In their first 12 months of life, babies develop many of the foundations that underpin speech and language development. And they keep developing language skills at an amazing rate in the first three years of life. It seems like an automatic straight forward trajectory that language development is

supposed to take, however, this a complex process and there are a lot of factors that affect language development.

Before discussing these factors we will look briefly at some major theories that attempt to explain how language develops.

Behavioral Theory

The behavioral perspective of language development stipulates that language is a set of verbal behaviors learned
through operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a method of learning through association and the desired/undesired behavior is strengthened or weakened with reinforcements or punishments. For example if a child observes/learns that the word food is associated or accompanied with getting

something to eat, the association coupled with reinforcement (wow good girl!) increases their usage or motivation to use the word. The opposite is true if they receive negative feedback (punishment) it decreases the motivation to use the word. The theory centers around the idea that children are conditioned by stimuli in their environment and the reinforcement of their communication which lead to language development.

Behaviorists believe that language production is a behavior that is acquired through imitation, reinforcement, and copying adult language behaviors. According to this perspective language is not a process of experimentation or self-discovery by the child, but rather a selective process of reinforcements and punishments from speech and language models, usually parents, family members and other caregivers. Behaviorists’ focus is on the external forces that shape a child’s language and sees the child as a reactor to these forces.

Nativist Theory

The nativist theory is a biologically-based theory which suggests that language is innate, physiologically determined, and genetically transmitted. It asserts that a newborn baby is already prepared for language acquisition and this will activate through exposure to language. This theory also postulate the idea of a universal grammar unique to humans and that unless there are severe mental or physical limitations, or severe isolation and deprivation, humans WILL acquire language.

The main theorist associated with the nativist theory Noam Chomsky postulates the idea of
the language acquisition device (LAD) which according to him is a ‘language organ’ in our brain that will activate when a child is exposed to language. There is no physical ‘language organ’ that exists in the brain but certain areas of the brain are specialized for language development. If there is damage to this area in infancy the brain is capable of creating new Language pathways

Semantic-Cognitive Theory

This theory holds that language development is an interplay between language learning and cognition; that is, the meanings conveyed by a child’s expressions. The core idea of this theory is that meanings of expressions are mental. Children demonstrate certain cognitive abilities as the corresponding language behavior emerges. The semantic meaning that a person wants to communicate determines the words and word order (syntactic form) the person uses. For example, children know what they want to communicate (cognition) but do not always use the correct semantics or grammar. This means that children already have mental representations of what they want to communicate and will need to learn syntax in their given language to better express themselves.

Social-Pragmatic Theory

The social-pragmatic theory considers communication as the basic function of language. This perspective argues that language develops through the infant-caregiver interactions in which the caregiver/parent responds to an infant’s sounds and gestures. The social-pragmatic perspective emphasizes the importance of the communicative partnership between caregiver/parent and child and the child’s interpretation of what is said defines the results of the speech act. In other words language is acquired through the ability to read the intentions of another.

Factors affecting language development

•  Physical health of a child – This refers to the general wellness of a child, if a child is constantly sick during the first 2 years of life, language will be delayed and there is regression in other areas of development as well. Ear infections are also very common at this age and affects auditory perception (the ability to perceive and interpret information through the ears) which in turn affects language development.
•  Cognitive development – Children are fascinated with language whilst in-utero and from birth they pay attention to it. The ability to know the meaning of words and to gain language symbols kicks in even from as early as 6 months. Cognitive development is seen in babbling and vocalizations from baby, a delay in this area is a good indicator that a child’s speech maybe delayed or affected.
•  Environment; nature versus nurturing – Research has proven that a stimulating environment (nurturing) plays an important role in the development of early speech. Verbal ability is restricted and inhibited in an environment where the child does not get stimulation. When it comes to language development nature (the speech areas in the brain) are heavily dependent on nurturing in order to develop optimally.
•  Sex – There is no difference in language development during the first year of life between boys and girls but from the second year onwards girls show better speech development than boys and this continues through the life span.

•  Relationship with family members and caregivers – The relationship of a child and his/her family and caregivers has lasting and enduring effects. This relationship determines whether language development will be optimal or retarded.
•  Family structure and caregivers – There is no consensus in the research on this matter with others arguing that a single child raised by both parents has better language proficiency and it develops much faster compared to a child also raised by both parents but with siblings as adult attention is divided. Other research sees siblings as an advantage as children naturally play and will learn language much faster from their siblings in play and this group argues that too much pampering and overbearing parenting in single child households actually affects language development negatively. Children raised by single parents, baby sitters, foster parents and children whose parents do not spend enough time with them have shown some deficits in language development – but then again the kind of nurturing given in an environment is key.
•  Bilingualism – This is more relevant to South Africa with 11 official languages and for children of migrant workers where children are either exposed to two languages at home or one at home, then compelled to learn another at school. During the first two years of life the brain is trying to make sense of the world and two languages might cause confusion and overwhelm the brain affecting language development. It is advisable to expose a child to one language first, then add others gradually as they become proficient and they know the difference in languages and their brains are more capable of organizing information.
•  Conceptual – This refers to a child’s knowledge of the words they are learning. Children who have challenges recalling certain words most probably know less or nothing of the concepts and have no mental representations of them. For example if you teach a child to label a dog, they are less likely to recall it if they do not have pictures of dogs, a pet dog or lives close to others who own a dog. So first words are usually concrete concepts of things in their immediate environment and desirables. So language will develop if exposed to more concepts.
•  Contextual – Language development is contextual that is it occurs in a culture, religion, geographical location, social context etc. and all these contribute or affect language development either positively or negatively.
• How can parents support language development

Talk a lot to your child especially during the first two years, label items and activities, sing nursery rhymes talk, talk, and talk some more.
Respond to their vocalizations and speech as this gives them feedback and they learn that they are actually communicating and will be motivated to engage more in language learning.

•  Read – reading is one of the most tried and tested way to teach language. Start with picture books first and label the things and graduate to more complex read aloud books as they grow older. This is one good way of exposing them to concepts without physically having them or experiencing them.
•  Listen to music – play some age appropriate music to your child, they will pick up words to add to their growing vocabulary. Music has rhymes, rhythm and repetitions that aid in better memorization and retention of learned concepts.

Play make believe – imaginative or pretend play is one way children make sense of the world and learn language. It exposes children to opportunities of role playing and the scenarios are limitless presenting a wide scope of vocabulary.

Limit, or if possible no television and gadgets before the age of two is advised – this period in development is one of the most

important in language acquisition. It requires mostly quality relationships and interaction with others. Television and gadgets lack the transactional nature of one on one interactions and the feedback it provides for future reference in learning.

•  Be on the watch for ear infections – It is a good idea to have physical examinations at birth, 4 months, 6 months, one year, 18 months and again at 2 years to make sure that hearing is functioning well because it has a huge bearing on language development.
•  Make time for outings to the zoo, park, aquarium etc. – children are natural explorers and experimenters and new environments feed this inquisitive nature and in the process these bring along opportunities to learn new things and adding to their vocabulary.
•  Arrange play dates – as much as children will learn most of their language from adults, it is sharpened and reinforced with their interactions with peers. They even pick up new words from playing.

Talent Adamson Behaviour Therapist BA (Health and Social Services) Applied Psychology, BA Hon (HSS) Psychological Counselling – (UNISA)