Development of Language

From zero to three years of age, the child wants to be a part of us, sensitive periods being active for language, absorbent mind and the tendency of gregariousness pushes him from within and he makes the efforts to acquire language. The child in the mother’s womb is exposed to the voice of the mother. And on birth the child recognizes the voice of the mother. This leads to the development of language.

So language does not happen after birth but it is a process initiated in the womb. In additions to the sounds of language there are other aspects of language as well. Watching the mouth move, the expressions of the parents these are inputs that create the path to follow for the child to follow. Children can sense tone, emotions and body language behind the words as young as when they are a month and a half. From the inception of birth the child is trying to communicate. In the first year of a child’s life the child is sensitive to all the sounds in the language in the environment. 

But after the first year the ability to hear different sounds is not so distinct it is not so innate unless they are constantly exposed to the language in the environment. As adults we do not see any. This is influential to development of language.

What stimulates the child to practice the sound is the sensitivity to human language. Children are drawn to sounds to reproduce them. There are two aspects to development of the language. The first aspect is the auditory area and the second aspect is the motor speech area. To absorb language auditory area of the child has to develop first. The child is sensitive to voices in the womb itself. The child from birth to three months can differentiate between voices and different languages. The
child absorption and the power to grasp are humongous of different voices from the environment till the initial three months. 

Post three months the child responds to social stimulation. The child intently watches the mouth of the speaker and he will try to emulate the adults. From three to six months the child produces vowel sounds. The child responds thru sounds. The adult should not talk continuously and should pause after every spoken language to the child.  

From six to eight months the sounds of certain consonance are produced by the child. It develops into babbling and it is a natural development. Gradually he will make sounds to draw attention. The child yearns to be with people who talk to him. From eight to ten months the babbling takes place on the modulation of the sound of the language. The child will pick the intonations of the spoken language that takes place in the environment. The child will respond to various commands from the adults for e.g. like if the adult asks for a kiss on the cheek the child will respond to it. 

Around the first year to eighteen months the child will speak his first intentional word. The child understands but his sound box is not yet articulated to speak in complete sentences. There is an explosion of the language. The collection of words is expressed in speech. After eighteen months to two years the child uses fusive words. The child will make up a sentence for an idea. The immediate family members will understand what the child says. At this stage the child also talks to himself a lot and keeps on repeating again and again. The child can understand much more than what he can express verbally. Therefore it is important to talk to the child and engage them in everyday life and to keep a continuous flow of development of language. 

After two and a half years there is an explosion of phrases. His pronunciation grows and improves and the child wants to know the precise name of everything. Therefore we should avoid baby talk and talk to the child in precise and clear language. At three years the vocabulary will increase of the child. The adult should remember that the child needs more time to word out his thoughts. Therefore the adult should be patient with the child and not put pressure on the child to hurry and complete his sentences. The adult should give opportunity to the child to express themselves. The child has lots of experiences at this age between two to three years. The first three years needs to be supported by the adult. The child has constructed his language development around two to three years. 

From three to six years consolidation of the language of what has acquired before three will take place in the child. After three there is a dramatic acquisition of language which takes place in the child. Oral expression is the foundation of this acquisition. If the child has enough experiences then the child will want to express his thoughts. 

Supporting environment and experiences is the important need for the development of language of the child. Five to six years the child continues to expand his language both spoken and written. And by six years he finds his place in the society. This development will continue in the second plane. 

We should however remember the foundation has taken place in the first plane. It is truly a wonder that a child does not take to language of animals or birds but is absorbing the language of humans among the many languages that are in the environment and then speaks the language when it is ready to be manifested. 

Maria Montessori emphasized on the need of the child’s development of language, movement and social behavior. She emphasized that the six years of a child’s life are crucial for a child’s development. 

With the absorbent mind and sensitive periods of the child in the initial years it also explains why it’s so easy for young children to learn a second language. As older children and adults it is much more difficult to learn a new language because they are no longer subconsciously absorbing the information that the first six years of a child’s life do. And this period is extremely crucial for a child’s development. 

Language Developing from birth to one year:
In a baby language skills develop right from birth. This despite a babies inability to vocalize what he hears. They have a keen interest in language that is in the environment. All throughout their first year they are keen on the noises around them. Think of it that a child who hears so many sounds of moving traffic, chirping birds, sound of animals, and so on but out of all the sounds he recognizes the human voice and picks the language of humans. He does not bark like an animal, or makes sound of traffic neither the sound of birds.

