I have recently met some parents and relatives who are concerned that their toddler is not talking and so I happened to explain the Language Acquisition sequence to some but have decided to make it available here so everyone can make use of this great tool for understanding the development of language in the young child.
Dr. Montessori’s Language Acquisition sequence shows that acquisition of language is a sophisticated method of communication, verbal as well as written acquired over a length of time. Dr. Montessori humorously termed this process of learning as the machinery of speech. She believed that the possession of language is just not enough, it is the possession of the mechanism that each human being has and that enables him to make language his own. The Language Acquisition chart describes the natural progression of the development of language.
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| Dr. Montessori's chart describing Acquisition of Language, I have two typing errors here; in utero, the fetus responds to external 'stimuli' and by 6 years of age the language is 'complete' |
According to this sequence of development, the fetus responds to external stimuli even when he is in his mother’s womb. From birth to 3 months of age the infant turns his head towards the sound. From 3 to 6 months the infant begins to babble, occasionally repeating sounds. At 10 months the child becomes conscious of language and discovers that words have meaning. He also begins to grasp that words are directed towards him. Between 12 -15 months, he uses his first intentional words. At 18 months the child realizes that every object has a name and finally between 21 months - 2.5 years the child explodes into the use of words and phrases and possesses a vocabulary of more than 250 words. The slow and steady development appears in a vigorous outburst. From the age of 2.5 years to 6 years is the time when the child constantly learns grammar syntax, refines his verbal skills and continuously strives to perfect his language.
Hi Manisha,
ReplyDeleteCan you please explain the progression of language activities ( 0-3) that use objects, objects and cards, and cards and why the are in this order?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the delayed response. That is a great question, language activities during for 0-3 years age group include a lot of matching and sorting. The object to object correspondence leads the young child to visually distinguish a reality and match it with another reality that looks the same or is the same. Object to picture correspondence would require a little bit more effort in decoding the picture and realizing that it is representing a tangible reality. When matching picture cards its twice as much work decoding twice to match two abstract versions of realities....these are pre reading skills which will help the child in decoding words later. Further abstraction would be to only have black line picture cards for matching which is training the child's visual perception for reading.
Here is a link to a fabulous blog, thought you might like to read.
https://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/otis-18-months/