Module 7 Chapter Summary/Review
justin3707
ch7.pdf
C h
a p
ter7
"D o
P ig
s H a
v e W
ish b
o n
es? "
: U
n fo
ld in
g L
a n
g u
a g
e
O ne even
ing a n u
m b
er o f years ago, w
h en
o u
r y o
u n
g est so
n w
as
ab ou
t four, I w as p
rep arin
g d
in n
er an d
studying for an ex
am o
n
ch ild
ren 's language developm
ent w hile h
e p u
rsu ed
his favorite
h o
b by o
f rearranging th e kitchen cupboards. S
u d
d en
ly h
e gazed
u p
, reg ard
ed th
e p o
rk ch
o p
s in m
y h
an d
, an d
asked, "D o pigs have
w ish
b o
n es?" I rem
em b
er laughing at th is "cute" co
m m
en t an
d
jo ttin
g it dow
n o n
a scrap o f paper, b
u t I d
o n
't recall h
o w
I
resp o
n d
ed ; quick
explanations w ere th
e rule in th
o se d
ays o f
retu rn
to gradu ate stu
d y
an d
p art-tim
e w ork. N
o d o
u b
t D oug w
as
left to co n
tem p
late th e m
ysteries o f w
ishbones o n his o
w n
.
N o
t long ago , w
ith stu d
en t days an
d ex
am s fa r b
eh in
d m
e, I cam e
u p
o n
th at scrap o
f p ap
er stu ck
in a d
u sty
cookbo ok. A
fter years o f
stu dying o
th er children's lan
gu age d
ev elo
p m
en t, I w
as struck by
th e iro
n y
o f having overlooked th
e im p
o rtan
ce o f m
y ow n son's
w ords. W
ith those four sim ple w
ords, D o ~
, like m o
st children o f
his age, show ed th
at in a few
sh o
rt years h e b
ad m
astered th
e m ost
com plex rule system
o f th
e h u
m an
in telle
c t-w
ith no form
al
instruction . I d
id n
't pay m u
ch atten
tio n
at th e tim
e, b u
t th at funn
y
question, w ith all th
e learning th at lay behin
d it, p
resaged w ell for
his future w ith reading, w
riti ng, organizin g solution
s to problem s,
reasoning ab
o u
t abstract
ideas, an
d
even lead
ership ability.
M oreover, by using language, D
oug w as buildin
g his ow n brain.
I have learn ed
a g reat deal since th
at day in th e kitchen
, an d
I
w ould like to help you appreciate, b
etter th an I did, your ow
n
children 's language developm
ent. T o u
n d
erstan d how
yo u can take
th e m
o st constructive role in h
elping it unfold, w e should first
consider th e four things th
at a child m u
st learn: its purposes, its
m echanics , its m
eanings, an d
its rules.
T H
E P
U R
P O
SE S O
F L A
N G
U A
G E
N
a tu
re's M y
sterio u
s D ev
ice
W h
ere does language co m
e from ? E
xperts h av
e w aged in
tellectual
fisticuffs ab o
u t w
h eth
er it is p rep
ro g
ram m
ed o r d
eterm in
ed b
y
in p
u t in
to specialized areas o
f th e b
rain . A
s usual , th e an
sw er lies
so m
ew h
ere in b
etw een
. B oth '1anguage," a general term
for th e
u se o
f verbal sym bols, an
d "sp
eech," its m ean
s o f expression, are
an instinctive reflection o
f h u
m an
s' n eed to co
m m
u n
icate. D id y
o u
k n
o w
th at a tw
o-m o
n th
-old reaching o
u t w
ith o n
e finger p o
in ted
is p racticing a form
o flan
g uage? H
ave you noticed how , b
y th
e age
o f six to nin
e m o
n th
s, w ith
o u
t know ing a single w
ord, a child can
p articip
ate in a "conversation
" an d
even control it? (If you d o
u b
t
this, w atch baby an
d G
ran d
m a som
etim e.) N
atu re h
as built th e
basics o f language into m
o st infants' b
rains. A
d eaf child starts to babble at th
e sam e age as do b
earing
children, so w e k
n ow
th at auditory stim
ulation is n o
t n ecessary for
p relanguage developm
ent. O n
e o f th
e m ost intriguing theories
proposed a "language acquisition device" som
ew here in
th e b
rain
th at m
akes it inevitable. N o one has yet located this m
ysterious
m ach
in e (w
hich I w him
sically picture as a sm all sq
u are b
ox w ith
lots o f w
ires sticking out), b u
t it is true th at infants aro
u n
d th
e
w orld
, exposed to differen t languages and dialects,
all babble
rem ark
ably sim
ilar sou
nds. T
hey produce
vow els
before
co nso
n an
ts an d
are instin ctively sensitive to so
u n
d differences.
In fan
ts' left h em
isph eres can already sort o
u t h
u m
an speech from
n oises
in the environm
en t. Y
ou m
ight say th at children
are
biologically p ro
g ram
m ed to talk
. B y eight m
o n
th s, h
ow ever, th
e
brain is
already pruning
aw ay
so u
n ds
n ot
in the
child 's
environm en
t, so th at babies fro
m Jap
an o
r the U nited S
tates are
n ow
babbling in J apanese o r E
nglish . B
y adolescence, an d p
erh ap
s
even earlier, it is alm ost im
possible for m ost people to cap
tu re a
perfect native accen t in a foreig
n language, even w hen th
ey becom e
oth erw
ise fluent. M
ost o f o
u r lang
uage abili ties are h oused in w
idely sep arated
parts o f the left h
em isph
ere, although th is pattern
m ay differ in a
sm all
percentage of
peo ple.
F or
exam ple,
W ernecke's
area ,
respo nsible
fo r
und ers tanding
w ords
and co
n stru
cting
163 o f 330
g ram
m atical sentences, is a lo
n g
w ay from
B roca.'s area, w
h ere
th ey
g et
read y
to
be p
ro n
o u
n ced
. E
ffortless co
m m
u n
icatio n
d ep
en d
s o n
d ev
elo p
m en
t o f each
area as w ell as th
e th ick
fiber
connections b
etw een
th
em .
S o
m e
teach ers
have difficulty
u n
d erstan
d in
g h
o w
a child can do o
n e language task
very w ell, such
as getting th e m
ean in
g o
f a story, b u
t an o
th er quite poorly, su
ch
as retelling it clearly. U n
d erstan
d in
g th
e com plexity o
f th e sy
stem
h elp
s us targ et each
skill m o
re effectively.
S o
m e p
arts o f th
e right h em
isp h
ere co n
trib u
te as w ell, especially
w h
en
it com
es to
u
n d
erstan d
in g
an
d
in terp
retin g
lan
g u
age
m essages. C
learly, n o
t everything m atu
res at once. L
anguage
d ev
elo p
m en
t proceeds th ro
u g
h o
u t childhood; w
hile th e process
b eco
m es
less d ram
atic as plasticity declines at p u
b erty, m
o st
language skills can still b
e refined even in college an
d ad
u lth
o o
d .
B ecause th
e rig h
t h em
isp h
ere is m o
re active d u
rin g
th e first
co uple o
f years, so m
e authorities have suggested teaching b ab
ies
sig n language, w
hich d o
esn 't req
u ire m
atu ratio
n o
f special left
h em
isph ere sy
stem s o
r articulation ability. S om
e p aren
ts seem to
th in
k this h
elp s th
em co
m m
u n
icate w ith th
e infant, an d
vice v ersa.
T h
e ju ry
is still o u
t o n
w h
eth er this system
h as an
y p
erm an
en t
effect-p o
sitiv e o
r n eg
ativ e-o
n th
e child's developm ent.
O n
e yo un
g m o
th er takes g
reat delight in reporting h er in
fan t
daugh ter's progress-
w ith
o u
t sign lan g
u ag
e-to m
e. "O nly tw
o
m o
n th
s old, an d
I sw ear sh
e's im itating m
e. I say 'H
i,' an d
sh e says
'I-i-i-i.' M y h
u sb
an d
says it isn 't possible."
H er h
u sb
an d
h as
u n
d erestim
ated th
e p o
w er o
f th e language acquisition device
- an
d
also th e verbal inclin
ations o f m
an y
fem ales o
f th e species, w
ho
usually o p
erate o n
a slightly faster speech tim etable th
an th
eir
m ale peers. Y
et despite th e b
rain 's predilection
, it takes coaching
from the en
v iro
n m
en t to build the staggering n
u m
b er o
f neural
connections required for fu rth
er developm ent.
T h
e d eaf children w
ho start to babble do n o
t d evelop speech
w itho
ut special
intervention, although
th ey
sh
o w
th
eir
predisposition to com m
unicate in sign language. T he b
etter th e
language environm en
t, th e b
etter any child 's outcom
e. P aren
ts
have a bigger role in this critical area o f learning th
an in alm
ost
any other. F ortun
ately, n
ature has also p
ro g
ram m
ed p
aren ts
in stinctively to becom
e their child 's b
est teachers. T h
e first lesson
1ey p resen
t is ab o
u t loving co
m m
u n
icatio n
.
> ru
n itive P
u rp
o ses
ID
in fan
t's first co m
m u
n icatio
n usually takes th
e fo rm
of a
)iercing w ail, w
h ich
so u
n d
s as if it arises fro m
a prim itive p
art o f
:he b rain
. It does. A s th
e child b egins to
coo, b ab
b le, an
d receive
verbal m essages, n
ew netw
orks are form ing in
language cen ters o
f th
e cortex. B y six to
n in
e m o
n th
s th e h
ig h
er centers assert so m
e co
n trol.
L anguage
is closely lin
k ed
w ith
em otion,
an d
it is im
p o
rtan t to
rem em
b er th
at children w h
o get en
o u
g h
cuddling an
d u
n co
n d
itio n
al love h av
e a b etter ch
an ce at learn
in g
language - a
n d
everything else.
u n
d erstan
d in
g -n
o t of th
e w o
rd s them
selves, b u
t o f th
e g am
e o f
conversation. S
uch children
can't "read"
gestures o
r facial
expressions o f em
o tio
n , size u
p w
h ere th
e o th
er p erso
n is "com
ing fro
m ," o
r u n
d erstan
d h
o w
to in
co rp
o rate others' points o
f view in
to
th eir
behavior. T
hey m
ay
verbally b
arg e
in to
situations
o r
w ithdraw
, w o
n d
erin g
w hy n
o o
n e seem
s to like th
em .
S ensitive periods for pragm
atics o ccu
r early in life, so it is unw ise
to expect overtaxed caregivers o
r electronic appliances to teach
th
ese im p
o rtan
t lessons. T hey req
u ire a real p
erso n
, face-to-face, resp
o n
d in
g directly to
w hatever th
e child says o r does.
S pecialized b
rain centers n
eed to
b e stim
u lated
for listening, speaking,
an d
u
n d
erstan d
in g
. M
o st
children invite
y o
u r
assistance, an d
th e adu
lt's positive resp o
n se is in
stin ctiv
e-an d
im
p o
rtan t. If M
o th
er, for exam ple, acts "different," seem
ing aloof or
u p
set, th
e in
fan t
responds w
ith b o
d y
language signaling
distress. D uring th
e first six m o
n th
s, a stro n
g b
o n
d w
ith a p aren
t o
r caregiver is also im p
o rtan
t to m
~ del ap
p ro
p riate p
ro n
u n
ciatio n
an
d g
ram m
ar as w ell
as to
teach th
e rules
of th e
gam e of
conversation .
H elp
in g
C h
ild ren
U n
d ersta
n d
P u
rp o
ses fo r L
a n
g u
a g
e
L ook at this list o
f seven reasons for using language, an d
notice h
o w
m an
y are b
ased o
n interaction w
ith others.
