Human Growth and Development

Foundations of Language Sounds and vocalizations play a key role in the foundation of language. Newborns begin with cries and cooing, producing simple vowel sounds like "oo" and "ah”. Between 6 and 10 months, they begin babbling, experimenting with consonant-vowel combinations like "ba" or "da”. Babbling is influenced by the language they hear from caregivers, particularly the rhythm and intonation (prosody) of speech. As infants grow, their babbling becomes more like their native language—a stage called canonical babbling , which prepares them for spoken words. As children develop, they learn grammar and vocabulary (syntax and semantics) naturally by listening to speech patterns. Some researchers believe this learning is innate, while others think it happens through pattern recognition in language exposure. Young children may overextend words (calling all four-legged animals "dog") or underextend them (only calling their own pet a "dog" but not recognizing other dogs as the same). With cognitive growth, they refine word meanings, learn synonyms and antonyms, and understand complex relationships between words —important skills for communication, comprehension, and academic success. Stages of Language Language development follows a general pattern, though timing may vary between children: 1.​ Prelinguistic Speech (0–2 months): Babies make cooing sounds involuntarily, later producing them intentionally. They can hear sounds but do not understand their meaning. 2.​ Babbling Stage (6–9 months): Infants repeat consonant-vowel combinations like "ba-ba." Early babbling is universal, but over time, babies begin mimicking their native language. 3.​ First Words Stage (10–12 months): Around 12 months, babies say their first words, often based on earlier babbling. They understand more words than they can say. 4.​ Telegraphic Stage (18–24 months): Toddlers use two-word phrases (e.g., "want cookie"). Overextension and underextension are common in this stage. 5.​ Multiword Stage (2–3 years): Children form short sentences but often leave out function words (e.g., "Mommy go work"). Their vocabulary grows, though grammar is still developing.

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