Language development is a fascinating process that follows universal stages across cultures. From cooing and babbling to one-word utterances and telegraphic speech, children progress through predictable milestones as they acquire language skills.
Communication relies on a shared system of arbitrary symbols governed by rules of grammar and syntax. As children learn these rules, they make common errors like overregularization, showcasing their active role in constructing language understanding.
Components of language and communication
Shared system of arbitrary symbols
- Language consists of a mutually agreed upon system of arbitrary symbols that convey meaning 🗣️
- These symbols are often expressed as phonemes (basic units of sound), morphemes (smallest meaningful units), and semantics (meanings of words and phrases)
- Phonemes combine to create morphemes, which combine to create words and phrases with specific meanings
- Language is rule-governed, following a set of guidelines for grammar (rules for word order and sentence structure) and syntax (rules for combining words into phrases and sentences)
- Language is generative, allowing for the production of an infinite number of unique ideas by combining symbols in novel ways
🚫 Exclusion Note: The AP Psych exam does not cover pragmatics of language, which refers to how context contributes to meaning.
Rule-governed language production
- All languages follow a set of rules that govern how symbols can be combined to convey meaning
- Grammar dictates the order in which words must be arranged in a sentence (subject + verb + object)
- Syntax specifies how words can be combined into phrases and sentences ("the red ball" is correct, while "red the ball" is not)
- These rules allow for the generation of an infinite number of unique phrases and sentences
- By combining a finite set of symbols according to the rules of the language, an unlimited number of ideas can be expressed
Language development in humans
Stages of language acquisition
- Across all cultures, language development follows a similar sequence of stages 👶
- Nonverbal manual gestures, such as pointing, are used to communicate before formal language develops
- Cooing (production of vowel sounds) begins around 2-3 months of age
- Babbling (repetition of consonant-vowel combinations) emerges around 6 months of age
- One-word stage (use of single words to convey meaning) begins around 12 months of age
- Telegraphic speech (use of short, simple phrases) emerges around 18-24 months of age
- These stages are universal, occurring in the same order regardless of the specific language being learned
Common language learning errors
- As children learn a language, they often make predictable errors based on overgeneralization of language rules
- Overregularization of verb tenses ("goed" instead of "went," "eated" instead of "ate") 📚
- Overextension of word meanings (using "dog" to refer to all four-legged animals)
- Underextension of word meanings (using "car" to refer only to the family's specific vehicle)
- These errors demonstrate that children actively construct the rules of language based on the input they receive, rather than simply imitating what they hear