P R
A G
M A
T IC
S : L
E A
R N
IN G
T H
E G
A M
E O
F C
O N
V E
R S
A T
IO N
D id y
o u
know th
at playing peekaboo is a language gam e? It teaches
turn-taking, th e first lesson. B
etw een four an
d nine m
o n
th s this
concept is practiced over an d
over as children im itate adult w
ords an
d learn
th at "talk" involves w
aiting your tu rn
. T here are o
th er
rules to b
e learned: G estures go
along w ith sou
n d
s an d
help everyone u
n d
erstan d
w h
at is m eant; you can get people to do
things for you by m aking noises of various kinds; people respond
w hen you "talk" to them
. S om
etim es th
ey even know w
hat you m
ean: "W
ell, how
did
th at
taste, Jan
eel?" Janeel
w iggles
eloquently an d
em its a lo
u d
burp. "O h
, you liked it, didn 't you!"
A ll of th
ese reasons and conventions for usin g language com
e u
n d
er one h eadin
g- p
rag m
atics. C hildren w
ho lack th em
are at a serious disadvantage because they have trouble usin
g language as a
tool. M
uch "social m
aladjustm e n
t" stem
s from
such
poor 1 . In
stru m
en ta
l: T o satisfy needs an
d w
ants.
"L ou, if yo
u w
ould like a cookie, please use w o
rd s to a
sk m
e instead o f w
hining a n
d p
o u
n d
in g
on the shopping cart."
2 . R
egu latory: T
o control th e b
ehavior of others an d
of self.
"L et's talk about afai1· w
a y to
decide w h
o p
la ys w
ith the
tru ck now
. Th en w
e'll talk about h o
w you'd like to take
turns." "Let's sa
y 'hit' each tim e w
e p o
u n
d the peg."
3 . In
tera ctio
n a
l: T o establish an
d m
aintain contact w ith others.
"W hile I'm
getting dinner, I love it w hen you sta
y near a n
d
tell m e about y
o u
r day." "G
irls, I w a
n t you to use w
ords instead o f hitting each
other."
4 .
P erso
n a
l: T
o express
cho ices, assert th
e self, and take
responsibility .
"D on
't be afraid to tell m e w
hich on e you w
a n
t; I'll let you know
if I don't have enough m
oney ."
165 o f 33
0
"If yo u
feel sa d
, it m ig
h t help to ta
lk a b
o u
t it. n
"W h
y d o
n 't yo
u ta
lk to M s. S
m ith
before scho ol to
m o
rro w
. I w
o u
ld be p
ro u
d if yo
u co
u ld
try to solve this p ro
b lem
w
ith o
u t a
skin g
m e to call th
e teacher."
5. L earn
in g: T
o ask questions an
d get inform
ation .
"I d o
n 't kn
o w
if p ig
s h a
ve w ishbones, b
u t th
a t su
rely is a n
interesting question. I'll help yo
u a
sk the b u
tch er w
h en
w e
g o
to the sto re to
m o
rro w
."
"I like to h a
ve yo u
a sk questions a
b o
u t things yo
u 're
interested in -it lets m
e kn o
w you're building yo
u r brain
fo r thinking. n
6 . Im
a g
in a
tiv e: T
o pretend, to create im
ages and p attern
s.
"L et's take tu
rn s m
a kin
g u
p stories a
b o
u t a p
reten d
trip w e
w o
u ld
like to take." "L
et's think o f all the things th
a t w
o u
ld happen if o
u r street
tu rn
ed to chocolate pudding. C
an yo u
m a
ke a picture in yo
u r m
in d
o f w
h a
t it w o
u ld
look like?"
7. R ep
resen ta
tio n
a l: T
o inform others, to
tell about ideas.
"P lease tell m
e yo u
r ideas about w hether w
e should go to the library this m
orning or· w a
it until after dinner." 'Y
o u
r rep o
rt fo r science sounds so interesting; can you
exp lain to m
e h o
w a battery w
orks? "
"W ould you like m
e to help you a n
d M
a rk organize a
debate about that?"
F ull m
aturation oflanguage pathw ays is not com
pleted until at least adolescence, an
d possibly later. P
arents can dem onstrate all
th ese purp
oses and patiently help a child experim ent w
ith them .
E ndless "W
hy?" questions are w earing, b
u t they are th
e foundation of language
as a
tool for
thinking, a
m ajor
im plem
ent for
intellectual grow th.
C H
A R
A C
T E
R IST
IC S O
F L
A N
G U
A G
E -B
U IL
D IN
G H
O M
E S
I • C h
ild ren fin
d aduJts' voices p leasan
t to listen
to (at least
u su
ally!). • C
h ild
ren see p aren
ts u sin
g lan
g u
ag e to
co m
m u
n icate an
d
solv e
p ro
b lem
s. A
duJts en
co u
rag e
"talk in
g
th ro
u g
h" situ
atio n
s b efore tak
in g
actio n
. • P
aren ts o
r caregivers sh are activities an
d talk
ab o
u t th
em
w ith
each ch ild
, an d
give freq u
en t p
raise. • A
d u
lts resp
o n
d
positively to
ch
ild ren's
attem p
ts to
com
m u
n icate. T
h ey listen
w h
en th
e ch ild
talks, refrain fro
m
in terru
p tin
g ,
an d
sh
o w
pleasu
re in
th
e ch
ild's u
se o
f lan
gu age.
• T h
e fam ily d
oes n o
t em p
h asize silence o
r su b
m issio
n as signs
of b ein
g "good." C
h ild
ren are en
co u
raged to "play" w
ith
w o
rd s an
d ex
p ress feelings verbally.
• A dults create "slots" for ch
ild ren's p
articip atio
n in
fam ily
co n
versation s.
• T h
e ch ild
is encouraged to talk
ab o
u t w
h at is h
ap p
en in
g
d u
rin g p
lay w ith
puzzles, b lo
~ , etc., an
d to
d escribe w
h at
sh e is d
oin g o
r thinking. ("T ell m
e w h
at y o
u r b
lo ck
h o
u se
looks like." "H o
w is th
at sh ap
e differen t from
th is o
n e?")
• C hild
ren m u
st u se language in
o rder to
h ave n
eed s m
et. W
hining, crying, o r gesturing d
oes n ot get children w
h at th
ey w
ant. • A
dults m odify th
eir ow n talk
to th
e child according to his ability to u
n d
erstan d
. T hey also rep
h rase an
d expan
d th
e child's speech to
teach m o
re advanced form s. (C
hild: "I
dooed it." A dult: "Y
es, you did th e w
h ole puzzle, d
id n't you?
N ow
w ould you like to d
o this on e?")
• V ideo view
ing is lim ited, and children are en
co uraged to talk
ab o
u t w
h at they have seen
. • T
apes, "talking" pictu re b
ooks, and oth er toys th
at enco u
rage listening skills are used, b
u t no
t in place of real h u
m an
voices . Incidentally
, noisy electro nic toys o
r vo ices th
at d on't so
und h
u m
an are poor m
od els because th
ey lack proso dy and the
n o
rm al rh
y th
m an
d in
to n
atio n
o f lan
g u
ag e. S
u rp
risin g
o r
fu n
n y
n o
ises attract a child's atten
tio n
, b u
t th ey
d o
not en
co u
rag e g
o o
d listen
in g
h ab
its. • T
elevision d o
es n o
t su b
stitu te for co
n v
ersatio n
. C h
ild ren
m
u st learn
to fo
rm u
late sen ten
ces an d
n o
t ju st so
ak u
p in
p u
t. E
ven g
o o
d
d iscrim
in atio
n
o f
so u
n d
s- th
e b
asis o
f "p
h o
n ics" -
co m
es fro m
talk in
g , n
o t from
T V
, w h
ich is m
ain ly
a visual ex p
erien ce for ch
ild ren
:
M o
th er o
r " M
o th
er F igu
re" ?
S tu
d ies o
f early language strongly em p
h asize th
e m o
th er's role.
W h
at if sh e is n
o t th
e p rim
ary caregiver? T
h is q
u estio
n is a h
ard
o n
e to answ
er, for it is clear th at th
ere is a biological b ase for
m o
th er-ch
ild
interactions th
at lay
th e
foundations for
com m
unication. Y et w
arm an
d loving physical care is n
o t enough.
A n
o rm
al child w ho h
ad b
een w
ell cared for an
d loved b
y d
eaf an d
m
u te p
aren ts h
ad ab
n o
rm al langu
age w hen h
e b eg
an to receive
regular th erapy after h
e w as th
ree years old. F o
rtu n
ately h e w
as yo
u n
g enough to
m ake up m
u ch
lost ground , b
u t th
e m essage is
clear: E xp
osu re to language is necessary
. If yo u
m u
st choose a su
b stitu
te caregiver for your child, o r even a freq
u en
t b abysitter,
in sist on a real concern for good language develo
p m
en t. C
heck o u
t gram
m ar, vocabulary
, an d voice quality as carefully as yo
u check
on h ealth an
d reliability. D
on't h ire so
m eo
n e w
ho w ill en
co u
rage yo
u r child to
"b e quiet" for convenience, o
r give h er poor m
o dels
of sp eech, or ch
eat h er out of a rich vocabula1y
. F ind som
eon e w
ho enjoys conversation an
d reading
, w ho w
ill disciplin e w
ith w ords
rath er th
an physical action. L ikew
ise, w hen choosing day-care
settings, p u
t good language near th e to
p of your list o
f"m u
sts."
B o
d y
L in
g u
istics
W h
o w ould ever believe th
at language, like so m any oth
er cog nitive
skills, is ro oted in nonverb
al bodily actions? N eurolin
guists assert th
at lan guage (and h
u m
an intelligence, too, by th e w
ay) d evelops
directly from gestu
re, and also from th
e p rocess of m
anipulatin g
168 o f 33
0
to o
ls (toys, in th
e ch ild
's w o
rld ) an
d p
hysical objects. If you try to
m
ak e a p
o in
t w ith
o u
t m o
v in
g y
o u
r h an
d s, y
o u
m ay g
et th e idea.
W h
en ch ild
ren are ask
ed to
n am
e to o
ls, th ey
activate th e sam
e areas in
th eir b
rain s th
at are active w h
en th
ey are p h
y sically u
sin g
th
e tools. W h
en ask
ed to
n am
e an jm
als, th e ch
ild activ
ates entirely d
ifferen t areas. If y
o u
w an
t to h
elp y
o u
r ch ild
b u
ild a keen
b rain
fo
r v o
cab u
lary, m
ak e su
re p len
ty o
f p h
ysical p
lay is
o n
th
e p
ro g
ram .
H ere are a few
suggestions for y o
u -o
r yo u
r child 's caregiver-
to b
u jld
th e p
rag m
atic b ase for lan
g u
ag e learn
in g
:
B u
ild in
g L
a n
g u
a g
e B a
sics: P ra
ctica l T
ip s
• A ssociate talking w
ith w arm
, p erso
n al in
teractio ns.
Y oun
g ch
ild ren
u n
d erstan
d loving p
h ysical
co n
tact b
etter th
an
lo ng
strin g
s o f w
ords. • In
itiate g am
es o f sh
arin g
an d
tu rn
-tak in
g . T
ake tu rn
s ba nging
a sp o
o n
o n
a tray. B uild a to
w er an
d let th
e child kno ck it d
ow n
. T
ake tu rn
s "talking," even if h alf o
f th e conversatio
n so
u n
ds like gibberish.
