by Nancy Sivilai How Language Develops Language begins early in life, a baby will pick up the sounds of people in his immediate family and community. By six months old, a baby will usually imitate speech intonations, so it sounds as if baby is saying something understandable. During the first year most babies have picked up the most significant language sounds in their environment. A baby in Germany will pick up the language sounds of the German language, a baby in Mexico the language sounds of the Mexican language, A Thai baby the Thai sounds. As soon as this ability is acquired they will begin to string them together to make words. Once they can speak, children will put the words together to match the grammatical rules of their language. They will be motivated to increase their vocabulary and will ask the name of things. By the time they are in preschool, most children are able to speak their native language. They did not learn by being drilled in sounds and grammar. They learned by being immersed in their native language. By hearing and using language in their home environment. As a parent, it is important to speak to your child in the language you want to him/her to develop. Many opportunities to learn language happen daily, as you guide your child to eat, dress, wash up, pick up toys or play games. Childhood is a time when language can be developed quickly and fluently. I would encourage development of more than one language as you child will be smarter because the brain is having to make more connections. Children who are fluent in their mother tongue will most likely be fluent in the next language. Reading It used to be accepted that oral language development came before written language development However, learning to read and talk happens at the same time. Babies begin to read as sound books and print become a part of their lives. We do not leave children alone to learn to read, we give them assistance just like when they learned to talk. In developing reading, we model phonic sounds and participate in oral interactions at the child’s current level ability. Young children work hard to identify letters. Children develop reading skills in English as they learn phonics through fun interactive reading and writing activities. Children will learn phonics from songs and stories and rhymes which are meaningful to them. They learn the names and sounds of letters in their own names and other words that are important to them. Using phonics is one of several necessary reading skills. Children who are read to at home learn phonics faster. Reading activities should include story time with age appropriate books. Learning to read and learning to write are inseparable. That is our goal for each child to speak, read and write. As a parent, take time to read to your child and with your child. Your child will be learning phonics and doing guided reading at school. As a parent you can support your child by taking time to review alphabets in their environment in signs, books, boxes, etc and maintain a reading habit with your child as it best works in your family schedule. May you enjoy watching your child’s language and literacy development as you read, sing songs, play and have fun with your child.
