How do humans learn language?

How do humans learn language?

A baby starts talking as early as the age of 6 months; they may not be saying full words but be talking “baby” talk. A child should be able to speak 5 or 6 words by the time they are 1 year old. The first way a baby learns to communicate is by crying, a baby will cry if they are hungry, or upset. Another way a baby communicates before they can talk is by smiling and making cooing noises. A baby first learns receptive language. Receptive language is what you understand when other people talk to you. When babies first learn to speak they here the patterns in a sentence so one pattern is a word and when that pattern dies down and a new one begins babies know that it’s the start of a new word. When a parent is talking to their child, they simplify what they are saying so the baby can understand; once their child starts to develop their language the parents will develop their language along with the growth of their child. When a new baby is born, it will respond to its mother’s voice more than any other voice it hears. The way we talk to babies is called parentese. Babies prefer the singsong lilts rather than the adult tones; it is even believed to help babies learn language.

Bibliography

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/babies_connecting_nutshell.html

http://www.justmommies.com/articles/baby-talking.shtml

http://whyfiles.org/058language/baby_talk.html

Love the Lingo VCE English Language Units 1&2

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