• "W here's y
o u
r tu m
m y
? W h
ere's y o
u r toe?" is a goo
d exam ple
of an
instin
ctive parent-child
g am
e th
at teach
es bo
th com
m u
n icatio
n an d
vocabulary. "W h
at does th e kitty say?" is
an o
th er favorite.
• S how
yo u
r child from th
e earliest m o
nths h ow
to look in to
so m
eo ne's eyes w
hen talking to th em
. T his co
m es naturally to m
ost ch
ild ren
. If your child h abitually avoids eye co
n tact, stop, gently
tu rn
his ch in
, say, "L ook at m
y eyes," an
d w
ait for eye co n
tact b
efore yo u
go on talking. C onsistent problem
s w ith eye co
n tact
w arran
t p rofession
al evaluation .
• U se attentio
n-gettin g phrases such as "L
ook h ere" o
r "See?" to m
ake sure th e child is "w
ith" yo u
. • W
hen a child is old enough to start conveying m eaning, let h
er know
w hen sh
e h as n
o t m
ade herself clear, an d
w hy. ("W
h en you
said yo u didn't w
an t to go an
d th en got yo
u r coat, I w
ondered w hat
yo u m
ean t.") Y
oung children using the telephone m ay n
eed to be rem
ind ed th
at the party on the o th
er end cannot see gestures o r
und erstand term
s like "this on e."
• H elp y
o u
r child d evelop tact . ("I liked it w
h en yo
u said, 'D
ad dy,
please h elp m
e w h
en yo u
're ready.' It m ad
e m e feel as if yo
u cared
abo u
t w h
at I w as d
oing, too.") • D
o n
't confuse a child w ith "b
ody talk
" th atisd
ifferen tfro
m yo
u r
w o
rd s. If yo
u are irritated or u p
set , exp ress it in
a reaso n
able an d
h
o n
est w ay.
• A d
ul ts an d
old er ch
ild ren
instinctively "p are d
o w
n " th
eir lan
g u
age to th
e child 's level. T
ru st y
o u
r in stincts w
h en you fin
d
yo u
rself sim plifying.
• If th e child h
as o ld
er siblings, en co
u rag
e th em
to talk to
th e
baby. Y ou w
ill b e asto
n ish
ed at w
h at g
o o
d teachers th
ey a
re, an d
th
ey w
ill b ask
in th
e p raise an
d w
arm feeling th
at th eir h
elp elicits. • C
hildren learn b
etter at first if th ere are only tw
o speakers, b
u t
fam ily conversatio
n is im p
o rtan
t, too. T h
e child sh ou
ld n
o t alw
ays be th
e cen ter o
f th e conversation, as ob
servin g "grow
n -u
p " talk
teaches the ru les.
• D ram
atic play, dolls, an d
p u
p p
ets h elp ch
ild ren p
u t th
em selves
in an o
th er p
erso n
's place. P ractice exch
ang ing roles. ("Y
ou b e th
e m
o m
m y now
an d
I'll b e th
e little b oy.")
• L et young children b
e im p
o rtan
t rn.essage-bearers. ("Please tell D
addy w e w
ill b e ready to
go in ten ffu
n u
tes.") T each ch
ildren to take responsibility for rem
em b
erin g
things th ey h
ear. • E
ncourage contacts w ith peers. C
h ild
ren learn
ab o
u t lan
g u
age from
social play. Y ou m
ay need to b
ite yo u
r to ng
ue as th ey w
ork ou
t m in
o r differences.
• L et your child teach you h
o w
to d
o so
m ething o
r g ive d
irectio ns
for an everyday action. F ollow
th e d
irectio n
s exactly to sh ow
the effect o
f h er w
ords. A classic exam
p le is d
escribing h ow
to m ake a
p ea n
u t b
u tter sandw
ich. Y ou m
ay get so m
e m u
tual laugh s trying
to sp read
the p ean
u t b
u tter before p
icking u p th
e knife o r o
pening th
e jar! S
uch direction-giving skills are rarely perfected before m
iddle school years. • Y
oung children gradually learn to
h an
d le in
d irect m
essages. If yo
u say, "W ould you like to
h elp m
e clean the dog 's pen?" d
o n
't be offend
ed if yo u
r ch ild responds, "N
o," an d
go es on playing. O
ne m
o th
er w as looking at p
ictures w ith
her little girl and asked , "D
o yo
u see w hat the an
im als are doi ng?" "U
h-h u
h," agreed the ch ild.
U ntil "indirectio
n " is m
astered , you m
ay need to be m o
re specific
if yo u
exp ect a resp
o n
se. • Y
our sen sitivity also p
ro v
ides a lesso n
in in
ferrin g
in fo
rm atio
n .
If y o
u r so
n com
es in an
d an
n o
u n
ces , "T h
e sw ing is b
ro k
en," an d
th
ere is n o
sw in
g in
y o
u r y
ard , you m
ig h
t an sw
er, "O h, y
o u
m u
st h
ave b een playing at Jim
m y's h
o u
se." In feren
ce takes a lo n
g tim
e to
d evelop b
ecau se it goes b
eyo n
d th
e co ncrete facts p
resen ted
. •
A bove
all , m
ak e
langu age
in p
u t p
leasan t
for y o
u r ch
ild. C
hildren w h
o h
ave learn ed to
"tu n
e o u
t" ad u
lt voices b ecau
se th ey
w
ere lo u
d , b
ossy, o r h
u rtfu
l m ay
start school w ith
p o
o r listen
in g
h
ab its.
M issed
L esso
n s
I on ce tested a little b
oy w h
o w as labeled a "m
isfit" in seco
n d
g rad
e. H
is teach er th
o ugh
t h e m
igh t h
ave a learn in
g disability b
ecau se h
e w
as u n
able to rem em
ber th e sim
p lest d
irections. H e h
ad difficulty
answ ering q
uestio ns an
d often "said th
e w ro
n g th
in g" to o
th er
child ren
. A fter testing P
aul , I k n
ew exactly w
h at sh
e m ean
t. H e
looked terri fied w hen asked a q
uestio n
; tears actu ally ap
p eared in
h
is eyes several tim es w
h en h
e h ad
to express an id
ea. H e n
eed ed
to h
ave m ost q
uestio ns repeated, an
d h
e could n
't say b
ack m
o re
th an
th ree n
u m
b ers in a row
, b u
t h e w
as good at block p uzzles an
d
m aking sen
se o u
t o f pictures. T
his profile is, in deed, typ
ical o f
child ren w
ho h ave lang
uage disabili ties, an d I w
as q u
ite co nfid
en t
o f m
y diagnosis u n
til P au
l's fath er cam
e to pick h im
up an d
asked to
see m e p
rivately.
P au
l's n eed
s, an d a sp
ecialist w o
rk ed
w ith
him o
n th
e skil ls listen
in g
an d
ex p
ressin g h
im self.
N o
w a
teen ag
er, h e is sti ll
"lo n
er" w h
o h
as tro u
b le relatin
g socially to
h is classm
ates. I oftc w
o n
d er w
h at w
o u
ld h
ave h ap
p en
ed if h
is first la ng
u age teach1
h ad
tak en
th e tim
e to give h
im all th
e lesso n
s.
M IL
E S
T O
N F
B IN
C O
M M
U N
IC A
T IO
N
A ges for each stag
e are ap p
ro x
im ate:
B efo
re b irth
: R eceives in
to n
atio n
p attern
s from M
o th
er 's voice.
B y tw
o m
o n
th s (possibly even a
t b irth
): R esp
o n
d s to
M o
th er 's
sp eech
.
B irth to n
in e m
o n
th s: C
ries, sm iles, vocalizes, lau
g h
s, reach es o
u t,
m ak
es gestu res o
f giving, p o
in tin
g, sh o
w in
g . M
ay co
py a n ad
ul t sti ck
in g
o u
t to n
gue.
B y
tw o
to
th ree
yea rs:
C an
co o
p erate
in
co m
m u
nica tio
n ;
u n
d erstan
d s h
o w
to ask an
d an
sw er, tak
e tu rn
s in talking.
C an u
se lan g
u ag
e for differen t p
u rp
o ses (to ge
t so m
eth in
g , to
tell ab
o u
t so m
eth ing, to relate to
o th
ers). R
esp o
n d
s to
sim p
le co
m m
an ds
if p
h rased
p ositively
(say
"S to
p !"-n
o t "D
o n
't eat th e sp
id er").
B y
three y ea
rs: G ives related
resp o
n se to
q u
estio n
. C h
an g
es to
p ics rapidly w
h e
n talking .
B y fo
u r yea
rs: P reten
d s to
h ave co
n versatio
n o
n toy teleph o
n e,
w aits for "an
s w er."
"I d on
't w an
t to blam e m
y w ife fo
r P aul 's p
ro blem
," h e con
fid ed
, "b
u t sh
e d oesn
't h ave m
u ch patience. A
ctually, sh e yells at th
e kids all th
e tim e -s
om etim
es sh e even sw
ears an d
p u
ts th em
dow n in
a real nasty
w ay. O
ur o th
er on es figh
t b ack, b
u t P
aul ju st acts like h
e doesn
't h ear it at all. I feel terrible tellin
g you th is, b
u t I th
ough t
yo u shou
ld kn ow
. "
B y th
ree to five y ea
rs: T alks to
self to h elp
co n
tro l b
eh avior o
r solve p
ro b
lem s.
So m
u ch fo
r m
y clear-cut
d iag
nosis! H
ow m
uch d
id
P aul's
negative exp eriences w
ith list en ing an
d co nversatio
n h ave to d
o w
ith h is langu
age disab ility? T
he "problem " w
as a real o ne at th
e tim
e I saw
him , bu
t its
so u
rce rem
ains open to
specula tion.
L ea
rni ng to "tun e out " h
ad enabl ed him to su
rvive at h o
m e, b
u t it
w asn
't helpin g at sch
ool! W e tried to h
elp h is m
ot11er un d
erstand
110 or 3 30
B y five y
ea rs: B
eginning to learn
w h
at is ap p
ro p
riate to say to
differen
t types oflisten ers.
F ive to six y
ea rs: S
till b lam
es listen er w
h en
h e's n
ot u n
d erstoo
d .
B y ten y
ea rs: C
an stick to a top ic.
V aries co
n versation according to listen
er. C
an use lang uage to
g ive "h
in ts ."
U n
d erstan
d s social "rules" fo
r lang u
age use.
T here is no question th
at som e children pick up th
e form s and
uses oflanguage m ore easily than others, an
d P
aul m ight have had
difficuJty despite the m ost loving attention. Infants w
ho show
m ore active brain w
aves in respo nse to
sounds tend to be m o
re verbally advanced
at age three an d
better readers in school, suggesting th
at som e children are m
ore linguistically oriented from
birth. S ociable children also ten
d to develop language m
ore rapidly.
C hildren
also have
different styles
o f language
learning. R
eferential children use w
ords an d
sentences sooner, speak m ore
clearly, and experim en
t earlier w ith gram
m atical form
s. T hey ten
d
to use m ore nam
es of people an d
physical objects. E xpressive-style
children are som ew
hat slow er to
talk; w hen they do they're m
ore likely to start by echoing the conversation o
f adults o r using w
ords like "please." T
heir speech m ay b
e som ew
hat unclear, they acquire vocabulary m
ore gradually, an d
their conversations focus o n
social interaction as w
ell as objects. T hese styles are probably partially
innate, b u
t they also reflect the type an d
am o
u n
t o f speech in the
hom e. B
oth are considered "norm al."
H ow
do you know if your child is leryning language o
n schedule?
S om
e of the earliest signs concern how accurately it is received and
pronounced.
