Child Language Acquisition: 5 Stages of Development

Stages of Language Acquisition in Children

1. The Prelinguistic Period

1.1. Babbling

In auditory perception for speech, maturity is reached between 8 and 10 months when the restriction to the native language's phonology is observed. From the point of view of articulation, babies have a structure and motor control of the orophonation that will undergo very substantial changes in the early years and during the change of adolescence to reach the maturity of adults. It is clear that babies cannot produce all the sounds they can distinguish. Sounds as seemingly simple as vowels are difficult to produce by newborns since the space available for any movement of the tongue produces a constriction. This occurs during the first months when most of the sounds do not have a clear vowel quality. It is logical that phonotactics is determined by this structure and motor control, which will make a big change in control and accuracy.

The repertoire of babies' sound reflexes is broad, but there are still many sounds they cannot produce. It is curious to note that babbling is a specifically human behavior and is not found in other mammals.

Five Stages of Babbling

• Phonatory or Reflex Vocalizations Stage (Up to 2 months): Sound reflections, changes due to nutrition.
• Cooing and Smiles (2 to 4 months): Comfort sounds, the beginning of a smile.
• Phonetic Expansion, Incipient Vocal Play (4 to 6 months): Voluntary sounds, cries, and grunts.
• Canonical Babbling (6+ months): Influence of the language environment on articulatory gestures.
• Varied or Conversational Babbling (10+ months): Composing some words.

Stages of Babbling: Detailed Breakdown

1. Phonatory or Reflex Vocalizations Stage (Up to 2 Months)

During the first two months, babies have an extensive repertoire of sound reflections, particularly linked to changes due to nutrition, pain, or comfort. There may be some uncontrolled, almost vowel-like sounds when the expulsion of air and the proximity of the vocal cords casually interact.

2. Cooing and Smiles (2 to 4 Months)

Vocalizations are spreading beyond the reflexes of crying or strong reactions. In comfort, noise productions typically increase, including velar and (semi)vowel sounds. These productions, which may go beyond 4 months, give rise to the name of this period's productions as "cooing" (Bosch, 1990). Also, the beginnings of a smile are accompanied by sound productions.

3. Phonetic Expansion, Incipient Vocal Play (4 to 6 Months)

After 4 months, there is a significant change in which the baby seems to voluntarily produce sounds. This does not imply that they control the movements and sounds, but they are practicing a basic sensory-motor activity.