He watches the movement of the adult’s mouth in relation to words. He is keenly watching each word spoken, he is watching and understanding how our mouth moves. He starts imitating the movement the adult makes by opening his mouth or sticking put his tongue. He starts making sounds on his own as he relatively grows older. If we notice sometimes he will react to the sounds the adult makes by twitching his eyebrows, with a laugh or with an inquisite expression.
Therefore an adult should ensure they don’t talk baby language to the child. They sing and talk in clear language. Our mouths should be visible to the child while we speak. 

Language Development from 1 to 2 years:
The toddler years begin with one word, two words or even more. It can be an explosion of words that will keep coming. We notice that sometimes some children take longer to come to explosion of words. The adult should not exert pressure on the child. The words that come out of the mouth of the child may not be clear. Often we see a mother or someone who interacts with the child closely will know the meaning of what the child has spoken. 

The adult should be empathetic and patient with the child so that the child without fear of expression will speak words and lead to his language development. The adult should also ensure that the child is not discouraged by mocking or mimicking him while attempting to be one like us. Repetition of words help in a long way to absorb the words spoken by the adult. Moreover to encourage language the child should be given names of materials or things handled at home. This helps in
sensory development of feeling and touching everything what the child experiences and thus attaches language to it. 

Language Development from 2 to 3 years:
At this stage the child would get ready for writing. Not all children may develop at the same pace. Some would start early and some at a later stage. Nevertheless the pressure should not be on the child to be one among his peers. He should be encouraged and the child should be allowed to develop at his own pace. The focus on the child should be on enrichment of vocabulary. The child is able to recognize sounds and understand them. Encouragement with three sounds at a different time should be given to the child. It is the time where the child recognizes, understands and speaks the sounds. 

Three letter words in the environment can be encouraged with the child to expand his vocabulary and experience. The child has lots of experiences at this age between two to three years. The first three years needs to be supported by the adult. The child has constructed his language around two to three years.

Language Development from 3 to 4 years:
After two and a half years there is an explosion of phrases. His pronunciation grows and improves and the child wants to know the precise name of everything. Therefore we should avoid baby talk and talk to the child in precise and clear language. After three years the vocabulary will increase of the child. The adult should remember that the child needs more time to word out his thoughts. Therefore the adult should be patient with the child and not put pressure on the child to hurry
and complete his sentences. The adult should give opportunity to the child to express themselves. 

Language Development from 4 to 6 years:
From three to six years consolidation of the language of what has acquired before three will take place in the child. After three there is a dramatic acquisition of language which takes place in the child. Oral expression is the foundation of this acquisition. If the child has enough experiences then the child will want to express his thoughts. 

Supporting environment and experiences is the important need for the development of the language of the child. Five to six years the child continues to expand his language both spoken and written. And by six years he finds his place in the society. This development will continue in the second plane. 

We should however remember the foundation has taken place in the first plane. It is truly a wonder that a child does not take to language of animals or birds but is absorbing the language of humans among the many languages that are in the environment and then speaks the language when it is ready to be manifested. 

Quote of Dr. Maria Montessori in The Discovery of the Child, chapter II, page 30: “Many defects like those of language, which becomes permanent are acquired because we neglect the child during the most important period of his life-between three and six years of age when his principle functions are formed and fixed.”

ADULT’S RESPONSIBILITY: New born child has no language and he takes from the environment. Tendency towards gregariousness and communication helps him to absorb sounds around him. A favorable environment where the language is clear, concise in conversation the child needs to be in such an environment. What the child absorbs so will he express later. His environment is critical for him to develop language and contact with people is necessary for him to absorb the language. 

Adults should not ridicule the child neither interrupt to help him when he’s struggling to complete a sentence. A child is able to learn 6-7 languages in his first years of his life. He can absorb all of them easily, provided that the languages are spoken all along are spoken by the same person. If parents speak different languages than that particular parent who speaks the language will be absorbed by the child. 

The child has only six years to construct and adapt and therefore we need to feed his mind without placing obstacles in the development of the language of the child.
The adult should enrich his experiences by reading poem, stories, songs and rich language to the child. 

