Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Language Development
Angela Oswalt, MSWDuring early childhood, children's abilities to understand, to process, and to produce language also flourish in an amazing way. Young children experience a language explosion between the ages of 3 and 6. At age 3, their spoken vocabularies consist of roughly 900 words. By age 6, spoken vocabularies expand dramatically to anywhere between 8,000 and 14,000 words. During infancy and toddlerhood, young children are almost always able to understand far many more words than they can speak. However, with this language explosion, their expressive (spoken language) abilities start to catch up with their receptive (ability to comprehend language) skills.
As children move beyond using two word sentences, they start to learn and understand grammar rules. All English-speaking children follow a regular sequence when using these rules. For example, children first begin using simple plurals (cats) and possessive forms of nouns (Daddy's car). Then, they put appropriate endings on verbs (jump becomes jumped), use prepositions ("in the street"), articles ("the", "a", or "an"), various forms of the verb to be ("is", "are", "were", etc.), and so on.
In part, the explosion in expressive skills occurs because of the gains in attention and memory described above. Children become increasingly skilled at remembering and practicing the language modeled around them, as well as modifying word use based on other people's reactions. These skills can result in very embarrassing situations for parents, such as when Johnny repeats a swear word or undesirable comment at Sunday dinner at Grandma's that he heard from Dad Friday night. Caregivers should be especially careful not to encourage poor language choices, such as incorrect grammar or swear words, by laughing or making a game of them. Children may view this attention as approval and will often continue to use that word or phrase to obtain more attention in the future. For more information on encouraging appropriate language, see the discipline and guidance section in the Preoperational Stage Parenting article.
Beyond growing their vocabularies, young children start to expand their ability to use different forms of words (e.g., irregular verbs such as "She brought" instead of "She brang") and form more complex sentences. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children also refine their ability to pronounce words. However, they often make up words that they don't know and need. In contrast, school-age children start to speak more like adults; they can recognize basic grammar errors, put thoughts into question form, and begin including negative expressions such as "not coming" into their sentences
As they get older, children's use of language also becomes more mature and complicated. For example, children start to understand the use of basic metaphors based on very concrete ideas, such as the saying "hard as a rock". They also begin to tailor their speech to the social situation; for example, children will talk more maturely to adults than to same-age peers.
During early childhood, children's ability to understand language at a more complicated level also develops. Young children develop "Illocutionary Intent", or the ability to understand that a sentence may have meaning beyond the exact words being spoken. For example, with a very young child, Mom would have to say "Jennie, please bring me your cup," for Jennie to understand that Mom wanted Jennie to bring over the cup. With older children, Mom can say "Hmm?I need Jennie's cup so I can fill it with juice?..," and Jennie will understand that the true message is actually "bring me your cup".
By ages 5 to 7, young children can also understand and learn to use a word by being told its definition (rather than experiencing that word directly). In addition, children start to understand that words often have multiple meanings, opening up a whole new realm of humor and jokes that they will find amazingly funny. For example, "Did you hear about the pirate movie? It's rated R-r-r-r-r-r-r" may elicit a stream of giggles from a school-aged child.
Resources
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Articles
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Development During Early Childhood, Toddler, and Preschool Stages
- Introduction- Development During Early Childhood
- Early Childhood Physical Development: Average Growth
- Early Childhood Physical Development: Gross and Fine Motor Development
- Early Childhood Physical Development: Toilet Training
- Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Introduction
- Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Symbolic Function
- Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Intuitive Thought
- Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Information Processing
- Early Childhood Cognitive Development: Language Development
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Emotional Expressiveness and Understanding
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Reflective Empathy
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Aggression
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Identity and Self-Esteem
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Social Connections
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Social Connections Continued
- Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Conclusion
- Early Childhood Moral Development
- Early Childhood Moral Development Continued
- Early Childhood Gender Identity and Sexuality
- Early Childhood Gender Identity and Sexuality Continued
- Early Childhood Conclusion
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Parenting Your Todder, Preschooler, and Young Child
- Introduction to Parenting Your Toddler, Preschooler, and Young Child
- Early Childhood Feeding and Nutrition
- Early Childhood Food and Nutrition Continued
- Early Childhood Food and Nutrition Conclusion
- Early Childhood Sleep
- Early Childhood Toilet Training
- Early Childhood Hygiene
- Early Childhood Hygiene Continued
- Early Childhood Exercise
- Early Childhood Love and Nurturing
- Early Childhood: It's Important to Encourage Reading
- Early Childhood Medical Care
- Early Childhood Mental Health Care
- Early Childhood Safety
- Coping with Transitions in Early Childhood: Getting a New Sibling or Remaining an Only Child
- Coping with Transition: in Early Childhood: Going to Daycare
- Coping with Transition: Starting Preschool or Kindergarten and Final Conclusions
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Toilet Training
- Early Childhood Toilet Training Introduction
- The Right Time to Start Toilet Training: Children's Readiness
- The Right Time to Start Toilet Training: Family Readiness and Red Flags
- Pre-Toilet Training in Early Childhood
- Preparing the Space for Toilet Training in Early Childhood
- Toilet Training-Friendly Clothing
- Early Childhood Toilet Training Methods
- Early Childhood Toilet Training Methods Continued
- Early Childhood Toilet Training Methods Conclusion
- How to Deal with Toilet Training Challenges: Travel
- How to Deal with Toilet Training Challenges: Constipation and Fear of Flushing
- Bedwetting, Encopresis and Enuresis, and Conclusions
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Disciplining Your Toddler, Preschooler, and Young Child
- Disciplining Your Toddler, Preschooler, and Young Child Introduction
- Parents as Disciplinarians in Early Childhood
- Preventing Early Childhood Misbehavior Before it Happens
- The Use of Choice in Early Childhood
- A Step-by-Step Guide for How to Discipline Children in Early Childhood
- Natural and Logical Consequences in Early Childhood
- Combining Choice and Consequences in Early Childhood
- Early Childhood Time Outs
- Spanking in Early Childhood
- Coordinating to Provide Continuity of Early Childhood Discipline Across Caregivers
- Lying in Early Childhood
- Supportive Communication in Early Childhood and Discipline Conclusion
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Nurturing Your Toddler, Preschooler, and Young Child
- Nurturing Your Toddler, Preschooler, and Young Child Introduction
- Creating Nurturing Space in Early Childhood
- Physical Nurturing: Gross Motor Activities in Early Childhood
- Physical Nurturing: Fine Motor Activities in Early Childhood
- Cognitive Nurturing in Early Childhood
- Cognitive Nurturing in Early Childhood Continued
- Cognitive Nurturing in Early Childhood Conclusion
- Social Nurturing in Early Childhood
- Emotional Nurturing in Early Childhood
- Cultural and Spiritual Nurturing in Early Childhood
- Nurturing at Home and Outside the Home and Nurturing Conclusions
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Child and Adolescent Development Theories
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Infants: Parenting and Child Development
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Development During Early Childhood, Toddler, and Preschool Stages
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Questions and Answers
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Book & Media Reviews
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Links
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Videos
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- Child Development: Stepping Stones - Lesson 18: The School Years: Psychosocial Development
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- Safe Seats for Baby
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- Addressing Health Disparities in Early Childhood
- 6 tips to help your children control their emotions
- Recognizing challenging behaviors in young children: Could it be ADHD?
- Classroom Managment Supports for ADHD Behaviors in Preschool Settings
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