P H
O N
O L
O G
Y : M
A S
T E
R IN
G T
H E
M E
C H
A N
IC S
T
ak in
g in L
an gu
age
L ike any production system
, language h as tw
o m ain parts: input
and output. W ithout good raw
m aterial going in
, the quality of the output inevitably suffers-
in auto factories an d
in the language production system
. T he nam
e given to the ability to use sounds is
phonology. P
honological developm ent starts w
hen sounds of speech activate w
aiting neural netw orks.
F irst o
f all, the child m ust be able to pay attention
. A bility to focus
on im portant sounds and differentiate them
from background
noise originates far dow n in the brain. Y
ou can help by providing an environm
ent w here noise is reaso
nably controlled. "T alking"
w ith ju
st one person at a tim e also helps.
S econd, the child m
ust be able to discrim in
ate one so und from
another. Is M
om saying "shin e" o
r "chim e"? If the brain doesn't
get good quality input and interactive p ractice w
ith real people during these years, the child m
ay have later difficuJty w ith reading,
spelling, and speaking clearly. F or this reason, pediatricians are
on the lookout to prevent an
d treat ear infections th
at cause in
term itten
t hearing loss.
G ettin
g O u
t th e W
ord s: P
ractical T ip
s
O ne of o
u r neighbor's children said "pasketti" for spaghetti so often
that the w hole fam
ily renam ed this staple. S
uch confusion o f
sounds show
s th at the left hem
isphere hasn't perfected its
analyzing job. F irst, sounds in the w
ord m ust b
e received clearly, in th
e proper order, an d
held in "short-term m
em ory" long enough
for the brain to register them . T
hen the order m ust be recaptured
and forw arded to the speech apparatus for production. A
diagram
of this p art o
f the input-output system m
ight look like the above.
B U
IL D
IN G
L A
N G
U A
G E
: R E
P E
T IT
IO N
W IT
H O
U T
M E
A N
IN G
~ ·--;,:---
'
~
"':::J
r Q
,_J'::. t_
).~~
t.i,~L
.,::: .. ..
/
J_.J @
a '.:!.-.,,,.,
,- D
uring the first year the brain needs lots of practice hearing an d
im
itating sounds, but m ost children are not ready to produce real
w ords until after their first birthday. L
ike m any other skills, this
developm ent cannot be forced, for it depe n
ds on the m aturation
of m
ultiple connections.
Sim plified
consonant-vow el
com binations and m
ispronunciations are typical of first w ords:
"poo" o r "poon" for "spoon," "ga-ga" or "goggy" for "doggy."
A rticulation and m
em ory im
prove w ith increased p
ractice and longer
w ords.
H ere
are som
e suggestions
for encouraging
developm ent o
f th e m
echanics of speech :
, W hen talking to children, adults tend to speak m
ore clearl y, in a higher voice, and pause longer betw
een sounds than in adult speec h.
E xperts call
this "M otherese." F
ast, rapidly changing
173 o f 330
sound patterns (such as those on T V
) are confusing fo r chlldren
. B
eing sensitive to the child's response p
revents you r shu
tting dow
n the system by overloading it.
• It's okay to exaggerate the contours o f your voice to help the
child get the m essage. Scaling dow
n w ords is good for babies
("m am
a," "nana"), b u
t don't use baby talk that m odels incorrect
pronunciation. • E
arly gam es o
f im itating tongue m
ovem ents help build the
speech apparatus. P ractice im
itating different pitches and volum e.
• G et a book o
f childhood gam es to find possibilities fo
r language building. G
am es o
f syllable repetition are excellent p ractice. W
hen the child can repeat one syllable ("b
a"), try tw o ("ba-da"), and three
("ba-da-ba "; ''ba-ga-da"). L ater, try w
ords. K eep it easy enough to
be fun . P
reschoolers and even older children benefit from gam
es like "G
randm other's T
runk" and "T elephone," etc., w
here the goal is to rem
em ber an
d repeat w
ords in order. • G
am es that have rhym
ing w ords help later listening and
reading. • "Pig L
atin" an d
sim ilar gam
es help older children rem em
ber and sequence sounds.
• C hildren differ w
idely in their tendency to im
itate aduJt speech. It is com
m on fo
r children to understand m ore than they say.
• C hildren need tim
e to think o f the right w
ords and pronounce them
; don't steal their ch ance to learn by doing it for them
. • If you
r child m ispronounces a w
ord, gently repeat it correctly. D
o not expect acc u rate articulatio
n of all sounds until after age
seven. • Y
ou can help m aintain a child's attention by touching or holding
her gently (on the chin o r shoulder) w
hile you are talking. A sk,
"C an you say it back?" Y
ou m ay need to rephrase and sim
plify. D
on't ignore a child 's habit o
f"tuning out." • S
om e children have unusual difficulty sorting out im
portant talk
from
background noise.
T hey
need a
lim ited
noise environm
ent. • E
xcess em phasis on perfection spoils the gam
e. If you find you r
anxiety level b uilding, pull back. L
anguage that is tangled up w itl1
unpleasant feelings is hard to unravel.
~ M E
C H
A N
IC A
L M
IL F
S T
O N
F .S
B ecau
se o f in
d iv
id u
al d ifferen
ces am o
n g
ch ild
ren , th
ese ag es are
o n
ly ap
p ro
x im
ate.
F irst fo
u r m
o n
th s: C
an d
istin g
u ish
b etw
een d
ifferen t so
u n
d s ( o
n e
to tw
o m
o n
th s), co
o in
g .
F o
u r to eig
h t m
onths: B ab
b lin
g (m
ay u
se so u
n d
s n o
t in E
n g
lish
lan g
u ag
e).
N in
e to tw
e lve m
o n
th s : F
irst syllables (co n
so n
an t-v
o w
el: "m a"
"m am
a").
F irst co
n so
n an
ts, u su
ally p
, m , t, an
d k.
F irst vow
els , u su
ally a, i, u.
B ab
b lin
g m
ay con
tin u
e ev en
after ch ild
acq u
ires w o
rd s .
B y three years: S
p eech
can b
e u n
d ersto
o d
.
F o
u r to five years: C
an p
ro n
o u
n ce co
n so
n an
t clu sters (e.g., sm
, sp
, tr, cl) .
S ix years : C
an p
ro n
o u
n ce an
d d
istin g
u ish
b etw
een all vow
el so
u n
d s.
~
E ight
years: C
an
p ro
n o
u n
ce an
d
d istin
g u
ish
b etw
een
all co
n so
n an
t so u
n d
s .
N in
e years: C an
rem em
b er an
d rep
eat fo u
r to five n
u m
b ers in
a row
.
p ro
b lem
. T h
en y
o u
sh o
u ld
seek an
ev alu
atio n
fro m
a sp eech
an d
lan
g u
ag e clinic o
r p riv
ate th erap
ist. A lth
o u
g h
o ften
self-correcting, articu
latio n
d iso
rd ers can
b e a h
arb in
g er o
f o th
er lan g
u ag
e an d
sch
o o
l p ro
b lem
s. S ev
ere articu latio
n p
ro b
lem s cau
sin g
"slushy" sp
eech m
ay b
e asso
ciated w
ith p
o o
r co n
tro l o
v er m
o u
th an
d to
n g
u e
m o
v em
en ts.
T h
is oral
d ysp
ra xia
is
o ften
related
to
sim ilar
in co
o rd
in atio
n o
f h an
d s o
r o th
er m o
to r d
y sp
rax ias an
d req
u ires
p ro
fessio n
al treatm en
t. A
ll ch ild
ren rep
eat T V
co m
m ercials an
d o
th er fam
iliar m essag
es; it is n
o rm
al w h
en acco
m p
an y
in g
o th
er efforts to co
m m
u n
icate sp
o n
tan eo
u sly
. A few
ch ild
ren w
ith a lan
g u
ag e d
iso rd
er called "echolalia" d
o n
't learn to
express th em
selv es in
th eir o
w n
w o
rd s.
T h
ey rep
eat slo g
an s in
ap p
ro p
riately in place o
f original speech, so
u n
d in
g stran
g ely
"flat," w ith
o u
t th e n
o rm
al co n
to u
rs o f th
e h
u m
an
voice. S
u ch
children
usually h
av e
several sig
n s
o f
d ev
elo p
m en
tal difference an d
n eed
early professional atten tio
n .
A p
p ro
x im
ately 4 to 1
0 p
ercen t o
f all ch ild
ren -m
ain ly
boys stu
tter at so m
e tim e d
u rin
g th
eir early years. M
o st cases clear u
p
sp o
n tan
eo u
sly w
ith in
o n
e year, an d
only 1 p ercen
t o f ad
u lts are
stu tterers. S
tu tterin
g ten
d s to
ru n
in fam ilies. If y
o u
r child starts to
stu tter, ignore it for a
w hile an
d k
eep th
e atm
o sp
h ere as
u n
p ressured as possible, sin
ce perfectionism an
d anxiety w
o rsen
th
e condition. If it persists, g et a prnfessio
n al evalu
atio n
. T h
e sam e
advice applies
to stam
m erin
g
("T h
e ... u h
... u h
... u h
.. . u h
... dog"), w
h ich
m ay
sim ply signal
• Y o
u r en
th u
siastic resp o
n se is th
e trig g
er for y o
u r child's
co n
tin u
ed lan
g u
ag e d
ev elo
p m
en t. D
o n
't fall in to
th e trap
o f trying
to "drill" lan
g u
ag e skills ; g
o o
d sp
eech develops in
a co n
tex t o
f everyday ev
en ts an
d play
.
th at th
e ch ild
's excess of rapidly firing synapses are tem p
o rarily
o u
tstrip p
in g
h is articulatory capability.
S o
m e ex
p erim
en ters are trying to
help th e b
rain gain lang
u age
abilities b y
directing special tapes o f m
usic o r voices into left o
r rig
h t h
em ispheres. T
his n otio
n is
still very controversial. B
e skeptical of anyone w
ho prom ises dram
atic "cures" o r claim
s th at
one typ e of treatm
en t can cure m
any differen t problem
s. A bove
all , steer aw ay from
any system in w
hich langu age train
in g
is m ad
e M
ech a
n ica
l P ro
b lem
s
S o
m etim
es th is finely tu
n ed
phonolo gical system
m isfires. T
h e
m o
st co
m m
o n
ly diagno
sed lan
gu age
problem
is w
ith clear
articulatio n
. If y o
u r child is very slow
in develo p
in g
com m
o n
ly acqu
ired so u
n d
s o r does n
o t have in
telligible speech b y
age th ree,
yo u
sh ou
ld first h
av e a d
o cto
r rule o
u t any p
rim ary
physical
u n
p leasan
t for ch ild
ren .
C om
puterized train
ing pro
gram s
to enhance
phonological processing
for school-age
ch ild
ren are
prom ising
, b
u t
still controversial. N
o g u
aran tees exist th
at th ey w
ill im prove reading
skill .
17 5 o
f 3 30
M u
ltilin gu
al B ra
in s
R esearch
su g
g ests th
at th e b
rain s o
f p eo
p le w
h o
sp eak
m o
re th an
o n
e lan g
u ag
e allocate m o
re n eu
ral real estate to th
e lan g
u age
cortex, an d
each lan
g u
ag e occupies a sligh
tly sep arate lo
cation. M
o reo
v er, if y
o u
learn ed
F ren
ch
in high
school, it p
ro b
ably o
ccu p
ies a d ifferen
t area th an
it w o
u ld
h av
e if yo u h
ad learn
ed it
b efo
re p u
b erty. W
h ich
b rin
g s u
s to a q
u estio
n very m
u ch
o n
p
aren ts' m
in d
s : how , w
h en
, an d
w h
eth er ch
ild ren
sh o
u ld
receive in
stru ctio
n in
a seco n
d o
r th ird
lan g
u ag
e. L
ike an y
p rescrip
tio n
b ased
o n
cu rren
t b rain
research , th
is o n
e is
co m
p lex
an
d
still d
ep en
d s
o n
in
co m
p lete
in fo
rm atio
n .
