The Development of Language
“It is a miracle of creation, an inner construction. For this reason, language is a part of the psychic organism of each individual. It stems from the child’s efforts in the first two years of life, during which he is completely unconscious, then partly conscious, and then more and more conscious until, at last, he has this great gift of language.” Dr. Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lecture
The process of oral language acquisition begins before birth. Right from seven months in utero, babies begin to hear external sounds. After they are born, they can anticipate and turn towards sounds from the mother and other caregivers. Gradually they begin to babble and coo, responding in non-verbal language to those who speak to them. Towards the end of the first year of their life, they speak their first words, entering the linguistic phase of language. The child ‘explodes into language’ over the next year, learning and practicing new words every day. They begin pointing and asking for the names of objects around them. They slowly begin stringing together words to make phrases and sentences. This is of course a rough timeline and does not account for speech and language pathologies.
I love this image below which was shared as part of our Montessori 3-6 Assistant’s training.
Personally, it has been such a joy to witness this language explosion over the past year- from her first word (hi!) at 12 months to now speaking complex sentences in English, Tamil, and Kiswahili and even reciting books from memory at 22 months.
Yesterday I shared an Instagram post about what language means to us as a family, and why we have been so intentional about it.
Today I want to talk about what we have done to support this natural development of language:
Talking to her in utero and after birth and narrating to her what we were doing.
Reading aloud to her right from the early months.
Encouraging those babbles and coos by asking questions and engaging in a back and forth ‘dance of communication’.
Using the principle of OPOL or One Person One Language with me speaking to her in English, my husband in Tamil, and her nanny in Kiswahili.
Using rich language and precise names to identify items. For example, crow or pigeon instead of bird.
Being mindful of correct pronunciation and grammatical structure.
Always tuning in and paying attention to what she is trying to communicate to us, through our words and body language.
Articulating her thoughts in our words and expanding on what she says. Pausing and taking turns to speak.
Using a positive and indirect way to correct. For example, instead of ‘that’s not a paper, it’s a book’, saying ‘Oh you mean a book, yes that’s a book’.
Books. LOTS of fiction as well as non-fiction books in all three languages. Mostly based in reality but around 18 months or so, introducing some age-appropriate fantastical elements too.
Reading aloud in a conversational way as much as possible based on her interest.
Connecting books to real life and what she sees and experiences around her.
Vocabulary baskets for matching real or nomenclature objects to pictures in books or cards.
Three period lessons using classified cards particularly for vocabulary which is difficult to find in children’s books such as African flora and fauna.
Weekly video calls with family who also speak in Tamil.
Singing appropriate rhymes and songs in all three languages.
Poetry books- we’ve recently started reading a poem or two a day and it has been so enjoyable for both of us!
The Chameleon reader was a recent purchase and it has really been a game changer especially in getting her more comfortable with speaking Tamil.
That’s basically it! I am looking forward to the next year, to continually being surprised with new words, phrases, language combinations, and expressions.
I will be sharing more about language this week over at my Instagram page so let me know if you have any questions.
I hope this has been helpful!
