Language Development

By velkara
  • Period: to

    3 Months

    The infant will vocally respond to the person talking to them, which shows acknowledgment of language being used.
  • Period: to

    8 Months

    Infant begins showing intentions with gestures and now consciously tries to influence other people to do or give them what they want.
  • Period: to

    12 Months

    At one year old, the child may speak their first word. These single words replace the gestures previously used.
  • Period: to

    18 Months

    The infant will begin to combine words into simple utterances based on word order. Their utterances are predictable at this stage.
  • Period: to

    2 Years

    The toddler will begin using bound morphemes when they speak, such as adding an -s on the end of cat to make cats.
  • Period: to

    3 Years

    The toddler now has a mean length of utterance of 3.0-3.3 (compared to 1.6-2.2 the year before), and can produce more adult-like language.
  • Period: to

    4 Years

    The mean length of utterance now can range from 3.6 - 4.7 morphemes and the child fits their language to their conversational partner.
  • Period: to

    5 Years

    Now, ninety percent of the language form is learned, the child has an unconscious grasp on complex grammar rules.
  • Period: to

    6 Years

    The child begins learning reading and writing.
  • Period: to

    Adolescence

    Can fully communicate and has learned all language forms including figurative language, and will use a "genderlect" when speaking.