First Words – Exceptional Language Arts

To Sally Blundell for frank film

walk. Without teaching or encouragement, we would soon take that first precarious upright stagger into space.

Conversation, on the other hand, is a learned skill, requiring repeated speech, intonation, and a maximum distance of 1 meter.

“We have to be close to each other,” says Margaret McLagan, a sociolinguist and adjunct professor at the University of Canterbury’s New Zealand Institute for Language Learning and Behavior.

“Words must be directed at the baby. Babies will not listen to words that are not directed at them.”

Despite spending the past 40 years studying language development, McLagan told Frank Film, “I’m still totally fascinated by language development.”

At Christchurch’s Shirley Play Center, there was a raucous crowd of under-fives covering the full spectrum of language abilities.

At 8 months of age, Milo has scaled up basic “ah, ah, ah” intonation.

Initially, McLagan explained, babies imitate the intonation and up-and-down movements of spoken language, but the “ah-ah,” a baby’s first attempt at language, is as much about physiology as how they speak.

“A small baby’s tongue is larger than an adult’s tongue. When a baby can sit up, the tongue falls forward, and when the tongue is straight forward it makes an ‘ah’ sound. ”

Nine-month-old Finn made an impressive “ba-ba-ba” sound. This is often the first controlled sound a baby makes.

“Everyone thinks they say ‘baby,’ but in reality all babies make that sound in all languages,” McLagan said.

The first term is usually somewhere between 9 and 18 months. For Sidney, now 16 months old, it was “dada,” even though she “said mommy all day,” her mother Annie said. For Rachel’s son Fletcher, it was motherhood. “In my heart, I was just a mother.”

The timing of the first word varies. Having an older sibling promotes language skills, but a hyperactive baby may be more focused on developing motor skills than a talkative baby.

But at every stage, parental interaction is key.

As McLagan writes in his book talking babyCo-authored with Ann Buckley, this exposure to language and linguistic “phonetic melodies” begins early. “Newborn babies want to hear human voices more than other sounds. there is.”

“If a baby can’t hear a language, it can’t speak,” she said at the play center. “The brain is wired so it can learn languages, but it needs someone to imitate it.”

Long before babies say their first words, parents build language roadmaps through repetition, testing, songs, rhymes, games, stories, and simple everyday conversations. In his book, McLagan writes, there is no need to imitate cute pronunciations or correct incorrect grammar. Rather, it is about modeling and repeating everyday language through intimate one-on-one dialogue.

“Talking to children and telling stories prepares them for life.”

She said that in homes where English is not the first language, it is important to speak to the child in the parent’s first language.

“Children learn English when they go to school or kindergarten, but they get a solid language foundation from their mother tongue.”

Most babies can put two words together by 18 months, McLagan said, but there’s more to say.

“Kids always understand more than what they say. Especially when they’re 18 months old or so, it gets really frustrating. Everyone’s talking. And they want to talk too.” is.”

According to his mother, Julia, Fergus knew what he wanted to say at 20 months old, but “but he can’t really say it. He’s really good at saying ‘no.’ I will definitely say ‘no’ to anything you ask.” “

From here, the number of words increases steadily, and the sentences become longer. By the age of 4, the actual structure of language is fully developed, even if the grammar and logic are slightly incorrect.

“Baby can’t talk,” said 4-year-old Isaac of Shirley Play Center. “When I was a baby, I couldn’t speak.”