The adult should not ridicule the language of the child. We adults therefore play an important role in assisting the child to develop and enrich his language. The adult should not fill sentences for the child. The child should not be rushed to speak. Moreover the adult should not complete his sentences if the child is taking time to express or communicate. The adult should not do baby talk or babble while communicating with the child. 

The adult should encourage the child to have experiences so that he can speak and express these experiences. Many a times the adult finds a child talkative and will discourage him to speak or give monosyllables answer. Fuller sentences and more encouraging assistance from the adult will ensure that the child is not dissuaded from expressing his thoughts. Input to the child should be rich. If the inputs are not supporting his language development then an adult is hindering his growth for language.

MONTESSORI APPROACH TO LANGUAGE: Children in the age group of three to six years are entering into a new environment. Language spoken in casa is different from what is spoken at home. Language spoken at home and the language spoken in casa should match. The experiences and the language have to come together. Approach to language in casa is looked upon for the child’s development and growth. When the child comes to the casa there are activities which enrich the expansion of spoken language. 

We should be adding, strengthening and enriching the language of the child of what the child has already acquired. Instead the child is pulled away from their mother tongue and a new language is introduced to the child. If Marathi is the mother tongue of the child than the child should not be discouraged from speaking but instead English should be added to the language. We end up teaching the child instead of adding language to his existing language. Multilingual languages should be encouraged to the child in casa. Writing and reading should be looked upon as natural extensions of language. Spoken language is what the child creates and it is formed out of nothing. Through writing and reading the child’s relationship with the language is strengthened. 

Writing and reading is dependent on the environment and cannot come when the creative process in the child is happening. Interest for writing and reading has to come from the child and it has to lead to purposeful work. It should lead to concentration. The child needs to be helped to arrive at this thru other extensive work areas hence language cannot be introduced immediately to the casa. Thru practical life and sensorial work the child’s experiences are enriched and when the experiences are strengthened it allows the child to express. 

Experiences and spoken language are the foundation of a child’s development. Writing is a form of self expression. Writing precedes reading in the casa and is introduced at least six to eight months before reading. Montessori focuses on the strengthening of experiences and offering the child the keys for writing. Children write their experiences and this is shared and when it is shared each one appreciates the experiences of one another. There is no interference in what the child writes. There is no pressure on the child for dictation, grammar and correct spellings. 

Preparation of the hand and mind is made ready thru the sensorial work. For e.g. thru tracing in red rods the child is being prepared for writing. When reading is introduced to the child in casa it is done by bringing sounds and words together. Then a meaning is attached to it. In casa the child is introduced to total reading. Total Reading is the stage where the reader is able to access something beyond just the meaning of the words. They are able to put themselves in the shoes of the author and understand the emotions and deeper meaning of the words. It makes the reader appreciate the author for all its finer nuances. 

Quote of Dr. Maria Montessori in Creative Development in the Child, volume I, chapter 2, page 6: “The language he will speak, which may be very simple or very complicated, will not be determined by his personality, but by his environment”. 

ADULT AS MODEL: Language which is used every day to communicate and express whether oral or in writing also is a gateway to our confidence while being a part of a social group. It is important to connect the children’s language to the experience. Enrichment and enhancement of vocabulary has to happen the moment the child enters in the casa. For e.g. putting away their bags a proper language takes place with the child. 

Adults should give opportunities for the child to express his experiences so that the child would like to communicate. Every chance the adult gets should use rich in vocabulary with the child. Songs are sung, stories are told, poems are recited and adults are trained to use language with the child. There should be a constant effort from the adult to have meaningful conversation with the child. The adult should be aware that children are listening and watching us in casa hence we should be conscious of our language in the casa. 

Children get attracted to new words and sentences. We do hear quite frequently that a child has picked up a word or a statement from a particular adult. Hence, the need to speak fine, rich language. If the child is not exposed to a certain language he will not be able to have command over the language and will lead to dependency. We are aiding young minds for their future. Children should be given opportunities for exploration of language in the casa. And to explore the child should be given freedom and thru this the child would be able to connect with the outside world. 

Adults should remember that the child would spend most of his time in the casa where also he would be mingling with other group of children. Therefore a language that enhances the child’s development should be spoken in the casa.