How language develops

Babies communicate by crying, looking towards a voice, cooing (vowels sounds and gurgling) and later babbling (adding consonants to vowels – e.g. baba, dada, mama). By nine months, babies start to pay attention to the same object or event when an adult labels or points to it. They start to screen out sounds not used in their own language, use language patterns from their own language, take turns in games such as pat-a-cake or peek-a-boo, use pointing and other gestures to communicate and comprehend some words. 

Toddlers (between 12 months and 2 years of age) use gestures and a few words to express themselves and by the end of this period, can use up to 200 words. They understand a growing number of words when spoken and are starting to combine words into two-word sentences. They use their own name or personal pronoun to refer to self and are starting to use words to influence the behaviour of others. 

Example: Pointing out and naming ‘mama’, ‘papa’, ‘dog’ and short sentences such as ‘Me biscuit’. 

At age two, children’s vocabulary is increasing rapidly and they are figuring out word meanings from cues in the environment, and speaking in simple sentences that follow basic syntax. 

Example: ‘I go market’. ‘Baby want red ball’. ‘Mommy pick up’. 

At age three, children talk about objects and events that are not present and the actions of others. They can carry on conversations that have several turns for each participant, answer simple questions, ask many questions, and call attention to their own actions (‘watch me!’). Their speech is understandable most of the time and they use standard grammar but may make mistakes with words that don’t follow standard form. 

Example: In English – ‘foots’ instead of ‘feet’ or ‘I standed up on top of the table.’ 

At age four, children use prepositions ‘on,’ ‘in,’ ‘under’ and possessive forms of pronouns. They produce elaborate sentences, use correct verb tenses, and change tone of voice and sentence structure to accommodate the listener (i.e., a younger child vs. an adult). They remember first and last names, addresses, and telephone numbers and are able to verbally solve simple problems. They can recite and sing simple songs and rhymes. 

Example: ‘At the ECD centre I played on the slide with Julia and I played dolls with Julia inside too’. 

At age five, children often have a vocabulary of 1500 words or more that are used in very complex sentences. They can tell a familiar story from looking at the pictures in a book, define simple words by function and enjoy humour and jokes. They have a growing understanding of irregular syntax and tenses. 

Example: ‘I like to play football with my brother and his friends. When they kick the ball very far from the goal, I run and get it. When I am bigger, I will kick the ball very far too’.