A b
so lu
tely n
o research
suggests th at playing foreign lan
g u
age tap
es to y
o u
r b ab
y w
ill m ak
e h er a
g en
iu s-esp
ecially a b
ab y
E in
stein , w
h o
w as actually so
m eth
in g
o f a k
lu tz w
ith early lan
g u
ag e
d evelo
p m
en t him
self! O n
th e o
th er h
an d
, if y o
u w
an t y
o u
r child to
acq u
ire a g o
o d
accen t in
several lan g
u ag
es later on, it m ig
h t n
o t b
e a b
ad id
ea to ex
p o
se h er to
th e so
u n
d s o
f th e w
o rd
s in so m
e enjoy
able w ay, b
ecau se p
h o
n o
lo g
y is th
e h ard
est o f th
e lan g
u ag
e skills to
recap tu
re if yo u d
o n
't g et it early
on. A
lthough b ab
ies o f all cu
ltu res b
eg in
b y
b ab
b lin
g sim
ilar so u
n d
s, o
n ce th
ey d ro
p th
o se to w
hich th ey
are n o
t exposed it b eco
m es
increasingly difficult to recover th
em . T
h e g
ram m
ar o f a lan
g u
age also
b eco
m es h
ard er to
learn after p
u b
erty, alth o
u g
h it is still
possible, an d
old er stu
d en
ts h av
e b etter strategies for m
asterin g
th
e rules o f a n
ew g
ram m
ar. V
ocabulary can b
e learn ed
an y
tim e, b
u t it takes lo
n g
er as w e age.
C uriously, ev
en flu
en t second-language speakers say
they have tro
u b
le w ith
o n
e p articu
lar elem en
t o f social usage (pragm
atics) - s
u b
tle jo k
es an d
a sen se o
f h u
m o
r. So, clearly, it is preferable to
get so m
e o f th
e basics u n
d er your belt (or h
at, in this case) early on, if possible. W
h eth
er o r n
o t it w
orks d ep
en d
s on b o
th th
e reason an
d th
e m eth
o d
for th e "teaching."
M ost children w
ho grow u
p in bilingual h
o m
es readily m aster
b o
th languages. F
o r a w
hile th eir overall developm
ent is a little slow
er, b u
t they eventually catch u p
an d
becom e fluent in b
o th
. T
h eir learn
ing is b ased
o n
th e b
est reaso n
-co m
m u
n icatio
n ~
an d
th
e "m ethod
" is eve1y day interaction w
ith fam ily m
em bers. T
his is
tru e
for m
ost children.
A
b rain
w ith
inefficient
circuits fo
r language, how
ever, h as real tro
u b
le g rap
p lin
g w
ith ev
en o
n e set o
f so
u n
d s, m
ean in
g s, an
d g
ram m
ar. E
xpose a yo u
n g
child to a foreig
n lan
g u
ag e if (1) th
e ch ild
does n
ot h ave an
in cip
ien t lan
g u
ag e p
ro b
lem ; (2
) th e ch
ild is in
terested
an d
learn in
g is n
o n
stressfu l; (3) th
e language is p resen
ted o
ra lly
in th
e sam e w
ay ch ild
ren m
aster th eir n
atu ral lan
g u
ag e; (4) th
e sp
eaker h as a tru
e n ative accent; (5) u
n d
erstan d
in g
o f ru
les o f
gram m
ar is n o
t d em
an d
ed . It is helpful for ch
ild ren
in bilingual
h o
m es to
b e able to
so rt o
u t th
e languages b y
sp e a k
e r-th
a t is,
M o
m m
y's lan g
u ag
e, D ad
dy's language, D o
ra's lan g
u ag
e. F o
r o th
er ch
ild ren
, so n
gs, rhym es, an
d gam
es em b
ed th
e lin g
u istic p
attern s
enjoyably. If th e child is en
co u
rag ed
to fo
rm u
late (speak) as w ell,
all th e b
etter. F
o r ch
ild ren
w ith
a language disability , it pays to
w o
rk h
ard o
n
em b
ed d
in g o
n e language before in
tro d
u cin
g fo
rm al in
stru ctio
n in
an
o th
er one.
G R
A M
M A
R (S
Y N
T A
X ): L
E A
R N
IN G
T H
E R
U L
E S
T
h e W
u g
th a
t F liIU
D 1ed
F our-year-old M
olly liste n
s\te n
tly . "S
how m
e," h er teach
er says, "th
e h o
rse kicked th e cow
." M
olly h ap
p ily
seizes th e toy h
o rse in
fro n
t of h er an
d delivers th
e cow
a satisfying clout. "N
ow listen an
d do this," says th
e teacher, "th e h
o rse is kicked
b y
th e cow
." M
olly hesitates. "H e ju
st did th at," sh
e p ro
tests. B
y th e age of four, m
o st children h
av e m
astered an
astonishing n
u m
b er of rules for w
ord o rd
er, w hich m
ak e u
p th
e g ram
m ar, o
r syn
ta x
o f
a language.
L ike
M olly
, th
ey
sh o
w
sophisticated
co m
p reh
en sio
n until they h
it th e tou
gh est gram
m atical stru
ctu res.
H ow
do th ey
learn th
ese rules? B y listenin
g, listenin g
, listening an
d practicing,
practicing, p racticin
g . G
row in
g b rain
s so
p up
language an d
m agically w
ring ou t gram
m atical prin
ciples w ithout
even b ein
g aw
are th at they're d
oin g it.
"A ll right, M
olly, h ere's an
oth er toy. P
reten d
this is a stran ge
anim al called a 'w
ug .' Y
ou try to fin
ish w h
at I say ab o
u t th
e w u
g, okay?"
"O kay!" M
olly is th o
ro u
g h
ly enjoying th
is gam e.
"T his is o
n e w
ug. N o
w th
ere are tw o o
f th em
. T h
ere are tw o
... ?" "W
ugs!" "T
errific! N o
w listen. T
his w u
g likes to
flim . N
o w
h e is ... ?"
"F lim
m ing!" M
olly ch o
rtles an d
m ak
es th e toy d
o a little d
an ce
o n
th e table.
"G ood. Y
esterday h e ... ?"
"F lim
m ed."
W h
at is th e p
u rp
o se o
f this n o
n sen
se talk? It certainly isn 't a
vocabulary lesso n
. T h
e teach er has ju
st d em
o n
strated th
at M olly
can apply rules b
y ad
d in
g ap
p ro
p riate en
d in
g s to
w o
rd s sh
e h as
never h eard
before. It alm o
st seem s like m
agic th at y
o u
n g
ch ild
ren
generalize all o f th
ese rules in a stan
d ard
o rd
er; even ch ild
ren w
h o
are delayed in
th eir language developm
ent usually follow th
e sam e
p attern
, only m o
re slow ly. W
h en
a new rule is first learn
ed , it is
usually overapplied, explaining w hy M
olly says "I ru n
n ed
" in stead
o
f "I ran ," an
d w
hy a th ree-year-old ask
ed for "a chee" w
h en
sh e
w an
ted o
n e piece of cheese. M
o st ch
ild ren
h av
e m astered
alm o
st all language rules b
y age four. L
ater-developing stru ctu
res are th e
passive voice ("T he horse w
as kicked b y
th e cow
"), tim e sequences
th at have th
e w ords reversed ("B
efore you m ix in
th e flour, please
b eat th
e eggs"), com parative form
s (big, bigger, biggest; som e,
m o
re, m ost), an
d irregular plurals (m
ice, w o
m en
).
R u
le P ro
b lem
s
S om
e children h ave trouble latching o
n to th
ese rules. P roblem
s m
ay result from
p o
o r m
o dels of g
ram m
ar at h o
m e, from
ear problem
s during th eir early years, or possibly from
som e delay in
th
e b rain
's circuits th at cause a languag
e disability. A child w
ho h
as trouble rem
em b
ering w ord sequences w
ill h
ave difficulty
producing th em
. F or som
e, repeated exposure ju st d
oesn 't seem
to
"take." H ere are exam
ples from the sp
eech o f children w
ho n eed
so
m e h
elp :
P a
tsy , a
g e six: "O
n ce up
on a tim e th
ere w as a boy, an
d h
e said ,
'A t this s tore is too big.' 'I w
ant th e on
e w ith not th
e h at.' "
B en
, a g
e n in
e: "O n a b
ig field th ere is tw
o b oys in th
e early
178 ol 3 30
m o
rn in
g b
ecau se th
ey d
id n
't sleep all n
ig h
t." C
arol, a g
e ten : "A
in d
ex is a th
in g
an d
in th e b
ack of th e b
o o
k
an d
it's all arran g
ed ."
T h
ese ch ild
ren all h
av e an
ad eq
u ate co
m m
an d
o f v
o cab
u lary
an d
a clear id
ea o f w
h at th
ey m
ean . T
h e p
ro b
lem lies w
ith h
o w
th ey
strin g
w o
rd s to
g eth
er to ex
p ress th
eir ideas. T h
eir su b
tle variatio n
s fro
m stan
d ard
fo rm
sh o
w th
at th ey
are h av
in g
p ro
b lem
s w ith
th e
n u
an ces o
f o ral language. W
h en
th ey h
ear th eir p
h rases rep
eated ,
th ey
m ay
n o
t b e aw
are an y
th in
g is w
ro n
g . C
o u
ld an
en rich
ed lan
g u
ag e en
v iro
n m
en t h
av e h
elp ed
? W e really d
o n
't k n
ow , sin
ce sy
n tactic
p ro
b lem
s are
am o
n g
th
e m
o st
difficult even
fo r
professionals to treat. T
h e confusion m
ay lie at a m
o re b
asic n eural
level w
h ere
th e
b rain
picks
up, recognizes,
an d
rem
em b
ers p
attern s o
f all k in
d s. T
h u
s, play exp erien
ces th at h
elp th
e b rain
learn to
organize in co
m in
g in
fo rm
atio n
an d
learn ab
o u
t rules an d
relatio
n sh
ip s are p
ro b
ab ly im
p o
rtan t in d
eveloping gram m
ar! T
h ere are also m
an y w
ays for ad u
lts to involve ch
ild ren in
th e
p attern
s an d
rules o flan
g u
ag e:
• B ecau
se a critical p erio
d for acquiring th
e g ram
m ar o
f at least o
ne lan g
u age occurs in
th e early years, m
ak e su
re good m o
d els are
available. O n
ce th e g
ram m
ar o f o
n e lan
g u
age is m astered
, it is easier to
learn o
th ers. T
h e gram
m atical level o
f th e m
o th
er's sp
eech correlates w
ith a child's reading skill even y
ears later. C
aregivers' m o
d eling is also im
p o
rtan t.
• C hildren d
em an
d an
d n
eed lots o
f p attern
repetition. R epetitive
p attern
s su ch
as n u
rsery rhym
es are o n
e o f th
e b est w
ays to
organize young b rain
s aro u
n d
language. • E
xpose y o
u r child to
good language from th
e beginning. In
ad d
itio n
to talking, start read
in g
aloud. A void books v
,,jtJl "p o
p "
language an d
slanglike expressions. I rem em
b er h
o w
tired I u
sed
to b
e at the en d
o f th
e day , b
u t now
I w ish I'd
taken even m o
re tim e
for story reading .
