SEMANTIC DEVELOPMENT-
Word comprehension begins in the middle of first year.At
nine months , after hearing a word paired with an object , babies looked longer
at other objects in the same category than at those in a different
category(Balaban and Waxmam,1997).On average , children say there first word
around 12 months.By age six,they have a vocabulary of about 10,000
words(Bloom,1998).To accomplish this feat, children learn about five new words
each day.As these achievements reveal children’s comprehension the language they
understand , develops ahead of production, the language they use. Comprehension
is ahead f production because comprehension requires only that children
recognize the meaning of a word, where as production demands that they recall
or actively retrieve from their memories,both the word and the concept for
which is stands failure to say a word does not mean that toddlers do not
understand it . If we rely only on what children say, we will underestimate
their language progress.
THE EARLY PHASE-To learn words,children must identify which concept each level picks out in there language community.First words refer to important people(“mama”,”dada”),animals(“dogs”,”cats”), objects that move(“ball”,”car”,”shoe”),foods(“milk”,”apple”),familiar actions(“bye-bye”,”more”,”up”),or outcomes of familiar actions(“dirty”,”hot”,”wait”)(Hart,2004;Nelson,1973).According to 1 pair of researcher , “children seem motivated to acquire words that are revent to the particular cognitive problems they are working on at the moment”(Gopnik and meltzoff,1986).Besides cognition,emotion influences early word learning.At first,when acquiring a new word for an object,person or event,1and a half year olds say t naturally;they need to listen carefully to learn and expressing strong emotion diverts their attention.As words become better learned,toddlers integrate talking and expressing feelings(Bloom,1998).Young toddlers add to their vocabularies slowly at a pace of 1 to 3 words per week.gradually,the number of words learned accelerates.the increase is much more rapid n comprehension than in production.Because rate of word learning between 18 and 24 months is so impressive(1 or 2 words per day), many researchers concluded that toddlers undergo a spurt in vocalbulary –a transition between a slow and a faster learning phase once the number of words produced reaches 50 to 100.recent evidence,however,,indicates that a vocabulary spurt characterizes only a minority of young children(Ganger and Brent,2004).Most show a steady,continuous increase in rate of word learning that persists through the preschool years,when children add as many as 9 new words per day.children build their vocalbularies so quickly because an improved ability to categorize experience , retrieve words from memory and pronounce new words is involved (Depretto and Bjork , 2000 ; Gershoff-Stove and Smith , 1997) . I addition , a better grasp of other’s intentions,evident in toddlers imitation around 18 months,supports rapid vocabulary growth because it helps toddlers figure out what others are talking about (Bloom , 2000 ; Tomasello ,2003). Although the average age at which children produce their first word is 12 months , the range is large , from 8 to 18 months – variation that results from a complex blend of genetic and environment influences.Many studies shoe that girls are slightly ahead of boys in vocabulary growth until 2 years of age , when boys gradually catch up (Reznick and goldfield , 1992 ) . The surrounding language environment , too, contributes to these differences Mothers talk much more to toddler-age girls than boys , and parents converse less often with shy than with sociable children (Leaper , Anderson , and Sanders , 1998 ; Patterson and fisher , 2002). Children also have unique styles of early language learning. Most toddlers use a referential style ; their vocabularies consist mainly of words that refer to objects . A smaller number of toddlers use an expressive style ; compared with referential children , they produce many more social formulas and pronouns. Rapidly developing , referential style children often have an especially active interest in exploring objects. They also eagerly imitate their parents’ frequent naming of objects , and their parents imitate back- a strategy that supports swift vocabulary growth by helping children remember new labels (Masur and Rodemaker , 1999). Expressive-style children tend to be highly sociable and their parents more often use verbal routine that support social relationship (Goldfish , 1987). Three types of words –objects , actions , and state – are most common in young children’s vocabularies.Careful study of each provides important information about the course of semantic development .Many young language learners have more object than action words in their beginning vocabularies (Au , Dapretto and Song, 1994 ; Caselli et al. , 1995) . Early emphasis is on naming objects because nouns refer to concepts (such as table, bird or dog) that are easy to perceive . When adults label an object , they frequently help the child discern the word’s meaning by showing and repeating the label.As a result , toddlers readily match objects with their appropriate labels.In contrast , verbs require more complex understanding s of relationships between objects and actions. In addition, when adults use verbs , the action to which they refer usually are not taking place(Gleitman and gleitman ,1992). Between 2 and 2 and a hlf years, children’s use of state (or modifier) words expands to include labels for attributes of objects, such as size and colour asa well as possession. Words referring to the functions of objects appear soon after . When young children first learn words , they often do not use them just as adults do .They may apply words too narrowly , an error called underextension. A more common error between 1 and 2 and a hlf years is overextension-applying a word to a broader collection of objects and events than is appropriate.Children often overextend deliberately because they have difficulty recalling or have not acquired a suitable word. In addition , when a word is hard to pronounce , toddlers frequently substitude a related one they can say (Bloom ,2000 ;Elsen 1994). As vocabulary and pronounciation improve , overextension disappear.
