Structure and Theories of Language Development

According to Genish (2011), the language development process starts early in human life. Infants start without language, yet by about four months of age, they possess the ability to discriminate speech sounds and engage in babbling. However, some research has shown that the earliest learning of language begins in utero, when the foetus starts to recognise the sounds and speech patterns of its mother's voice.

Crystal (1963) presents language as human speech either spoken or written. Theorists of language development are mainly classified into three categories. Those who argue that language has to be attributed to innate factors of the human brain. Their arguments are such the sequence and duration of language acquisition are almost the same throughout the world, language is acquired at a specific period of development, and also human memory is predisposed to construct language in a specific manner.

Aside from this theory, there are behaviourists who sustain the idea that language develops under environmental stimulations which reinforce children to produce the language they hear around them. The last theorists are those with interactive vision by which language is the fruit of the interaction of innate and acquired elements.

 STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE

On the surface, human languages appear to be infinitely varied but in actual fact, they share certain universal properties. As postulated by Zimbardo and Ruch (1979:194), “one of the properties common to all human languages is a basic linguistic structure, a system which includes the sound units, the combinations of these sounds, and the meaning.” As stated in the definitions above, language goes beyond mere speaking and writing. 

It is systematic and has to be developed because it is not a random behaviour which happens by accident. As a child begins to learn a language, he or she will eventually be aware of how sounds and words of that language are arranged, learn them and later use them effectively. Language is said to be a product of inborn tendencies and external influences acting upon a human being. It (language) is governed by rules which include phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

The rules of language are as follows:

·         Phonology rules govern the sound system of language. It includes sounds that are used in a particular language and how they are combined.

·         Morphology rules govern how words are formed from sounds. For example, in the word swimmer, there are two morphemes, that is, swim and -er. The morpheme swim qualifies to stand as a word by itself while -er cannot stand on its own and make sense. In the example above it can be concluded that not all morphemes are words by themselves.

·         Syntax involves the manner in which words are put together to arrive at phrases and sentences that are acceptable for example the following arrangement of words is not acceptable in the English language: child my this is. The correct arrangement would be one that reads: This is my child. Santrock (2008) argues that semantics refers to the meaning of words and sentences while

·         Pragmatics (which is the last set of rules) refers to the appropriate use of language in different contexts.

  LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Children learn language and its application pretty early in life and this is usually done by imitation and listening to those around them. Learning a language in children is something that takes place spontaneously, without any formal instruction. Chomsky (1980) as quoted by Fontana (1995) suggested that children are genetically equipped to acquire language. He argues that there is a language acquisition device (LAD) which enables them to acquire language the way they acquire other skills. 

Only when a child does not manipulate this inborn device will he or she not be able to learn a language. He further adds that the left hemisphere of the human brain (Broca area of the frontal lobe of human brain) is responsible for speech production and only when this part is damaged will speech be impaired. This may lead us into concluding that human beings have a genetic predisposition to learning language.

Other factors of language acquisition, as observed noted by Genish (2011) and correctly so, “human beings are born to speak; they have an innate gift for figuring out the rules of the language used in their environment.” However,

Environment: the environment itself is also a very significant factor in language acquisition. Children learn the specific variety of language (dialect) that the important people around them speak.  It is also true that the general interactions that take place in the environment help to foster and quicken the development of language in children.

Sex: In addition, it is also believed that sex or gender is a factor in language development. Bums and Lowe (1966) advance the view that girls develop language faster than boys.

Social Interaction: We can also advance the fact that children also learn and use language through social interactions. Children are not only born to speak, but also to interact socially. Even before they use words, they use cries and gestures to communicate with their caregivers and the significant others in their immediate surroundings. The point of learning language and interacting socially, then, is not just about mastering rules, but to make connections with other people and to make sense of experiences. We can thus make a strong linkage that language acquisition occurs through an interaction among genes (which hold innate tendencies to communicate and be sociable), environment, and the child's own thinking abilities.

Own effort and exercise: The child’s own abilities in language development cannot be completely overlooked because children at times possess the ability to work out own linguistic forms that adults do not even use. They will make errors in the process but with time, they will realise their errors and correct them. This way, they will learn better and more effectively rather than to be constantly corrected by adults when they make mistakes.

The implications of these findings of language development support what many early childhood educators have suggested that long practiced, i.e. talking with an infant is important in language development. Babbling and cooing as forms of communication encourage child-adult interaction and shape language development. Object-naming by adults builds an infant's ability to study and understand objects, and social interactions contribute to an infant's ability to learn words. During the early months of life, auditory connections are formed in the brain and they affect language development, vocabulary, and use of language for the child's entire life.

Arising from the said, we can thus safely state that language development in children start early in their lives almost at a time when they are completely unable to produce any words. Through a combination of attributes, they begin to learn language more from what they are able to hear from their caregivers and through their earlier socialisation.