• D on
't sto p
reading o u
t lo u
d w
hen th e child learn
s to read. F
am ilies traveling by car have a special o
p p
o rtu
n ity
for ro u
n d
robin reading; w
e found it settled irritations an d
p o
stp o
n ed
the inevitable "H
ow m
uch longer?" A lthough m
o re labor-intensive
th an
video , it w
ill d o
a lo t m
o re for y
o u
r child's b rain
circuits. • C
hildren love to go to
plays an d
p u
p p
et show s. B
e w ary
o f taxing
little b rain
s w ith
to o
m u
ch excitem
ent, an d
k eep
su ch
events in
freq u
en t an
d special.
• C h
ild ren
learn sy
n tactic rules fro
m helpful adults. P
aren ts ten
d
to co
rrect m ean
in g
m o
re often th an
g ram
m ar, b
u t you can
tactfully reshape a
n d
exp a
n d
a child's talk. If M olly says, "I ru
n n
ed ," D
ad
m ig
h t say, "Y
es, you ran " (reshaping), th
en add, "Y
ou ran to
g et
th e little box, d
id n
't you?" (expanding). • L
inking all lan g
u ag
e learn in
g to
everyday h ap
p en
in g
s helps u
n d
erstan d
in g
an d
m em
ory. U se concrete objects to
sh o
w w
h at
you m ean
w henever possible. ("B
efore you b ru
sh y
o u
r teeth , let's
w ash
y o
u r face.")
• W h
en looking at pictures together, sh
o w
y o
u r child different
w ays to
talk ab
o u
t o n
e event. "S ee, th
e m an
is going shopping. H e
w an
ts to shop for food because his children are hungry. W
h at a big
b ag
h e has! It is bigger th
an th
e o th
er one, b u
t th is o
n e is th
e biggest of all."
• C hildren n
eed to h &
r m an
y questions in
o rd
er to pick u
p th
e interrogative form
. P ractice asking W
ho? W h
at? W h
en ? W
here? H
ow ? an
d W
hy? questions an d
show y
o u
r child h o
w to
an sw
er th
em . T
h en reverse roles to
encourage y o
u r child to
ask questions using th
ese w ords.
• F ollow
your n atu
ral tendency to in
crease th e com
plexity of yo u
r sen
ten ces
as y
o u
r child
gets older.
C heck
h er
level of
u n
d erstan
d in
g b
y asking h
er to restate w h
at sh e thinks you said.
S om
e children act as if they u n
derstand w h
en th ey really d
o n't.
• S tudies show
th at children do n
o t pick up th
e use of articles (a ,
the, an), connectives (and, but, or), o r p
repositions w ithout adult
interaction. Y ou can devise gam
es usin
g prepositions. H
idin g
objects an d
giving clues is one exam ple. ("It is under som
eth ing."
"L ook
inside som
ething green.")
D em
o nstrate
h ow
yo
u use
p repositio
ns in everyday talk. "See, I'm
putting th e to
m atoes
beside th e pears.")
• B e patient. T
hese rules are incredibly com plicated
. O ften
, too, th
e child's idea an d
desire to tell yo u abo
ut it is m ore im
po rtant
th an
his exact w ording.
M IL
E S
T O
N F
S IN
L A
N G
U A
G E
R U
L E
L E
A R
N IN
G
T h
ese are only a few o
f th e m
an y
g ram
m atical stru
ctu res ch
ild ren
m
aster. T h
ere is w ide individual variation in
th is
asp ect o
f lan
g u
ag e developm
ent.
S ix to tw
elve m onths: R
epeats syllables ("pa-pa-pa").
E ighteen to tw
en ty-fo
u r m
onths: C om
bines tw o o
r m o
re w ords
in sen
ten ces.
B y three years: C
onstructs sentences o f th
ree o r four w
ords. U ses
n o
u n
an d
verb p h
rases ("D at big doggie" "H
im w
an t cookie").
T w
o to fo u
r years: U ses verb tense m
arkers (w alked, w
alking, ru
n n
ed ).
T hree to fo
u r years: U
ses auxiliary verbs, negatives ("I w on
't can do
").
B y fo
u r to five years: N
o overgeneralizations ("I ru n
n ed
"). E
ight years: U ses irregular plurals (w
om en, m
ice).
S E
M A
N T
IC S
: M O
V IN
G IN
T O
M E
A N
IN G
A
Q u
estio n
o f S
em a
n tics
T h
e p atterns of a child's personal ex
perience are th e tem
plate for langu
age understanding
and expression
. A
ttem pts
to
teach ch
ild ren language by drill don't w
o rk very w
ell because m eaning
is m issing. W
h en children learn language in th
eir natural setting, m
eaning com es w
ith th e package b
ecause th ere are all kinds o
f props in th
e situation. W hile M
other talks about a toy, sh e holds
it ou t for th
e child to touch . W
h en D
ad says, "L et's go for a w
alk," h
e gets his jacket out of the closet. P arents have an instinctive
ten dency to label objects and provide an on
going com m
entary ab
out daily
activities. L
anguage link
ed to
everyday events
ultim ately exp
ands to descriptions, story plots, and ab stract id
eas. It is a lo
ng but direct route from "See baby" to the im
plications of "S
trik e w
hile the iron is ho t."
T h
e term "sem
antics" is used for language m eaning, from
sin gle
w o
rds to long texts. W hile specific areas of the left hem
isphere prob
ably co ntrol sounds, gram
m ar, and som
e asp ects of m
eaning,
181 o f 330
overall sem an
tic abilities are m o
re w idely d
istrib u
ted. T hey also
g o
h an
d in
h an
d w
ith m
en tal developm
ent. A typical child rep
eated
th e above p
ro v
erb perfectly, b
u t w
o n
d ered
, "D id
n 't th
ey g
et b u
rn ed
w
h en
th ey
h it th
e h o
t iro n
s?" A lthough h
e u n
d ersto
o d
each w ord,
h is thin.king w
as sim p
ly n
o t so
p h
isticated en
o u
g h
to g
et beyond th
e literal m ean
in g. It is im
possible to b
u ild
language (o r reading)
co m
p reh
en sio
n
unless basic
th in
k in
g
skills are
p art
o f th
e p
ro g
ram .
L earning w
ords an d
th eir m
ean in
g s is all tied
u p
w ith concept
developm ent because w
ords are sym bols. E
xactly h o
w d
o you
k n
o w
w h
at a "dog" is? T h
ere are so m
e p retty
odd-looking dogs w
alking aro u
n d
, y et an
ad u
lt can alm ost alw
ays say w ith certainty,
"T hat's a dog." H
o w
d o
you know th
at so m
eth in
g is a chair-
an d
n
o t a bench, o
r a stool? S om
ew here inside yo
u r b
rain you have
m ental pictures o
f y o
u r typical dog an
d ch
air, w hich you com
pare w
ith each n ew
anim al o
r "object to sit on." If the n ew
on e is close
enough to y
o u
r prototype, you feel confident about using th at label.
K now
ledge o f w
ord m eanings is stored in th
e brain in "sem antic
netw orks" th
at connect m illions o
f prototypes for things, events, an
d even ab
stract ideas such as "freedom " o
r "m ercy."
H ow
do children develop sem antic netw
orks? F rom
firsthand exp
eriences w ith objects in th
e real w orld, an
d from
hearin g w
o rds
asso ciated w
ith those objects an d
then w ith o
th er w
ords. "G o car
car," shouts a toddler as a bus passes by. "T h
at's a bus," explains h
er m o
th er. "Y
ou ride in a car, an d
you ride in a bus, b u
t a bus is bigger. A
car is sm aller than a bus." A
sem antic netw
ork for "vehicles"
h as ju
st been born.
P atiently,
slow ly,
adults help
children braid th e stran
d s o
f experience, language, an d
thought.
P a
ttern s o
f R ela
tio n
sh ip
C om
prehending language is basically a question of understanding relationships. O
ne early relatio nship problem
is learning about pronouns. "Y
ou give it to m e" m
eans differen t things depending
on w ho says it. M
ost children, how ever, m
aster "I-you " and "rny
yo ur"
co nfu
sions by
about age
th ree-a
rem arkable
feat o
f abstraction
. C
ontinu ed
tro uble
w ith
pronouns m
ay signal
und erlying difficulty that should be investigated
.
P rep
ositions are an o
th er w
ay to express relationships. W h
at is "ab
ove" anyw ay? It m
ight m ean
w here an
airplane is flying, o r o
n
to p of a p
rin ted
lin e o
n a page. "In" an
d "o
u t" m
ean different things
if yo u
're talking ab o
u t th
e cereal's relationship to th
e cu p
b o
ard o
r B
ill's m em
b ersh
ip in th
e club. O th
er p arts of speech can
also b e
co nfu
sing . W
h at is "little"? M
olly is little co m
p ared
to D
ad, b u
t sh e
is n o
t little co m
p ared to a goldfish
. "H ere" an
d "there" change
dep ending o
n w
here yo u
are. F ortunately th
e h u
m an
b rain
seem s
w ell
ad ap
ted for
this kind
of w
o rk
-if th e
child h
as good
fo u
n d
atio ns for u
n d
erstan d
in g
physical relationships. A s w
e w ill
see in ch ap
ter 1
1 , such language concepts are also critical for
learn in
g m
ath! A
t this p o
in t w
e n eed
to ad d
a w hole new
layer to o u
r in p
u t
o u
tp u
t system . In
th e previous diagram
, in p
u t w
as sim ply rep
eated
w ithout an
y understanding, as w h
en you read
aloud in fro
n t o
f a crow
d o f p
eople an d
th en
h av
e n o
idea w h
at you read about. Y
ou can also repeat m
athem atical form
ulae o r w
ords in a foreign
lan gu
age, b u
t unless you have so m
e associations to plug th
em into
, th
ey fall right o u
t o f y
o u
r b rain
at th e sam
e tim e th
ey fall o
u t o
f yo
u r m
outh! T he accom
panying illustration show s w
h at h
ap p
ens w
hen w e m
ove u p
to a level w h
ere incom ing w
ords get associated w
ith fam iliar inform
ation from sem
an tic netw
orks.
B U
IL D
IN G
L A
N G
U A
G E
: C O
N N
E cislN
G W
IT H
T H
O U
G H
T
q- G
e ~
~ ~
=5-'--f-1 ~ ~ ~ -
is\ (,,"ii~
L
·=
, 1:::---:.1
~ ~
------- "·""'
:_r=:,.
t (::~~'---:_o==-----
.
' ... ~-·-- ,-, ~
&
'-.. ::l"' __ j
. _ _
l- ([~
,.,__.,,,._ 1. -
« n
.,,
E x
p ressin
g M
ea n
in g
D id you notice that there's still a gap in the system
? W h
at happens to all th
e good ideas churning aro u
n d
in th e topm
ost layer? T ake a pencil an
d d
raw in
th e lin
e to connect co
m p
reh en
sio n
an d
sequencing w
ords. L abel it "form
ulation" -ex p
ressin g
an original
m essage.
C hildren th
ese days
m ay
n
o t
get en
o u
g h
practice
form ulating sentences an
d conversations as th
ey w
atch T V
, play video gam
es, o r press b
u tto
n s o
n a com
puter. G ood language
o u
tp u
t takes
lots o
f practice,
an d
schools
th at
encourage p
red o
m in
an tly
th e "input" sid
e-read in
g an
d listening w
ith o
u t
having to express o r w
rite dow n id
eas-d ep
riv e stu
d en
ts o f th
e m
o st critical tools for using th
eir know ledge.
F o
r y o
m child's future success in conveying ideas, w
riting, an d
thinking, please d
o n
't accept spaghetti talk th at w
inds aro u
n d
w
ithout going anyw here. "O
h , like, w
ell, you know , w
ell like h e
could , you know
, b u
t ... " F orm
ulating ideas in to
sentences refines know
ledge circuits, sh arp
en s logical thinking, an
d avoids "fuzzy"
understandings.* A society th
at can n
o t com
m unicate its ideas
verbally m ay b
e in for trouble.
