilinguals to have both languages in balance… One language typically predominates in use and exposure. When this happens elements of the other language can be quickly lost." (McLaughlin, 1995, p. 4) This can be seen either in the child's forgetting words and grammatical rules from the first language, or inability to acquire new words and master the new grammatical rules. McLaughlin (1995) points out to a dilemma that faces second-language learners. While they suffer, out of negligence, from decline in using the first language, they are not at an appropriate level to learn the new language, since the teaching process is meant for native-speaking children. Moving to the other aspect of the negative effect of second-language learning on language development, we find that it is normal for children to switch from one language to another. This switching involves substituting words from the first language into the other, misusage, and wrong application of grammatical rules. McLaughlin (1995, p. 6) has given two interesting examples where English and Spanish are mixed up together, as heard in Mexican-American communities: "I put the tenedores on the table." "I want a motorcycle verde." In summing up, bilingualism seems to affect the overall language development of the chilld in three respects: lack of normal milestones in the first language, since it is not taught systematically; prolonged phases of not using the first language; and difficulty in retrieving the right word for the current situation because of confusion. 5. Conclusion Language development in children is a rich area to study and conduct research. This paper focuses on three main factors that influence language development in children, namely family structure, cognitive abilities, and second-language learning. It mainly reports on the empirical findings of researches conducted on groups of children below and up to three years of age, and new school entrants. Family structure was considered first, since it is the first environment that the child finds himself in. It was found, contrary to what many expects, that in a family where both parents work the father has more effect on his child's use of vocabulary. The second and the third child acquire language faster than the first one because of the effect of an older brother or sister. Cognitive abilities were considered next. While cognitive abilities develop side by side with developments in the child's language acquiring, both activities affect each other positively. Association of perceptions seems to mark the beginning of cognitive development. Symbolization, by substituting linguistic utterances for perceptions, is an important development in the child's language, and aids all phases of cognitive and linguistic developments. Categorizing different objects into groups is an important sign of linguistic maturity in children. It occurs at a time when the child goes through the phase of the naming explosion, where the child acquires many words at a fast rate. A certain level of categorization helps the naming explosion. While second-language learning helps children and adults alike in many respects, it seems to create some difficulties for children and new school entrants. Learning a new language may cause a decline in using the first one. Confusing words and expressions from different languages is a common phenomenon. In this report, second-language learning may have bad effects for language development, while family structure and cognitive abilities act in general to enhance it. References Eveloff, Herbert H. (1971). Some Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Early Language Development. Child Development, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 1895-1907. Gopnik, Alison & Meltzoff, Andrew (1987). The Development of Categorization in the Second Year and Its Relation to Other Cognitive and Linguistic Developments. Child Development, Vol. 58, No. 6, pp. 1523-1531. McCarthy, Dorothea (1960). Language Development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 5—14. McLaughlin, Barry (1995). Fostering Second Language Development in Young Children: Principles and Practices. Center for Research on Education, Diversity &Excellence NCRCDSLL Educational Practice Reports (University of California, Santa Cruz), Paper EPR14, pp. 1-12. Knudtzon, Kendra Lynn (1998). Language Development In Children. Harvey Mudd College Developmental Psychology Research Paper, May 7, 1998, pp. 1-13. Pancsofar, Nadya & Vernon-Feagans Lynne (2006). Mother and Father Language Input to Young Children: Contributions to Later Language Development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol. 27, Issue 6, pp. 571-587. Read More