THE EARLY PHASE-To learn words,children must identify which concept each level picks out in there language community.First words refer to important people(“mama”,”dada”),animals(“dogs”,”cats”), objects that move(“ball”,”car”,”shoe”),foods(“milk”,”apple”),familiar actions(“bye-bye”,”more”,”up”),or outcomes of familiar actions(“dirty”,”hot”,”wait”)(Hart,2004;Nelson,1973).According to 1 pair of researcher , “children seem motivated to acquire words that are revent to the particular cognitive problems they are working on at the moment”(Gopnik and meltzoff,1986).Besides cognition,emotion influences early word learning.At first,when acquiring a new word for an object,person or event,1and a half year olds say t naturally;they need to listen carefully to learn and expressing strong emotion diverts their attention.As words become better learned,toddlers integrate talking and expressing feelings(Bloom,1998).Young toddlers add to their vocabularies slowly at a pace of 1 to 3 words per week.gradually,the number of words learned accelerates.the increase is much more rapid n comprehension than in production.Because rate of word learning between 18 and 24 months is so impressive(1 or 2 words per day), many researchers concluded that toddlers undergo a spurt in vocalbulary –a transition between a slow and a faster learning phase once the number of words produced reaches 50 to 100.recent evidence,however,,indicates that a vocabulary spurt characterizes only a minority of young children(Ganger and Brent,2004).Most show a steady,continuous increase in rate of word learning that persists through the preschool years,when children add as many as 9 new words per day.children build their vocalbularies so quickly because an improved ability to categorize experience , retrieve words from memory and pronounce new words is involved (Depretto and Bjork , 2000 ; Gershoff-Stove and Smith , 1997) . I addition , a better grasp of other’s intentions,evident in toddlers imitation around 18 months,supports rapid vocabulary growth because it helps toddlers figure out what others are talking about (Bloom , 2000 ; Tomasello ,2003). Although the average age at which children produce their first word is 12 months , the range is large , from 8 to 18 months – variation that results from a complex blend of genetic and environment influences.Many studies shoe that girls are slightly ahead of boys in vocabulary growth until 2 years of age , when boys gradually catch up (Reznick and goldfield , 1992 ) . The surrounding language environment , too, contributes to these differences Mothers talk much more to toddler-age girls than boys , and parents converse less often with shy than with sociable children (Leaper , Anderson , and Sanders , 1998 ; Patterson and fisher , 2002). Children also have unique styles of early language learning. Most toddlers use a referential style ; their vocabularies consist mainly of words that refer to objects . A smaller number of toddlers use an expressive style ; compared with referential children , they produce many more social formulas and pronouns. Rapidly developing , referential style children often have an especially active interest in exploring objects. They also eagerly imitate their parents’ frequent naming of objects , and their parents imitate back- a strategy that supports swift vocabulary growth by helping children remember new labels (Masur and Rodemaker , 1999). Expressive-style children tend to be highly sociable and their parents more often use verbal routine that support social relationship (Goldfish , 1987). Three types of words –objects , actions , and state – are most common in young children’s vocabularies.Careful study of each provides important information about the course of semantic development .Many young language learners have more object than action words in their beginning vocabularies (Au , Dapretto and Song, 1994 ; Caselli et al. , 1995) . Early emphasis is on naming objects because nouns refer to concepts (such as table, bird or dog) that are easy to perceive . When adults label an object , they frequently help the child discern the word’s meaning by showing and repeating the label.As a result , toddlers readily match objects with their appropriate labels.In contrast , verbs require more complex understanding s of relationships between objects and actions. In addition, when adults use verbs , the action to which they refer usually are not taking place(Gleitman and gleitman ,1992). Between 2 and 2 and a hlf years, children’s use of state (or modifier) words expands to include labels for attributes of objects, such as size and colour asa well as possession. Words referring to the functions of objects appear soon after . When young children first learn words , they often do not use them just as adults do .They may apply words too narrowly , an error called underextension. A more common error between 1 and 2 and a hlf years is overextension-applying a word to a broader collection of objects and events than is appropriate.Children often overextend deliberately because they have difficulty recalling or have not acquired a suitable word. In addition , when a word is hard to pronounce , toddlers frequently substitude a related one they can say (Bloom ,2000 ;Elsen 1994). As vocabulary and pronounciation improve , overextension disappear.
THE LATER PHASE-On average school age children learn about
20 new word each day, a rate of growth exceeding that of early childhood.In
addition of fast-mappig,school-age children enlarge their vocabularies by
analyzing the structure of complex words.From “happy” they quickly derive the
meaning of “happiness”. They also figure out many more word meanings from
context.As at earlier ages, children benefit from engaging in conversation with
more expert speakers, especially when their partners use complex words and
explain them. But because written language contains a far more diverse and
complex vocabulary than spoken language , reading contributes enormously to
vocabulary growth in middle childhood and adolescence.As their knowledge
expands and becomes better organized school aged children think about and use
words more precisely. School-age children’s more reflective and analytical
approach to language permits them to appreciate the multiple meanings of
words.The capacity of abstract thinking permits adolescents to add such words
as counterintuitive and philosophy to their vocabularies.They also become
masters of sarcasm and irony. School age children sometimes realize that a
sarcastic remark is insincere if it is said in an exaggerated , mocking tone of
voice.But adolescents and adults need only notice the discrepancy between a
statement and its context to grasp the intented meaning. In addition,
adolescents can better grasp figurative language.
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