M IL
E S
T O
N E
S IN
M E
A N
IN G
A ll ages are approxim
ate. B
efore on e year: U
nderstands w ords spoken by others.
N in
e to eighteen m o
n th
s: F irst w
ords; usually n am
es o r action
w ords.
E ighteen to tw
en ty-fo
u r m
o n
th s: 1\vo-w
ord com binations.
P ossessives, n
egatives, questions. U
ses objects sym bolically in p
reten d
play (stick = horse).
B eginning use of "and."
T hree to four· yea
rs: C an get an
en tire idea into one sentence.
C om
parative term s: big, little.
P ronouns I-you
, m y-your.
P ast tense.
"W hy" questions; use of"b
ecause." F
our to.five year·s: C an follow
th ree sim
ple com m
ands. "If ... , th
en ... "concepts. B
y six: S om
e use of passive voice. ("H e w
as b u
m p
ed .")
183 o f 330
S im
ple opposites (big-little, tall-sh o
rt, hot-cold). T
erm s: because, so, th
en , b
u t, w
ell,ju st, again
, still, already, n o
t yet, too, over, u
n d
er, o n
to p
of, in to
, u p
, dow n
.
U n
fo ld
in g
M ea
n in
g : P
ra ctica
l T ip
s
• A lw
ays u se language in
a real co n
tex t if you w
an t to p
ro m
o te
th e
b est
sem an
tic grow
th .
T alk
ab
o u
t w
h at
the child
is experiencing.
• W o
rk o
n attaching m
ean in
g to
w o
rd s by "show
ing" w h
at you are talking about. ("S
ee, now I'm
p u
ttin g
th e b
u tto
n in
to th
e b
u tto
n h
o le-lik
e this." "L ook, th
is is th e w
ay I peel th e o
ran ge.")
• H elp y
o u
r child b u
ild a good b
ase o f u
n d
erstan d
in g
b y p
u ttin
g "talk" w
ith ag
e-ap p
ro p
riate play experiences. G et d
ow n o
n th
e floor an
d sh
o w
b o
w to talk
ab o
u t w
h at's h
ap p
ening (b e sure th
e child "gets th
e floor" so h e can
talk, too). • Im
itatin g
w ords an
d p
h rases is a first step
, b u
t th e ability to
rep eat so
m eth
in g
does n o
t signify u n
d erstan
d in
g . If you w
o n
d er
w h
eth er y
o u
r child h as u
n d
ersto o
d , ask h
im to
show you w
h at h
e th
in k
s it m ean
s. • A
m o
th er's style o
f conversation influences h er child's. S
o m
e m
o th
ers ten d
to use talk as a p
ractical tool for in teraction ("I can
tell you 're enjoying th
at applesauce; w ould you like so
m e m
ore?"), an
d o
th ers ten
d to convey inform
ation .(" A
pplesauce is m ad
e from
apples. T hey are fruits, like b
an an
as.") It is probably a good idea to
m ix th
ese tw o styles.
• A sking S
ocratic questions ("H ow
do you th in
k w
e can change th
e block tow er so th
e blocks w on
't keep falling dow n?") stretches
m inds. • R
epetition is th e key to children
's u n
d erstan
d in
g . C
hildren looking at books rep
eat to them selves w
h at adults h
av e said
ab o
u t
th e pictu
res. E ven if you th
in k
you w ill start to scream
if you read
T he G
ingerb1·ead M a
n o
n e m
o re tim
e, h an
g in there!
• A s th
e child gets older, encourage h er to retell stories in
h er ow
n w
ords. R etell th
e plots of T V
show s in
th e o
rder o f events.
• V ocabulary-building goes o
n all
the tim e.
H ere are a
few
possibilities:
-U se
th e n
am es o
f h o
u seh
o ld
objects.
-P o
in t o
u t an
d n
am e th
in g
s w hile yo
u are w alking o
r driving.
-N a
m e th
in g
s in p ictu
res as y o
u look at m
agazines together.
-T h
in k
o f as m
an y
k in
d s o
f h o
u ses as you can
(igloo, h u
t, m an
sio n
); w
ays o f d
o in
g so
m eth
in g
(fast, slow ly, deliberately, joyously).
-A c t o
u t w
o rd
s w h
en ever possible to
sb o
w m
eaning. ("S ee, m
y face is
joyou s n
o w
.")
- T
each v
erb s b
y exam
ples: "S ee, th
at b o
y is ru
n n
in g
. T h
at o n
e is clim
b ing a tree. T
h e g
irl is ju m
p in
g rope."
-D e
m o
n strate prepositions. ('T
m p
u ttin
g th
e egg in to
th e cu
p ." "I'll
hid e th
e pencil b eh
in d
th e bookcase.")
-E x
p a n
d m
odifiers. ("H ow
m an
y w
o rd
s can w
e th in
k o
fto tell ab
o u
t h
o w
th e p
rin cess looks? A
bout h o
w th
e m o
n ster is w
alking?")
- P
lay g am
es w ith opposites. ("I say dark, y
o u
say .. ." "T h
e k n
ife is sh arp
, the eraser is .. .")
• H elp
y o
u r child generalize m
ean in
g s. "T
h e k
n ife is sh
arp . (C
an you say
a w
o rd
sharply? C an you fin
d an
y th
in g
sh arp
ab o
u t
so m
eo n
e's face?)" • It is all rig
h t to
u se so
m e w
o rd
s th at th
e ch ild
d o
esn 't yet k
n o
w
o r u
n d
erstan d
p ro
v id
ed th
e situ atio
n is fam
iliar. C hildren m
ak e
th e b
est p ro
g ress after infancy l;:nth ad
u lts w
ho gently stretch th
eir u
n d
erstan d
in g
. S tudies sh
o w
th at fathers m
ay ten
d instinctively to
challenge th
e child , w
hile m o
th ers are m
o re sensitive to
th eir
cu rren
t level o f co
m p
reh en
sio n
. • W
h en
u sin
g an
u n
fam iliar term
, yo u m
ig h
t call atten tio
n to
it. ("H
ere's a special w o
rd for th
at k in
d o
f dog- it's called a 'collie.'")
• C h
ild ren
rem em
b er a th
in g
b etter if they are ask
ed to
tell ab o
u t
it them selves. ("N
ow th
at I've ex plain
ed w h
ere to go after school today, w
h y
d o
n 't you tell m
e ag ain so
I k n
o w
yo u u
n d
erstan d
.") • W
h en
ch o
o sin
g a day-care settin
g , look for o
n e th
at em p
h asizes
l an g
u ag
e u n
d erstan
d ing. C
hildren m u
st h ave verbal in
teractio ns
w ith ad
u lts, n
o t ju
st w ith o
th er ch
ild ren
. • T
each relative term
s by d em
o n
stratin g th
em . ("T
his o ran
g e is
bigger th
an
th e
lem o
n .
W hich
is bigger,
th e
o ran
g e
o r
th e
grapefruit?") • If th
e child asks an illogical question, try to
rep h
rase w h
at yo u
th in
k sh
e w an
ts to k n
ow .
C H
IL D
: W h
y is th
e airplane? P
A R
E N
T : D
o y o
u m
ean , "W
h ere is th
e airplane? It ju st w
en t b
eh in
d
th e clouds."
• If a you n
g child h
asn 't resp
o n
d ed
to a q
u estio
n in
ab o
u t five
secon d
s, you m ig
h t rep
eat o r rep
h rase it.
• F am
ily m eals are a w
onderful ch an
ce for ch ild
ren to
develop b
o th
u
n d
erstan d
in g
an
d
expression .
T ry
so
m e
conversation starters to
get everyone involved: "T h
e nicest th in
g th
at h ap
p en
ed
to m
e to d
ay w
as ... W h
at ab o
u t everyone else?") H
elp y
o u
n g
er ch
ild ren
b e a p
art o f th
e conversation. B
eing h ead
lan g
u age coach can
b e tiring, b
u t so
m e p
aren ts take
th eir responsibilities so
seriously th at th
ey w
ear o u
t th e child
in stead
. In cessan
t stim ulation can
cau se young circuits to
overload an
d sh
u t dow
n. T h
e child's b rain
also n eeds q
u iet tim
es in w hich
to p
u t to
g eth
er th e n
ew connections.
F a
lterin g
F o
rm u
la tio
n
"I d o
n 't k
n o
w h
o w
B ea can
have a langu age p
ro b
lem . S
he talks all th
e tim e!" T
his m o
th er is rig
h t about h
er d au
g h
ter in o n
e resp ect.
B ea, age seven
, does in d
eed ch
atter like a m agpie, b
u t w
h en
you sto
p to
listen , it is h
ard to
figm e o
u t w
hat sh e is talking ab
o u
t. H ere
is th e w
ay sh e retold a story ab
o u
t a b oy w
ho w en
t o n
an im
aginary space m
ission an d
discovered a new planet.
"W ell, th
ere w ere all th
ese ... u h
... things h e w
as, w ell, real scared
an
d th
ey cam
e at h im
an d
h e w
as, an d
th en h
e g o
t b ack
in th e
you know -
in th e space thingey, an
d th
ey w en
t fast h e p
u sh
ed
th e ... p
u sh
ed th
e b u
tto n
and h e w
as scared w hen th
e things cam e
b u
t at th e en
d they go
t back an d
h e w
en t in his ... u
m ... b
ed an
d
th at's th
e end." W
hile this child isn 't exactly at a loss for w
ords, th e w
ords sh e
uses d o
n 't d
o a very go
o d
jo b
. I call this "p ean
u t b
u tter" talk: If th
e child sp
reads enou gh o
f it around, sh e m
ay succeed in covering th e
subject. T
h is
p articular
ex am
ple illustrates
a rath
er severe
problem o
f "clutterin g" w
ith ex tra w
ords and rep etitions. O
th er
child ren w
ith m ild
er p ro
blem s are ju
st off cen ter w
h en they try
to an
sw er qu
estio ns o
r im p
art inform atio
n. If you find yo u
r child tossin
g too m uch talk th
at m isses th
e topic, try to encourage m o
re
186 o f 33
0
th o
u g
h t an
d few
er w o
rd s. "S
ee if you can p
ick ju st th
ree im p
o rtan
t ideas fro
m th
e sto ry
(p erh
ap s b
oy, sp ace trip
, n ew
pla net). N
ow
let's start w ith telling w
ho th e m
ain ch
aracter is. W h
en d
id th
e story h
ap p
en ? W
h ere? W
h at d
id h
e do? H ow
d id
it en d
?" A
n o
th er p
ro b
lem th
is child show s is in
"w ord-finding.'' In
stead
o f b
ein g
able to th
in k
o f a w
o rd
-u su
ally a n
o u
n -sh
e u
ses fillers o
r ro
u n
d ab
o u
t talk.
C o
m m
o n
ex
am p
les are:
"T he ... u
h ... u
h ... uh ... you
know .. ."
"T h
ingey.'' "S
tu ff.''
O n
e eight-year-old co
u ld
n 't th
in k
o f"doorknob
" an d
said "d
o o
rp u
ller." A
n o
th er called th
e co atrack
th e "h
an g
in g
-u p
th in
g ." A
six-year-old defined a nail like th
is: ''Y ou p
u t it d
o w
n w
ith a h am
m er in
w ood."
