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infants coo
at 2 months infants coo, making vowel sounds -
3 months interactions include give-and-take
mothers and infants begin to imitate pitch, loudness, and duration of each other's sounds -
Play turn taking games
Infants play turn-taking games such as peekaboo and pat-a-cake with their caregivers. -
5 month olds respond to their own name
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infants babble
Consonants are added to babbling, they begin repeating syllables. -
Babbling includes many sounds of spoken language
Language comprehension begins -
infant points and use preverbal gestures
Become better at establishing joint attention with caregiver -
first word
First word is said. Babbling includes sound and intonation of child's language. Word comprehension increases rapidly. -
1 year olds use joint attention
The child pays attention to the same object or event as the caregiver, who often labels it -
Toddler combines two words
Vocabulary expands to about 200 to 250 words -
2 year olds increase vocabulary
2 year olds increase vocabulary, use perceptual, social and linguistic cues to figure out word meanings, speak in simple sentences, adds grammar markers, and displays effective conversational skills -
2-3 year olds can use subject-verb-object word order
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3 year olds can assign multiple labels to many objects
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3 year olds can use metaphors
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3 year olds can infer speakers intention when said indirectly
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3 to 4 year olds
Are aware of some meaningful features of written language, create new words based on known words, create metaphors, increasingly masters grammar, adjusts speech to fit age, sex, and social status of listeners -
4 year olds can apply subject-verb-object structure to new verbs
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5- 6 year olds
Understand that letters and sounds are linked in systematic ways, use invented spellings, uses most grammatical constructions competently (403) -
6 year olds have about 10,000 words
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Language in middle childhood
"Vocabulary continues to grow rapidly, and children have a more precise and flexible understanding of word meanings. They also use more complex grammatical constructions and conversational strategies, and their narratives increase in organization, detail, and expressiveness." (Meyers and Berk 471) -
6-8 year olds
vocabulary increases about 20 new words each day
word definitions are concrete, referring to functions and appearance
transitions from "learning to read" to reading to learn (Meyers and Berk 516) -
9-11 years
Thinks about and uses words more precisely; word definitions emphasize synonyms and categorical relations.
By the end of elementary school, has acquired a vocabulary of about 40,000 words
continues to master complex grammatical constructions, such as passive voice and infinitive phrases
continues to improve in understanding of subtle, indirect expressions of language meaning.
Narratives lengthen and increase in organization, detail, and expressiveness. (Meyers and Berk 517)
