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Phonation Stage
Birth-Two Months
Babies make audible grunting and gurgling sounds. They develop differentiated cries to communicate their differing needs. -
Goo Stage
2-3 Months
Infants begin cooing and babbling in closer imitation to the sounds of their native language. -
Expansion Stage
4-6 Months
Babbling becomes more language-like. Babies use their babbling to try to communicate their emotions. -
24 Month Mark
Around this point, a child's vocabulary has expanded to about 250 words. -
Canonical Stage
7-10 Months
Babies' babbling begins to have long and short sounds. Babies begin to use sound to intentionally draw the attention of others. Babies demonstrate their receptive language skills. -
Variegated Babbling Stage
11-12 Months
The last stage before baby's first words. Babbling flows in the rhythms and patterns of normal speech. -
First Words
Around the one year mark, babies will start to say their first words. First words are mostly likely to reference important people, common objects, or social routines. (Berk, p. 237) -
Telegraphic Speech
Around the 18 month mark, toddlers begin to exhibit telegraphic speech. This means they begin connecting words into two-word phrases to convey greater meaning. Ex. "more food" or "go car". -
3 Years
Children begin speaking in fuller sentences. They can carry on conversations with adults using multiple sentences. Children will begin to us prepositions properly and differentiate their meanings (ex. on versus in). The child speaks clearly enough to be understandable to unfamiliar adults. Children can follow 2 or 3 step directions. (CDC's "Important Milestones") -
Preschool
Children continue to develop vocabulary. They will be able to tell stories and describe concrete objects. They correctly use and understand the different question words. They will likely still make errors with irregular speech patterns (ex. mouses instead of mice). -
School Age (6-12)
Language skills become increasingly more advanced. By age 6, "children understand the meaning of about 10,000 words, speak in elaborate sentences, and are skilled conversationalists." (Berk, p. 231) Throughout elementary school, children will continue to add new words to their vocabulary, particularly through the process of reading. They will also work to develop their written language skills and learn the rules of written grammar.