F uzzy talk
like th is is co
m m
on (an d
cute) am o
n g
y o
u n
g er children
, b
u t if it is ch
ro n
ic o r p
ersists in to
a child's school years, y o
u sh
o u
ld
give it so m
e atten tio
n . R
eading an d
w riting skills are b
ased o
n th
e ability to
call u p
fam iliar w
ords, an d
such w o
rd retrieval difficulties
(dysnom ia) m
ay signal fu
tu re problem
s. H
ere are a few th
in g
s you can do at h
o m
e. F irst, give th
e child tim
e to th
in k
o f w
h at to
say. P ressu
re m akes things w
orse. S econd
, d
o n
't accept "you k n
o w
," "stu ff," o
r o th
er em p
ty su
b stitu
tio n
s. G
ently p ro
b e for a m
ean ingful w
o rd
o r h
elp b
y su
p p
lying on e. O
n e
helpful g am
e is trying to n
am e a series o
f co m
m o
n objects o
r p
ictu res as fast as possible. F
ast color n am
in g
is also good p ractice.
R em
em b
er, th o
u g
h , keep it fun. Iflan
g u
age difficulties are cau sing
ten sio
n in you
r h o
m e, get professional help. T
h e "w
in d
o w
o f
recovery" for severe lan g
uage p ro
b lem
s is w idest b
etw een ages o
n e
an d
six, b u
t rem ed
ial w o
rk at any age can b
e effective.
W A
R N
IN G
S IG
N M
S
A ll
ch ildren
sh o
w so
m e p
ro b
lem s w
ith acq
u m
n g
an
d u
sin g
lan
g u
ag e as th
ey g
ro w
. If y o
u n
o tice several o
f th ese signs,
h o
w ev
er, you sh o
u ld
ob tain
a profession al evalu
atio n
o f you
r ch
ild 's
lan g
uage d
evelopm en
t. (P
rem atu
re in
fan ts
m ay
b e
expected to sh
o w
so m
e delay b ecause o
f im m
atu rity.)
• A bsence o
f cooing o r b
ab b
lin g
d u
rin g
first six m o
n th
s. • R
ep eated failure to
m ak
e eye co n
tact w ith
caregivers. • P
ersisten t difficulty w
ith tu rn
-tak in
g gam
es. • T
ro u
b le w
ith sucking, chew
in g, o
r sw allow
ing. • E
xcessive drooling. • P
ersisten t difficulty im
itatin g
to n
g u
e m o
v em
en ts.
• "S tran
ge-so u
nding" V oice (m
ay resu
lt from p
h ysical cau
ses). • A
cquiring single w o
rd s an
d p
h rases an
d th
en sto p
p in
g all
sp eech
. • N
o sin gle w
o rd
s b y
eig h
teen m
o n
th s.
• "E cb
o lalia": rep
eatin g
set p h
rases, su ch
as T V
co m
m ercials,
in stead o
f sp e a k
in ~
p o
n tan
eo u
sly ; in
ap p
ro p
riate rep etitio
n
w ith
o u
t in ten
tiona11:o m
m u
n icatio
n .
• S tu
tterin g
th at is severe o
r th at p
ersists m o
re th an
on e year.
• N o tw
o -w
o rd
co m
b in
atio n
s b y th
irty m
o n
th s o
r th ree-w
o rd
sen
ten ces b
y age th
ree. • P
ersisten t p
ro n
o u
n confusion after age th
ree. • D
elayed o r ab
sen t asking o
f q u
estio ns.
• U se o
flan g
u ag
e o n
ly to
label o r req
u est th
in g
s rath er th
an to
co m
m en
t o n
activities o r even
ts in th
e en v
iro n
m en
t after age th
ree. • F
req ue
n t articu
latio n
o r g
ram m
atical erro rs p
ersistin g after
school age. • F
req u
en t w
o rd
su b
stitution s; difficulty
retrieving fam ilia
r w
ords. • F
req u
en t irrelevan
t resp o
n ses ("W
h at d
o yo
u lik e to d
o at
school?" "S ally goes to
m y sch
ool b u
t w e h
ave differe n
t teach
ers."). • P
ersisten t inability to co
m e to
th e point.
• D ifficulty w
ith ab
stract m ean
in g
s o f w
o rd
s o r "g
ettin g" age
ap p
ro p
riate h u
m o
r. • P
u rp
o seful w
ith h
o ld
in g
o f speech
.
U n
b lo
ck in
g th
e S y
stem
I o n
ce h ad
a stu d
en t w
hose m o
th er w
as read y
to give u
p o
n h
er. "I can
't u n
d erstan
d h
o w
M arie can
b e so slow
. E very tim
e an y
o n
e says an
y th
in g
to h
er, sh e g
ets th is vague lo
o k
o n
h er face an
d says, 'H
u b
?' S h
e's b een
doing th at ev
er sin ce sh
e w as little, an
d n
o w
sh e's
abo u
t to flunk eighth grade. T
h ere's n
o th
in g
w ro
n g
w ith
h er
h earin
g , b
u t I can
't b elieve sh
e's really th at d
u m
b !"
M arie
w as
actually m
u ch
b
rig h
ter th
an
any o
n e
realized
in clu
d in
g M
arie. W h
ile sh e w
as in d
eed a slow lan
g u
age p ro
cessor, sh
e b ad
su p
erio r abilities to
reaso n
an d p
o ssessed an
extensive vocabulary, if an
yo n
e gave h er tim
e to u
se it. Y et sh
e h ad
learn ed
to play th
e "d u
m b
" g am
e very effectively. It to o
k a co
m b
in atio
n o
f lan
g u
age therapy, h elp in sch
o ol, an
d m
u ch
en co
u rag
em en
t to
convince b o
th m
o th
er and d au
g h
ter th at sh
e really w as okay.
E veryo
n e's h
ard w
ork evidently gave M arie th
e steam sh
e n eed
ed ,
for h er m
o th
er later called m e to
rep o
rt th at sh
e is n o
w gettin
g
g o
o d
g rad
es in h igh school. M
arie stiU h
as to co
n cen
trate h ard
w
h en p
eo p
le talk quickly to her, an
d it takes h
er a lo n
g tim
e to read
assig n
m en
ts, b u
t sh e is
a h ard
w orker. I
credit h
er m
oth er's
su p
p o
rt for giving he r th
e self-confid ence to
bypass so m
e blocks in th
e system .
T H
E M
A G
IC O
F IN
N E
R S
P E
E C
H
L a
n g
u a
g e B
u ild
s B ra
in s
C an th
e use o f lan
guag e increase th
e b rain
's ab
ility to th in
k ?
N europsychologis ts now
b elieve th
at "in n
er sp eech
"- th
e silen t
co n
versatio n
th at m
o st o
f us carry o
n w
ith ourselves- creates
p hysical co
n n
ection s in several im
p o
rtan t p
arts o f th
e b rain
. If yo u
w an
t yo u
r child to b e a su
ccess in school, th is ab
ility m ay b
e th e
m ost im
p o
rta n
t on e of all. T
h e b
est w ay to teach
it is by exam p
le. L
et's say yo u
r toddler is try ing to so
rt differen t-colo
red plastic
chip s into piles.
If yo u d
em o
n strate b
y saying "b
lu e, green, o
r
188 o f 330
yellow " as each
ch ip
is so rted
, y o
u r child sh
o uld b
e ab le to so
rt th
em faster an
d learn
a valuable lesso n
ab o
u t th
e p o
w er o
f w ords
in g
u id
in g
actions. F ro
m th
e age o f ab
o u
t four, y o
u can
sh ow
a ch ild
th
e m agic w
o rd
s: "F irst I w
ill ... an d
th e
n I w ill ... " A
sk a sch oo
l age child w
h o
h as difficulty w
ith a m
ath p
ro b
lem , "W
b at is th
e q
u estio
n th
at y o
u 're su
p p
o sed
to an sw
er? W h
at step s co
uld you tak
e to g
et it?" V ery o
ften th
is sim p
le p ro
cess resu lts in
, "O h
, I g et
it now !" P
riv ate sp
eech also h
elp s u
s delay gratification
, g
et ourselves m
o tiv
ated , an
d reg
u late o
u r em
o tio
n s.
T h
e ability to u
se w o
rd s to
m an
ag e o
n e's b
rain is age-related. T
h e
m o
re p ractice ch
ild ren
get, th e b
etter th e co
n n
ectio n
s. T h
is g ro
w th
can
usually b e o
b serv
ed b
etw een th
ree an d
five y ears-w
h en
y o
u
can h
ear ch ild
ren talk
in g
o u
t lo u
d to
th em
selv es w
h en
doing a puzzle,
for e x
a m
p le
-a n
d it sh
o u
ld b
e in
tern alized
so m
etim e
b etw
een ages n
in e an
d tw
elve. S ix-year-olds th
in k
it's lo ts o
f fun to
"teach " p
aren ts b
y giving d irections. O
ld er ch
ild ren
can try
m o
re co
m plex activities. F
o r exam
ple, h av
e tw o p
layers sit o n
eith er sid
e o
f a "w all" w
h ere th
ey can 't see each
o th
er. O ne child arran
g es
co lo
red blocks o
r o th
er objects in so
m e so
rt o f p
attern an
d th
en
tries to g
et th e o
th er p
lay er (you
, p erh
ap s) to d
u p
licate h is d
esign b
y d
escrib in
g w h
at to do. ("Pick u
p th
e p u
rp le trian
gle an d p
u t it
at th e to
p . T
h en
tak e a red
sq u
are an d
m ak
e it to u
ch th
e triangle rig
h t u
n d
ern eath.") Y
ou can also h
elp o ld
er ch ild
ren p
lan ah
ead
w ith
w o
rd s-w
ritin g
o u
t tim e sch
edules for m ajo
r assig n
m en
ts, listing p
arts o f an
assig n
m en
t in o
rd er, an
d so o
n . A
ny activity th at
m ed
iates actio n
s w ith
w o
rd s can
b e reg
ard ed
as b rain
-b u
ild in
g
m aterial. O
n e lan
g u
ag e tech
n iq
u e th
at is effective w ith im
pulsive ch ild
ren
in volves five
step s th
at p u
t h ig
h er b
rain cen
ters in ch
arg e o
f actions:
1 . W
h at d
o yo
u h
av e to do? (Identify th
e p ro
b lem
.) 2
. H
o w
d o
you th in
k you sh
o u
ld go ab
o u
t d o
in g
it? (E valuate th
e m
eth o
d for attacking th
e p ro
b lem
.) 3. W
h at w
ill y o
u n
eed to
d o
first? (P lan th
e attack.) 4. A
re y o
u follow
ing yo u
r p lan
? (C heck th
e p rogress.)
5. D
id y o
u finish w
h at you h
ad to do? (C
heck th e o
u tco
m e.)
W orking o
n th
ese five steps takes a particular b ran
d o
f patience, b
u t all children w
ill benefit from th
e tim e you sp
en d
teaching th em
to build their ow
n brains w ith in
n er speech.
T H
E P
IG 'S
W IS
H B
O N
E
I hope you can now share m
y excitem
ent as I look back at a four year-old's seem
ingly sim ple question. It is one o
f th e m
arvels o f
th e h
u m
an m
ind th at children m
aster th e purposes, m
echanics, rules, an
d m
eanings oflanguage w ithout explicit teaching. A
dults' participation
in th
e process
o f
developing language
is an
instinctive gift to the intellects o
f th e next generation. B
e gentle an
d tru
st yourself to help unfold each layer. If I really h ad
a pig's w
ishbone, I w ould w
ish you an d
your child a joyous journey together.
*M ore about this im
portant topic in m
y book E n
d a
n g
ered M
inds. •see m
y book E ndangered M
in d
s fo r a full acco
u n
t of this issue.
~
1q1 n f ~
~ n
