Language Acquisition from a Developmental Perspective
What are the three stages that demonstrate the changes that children experience in acquiring verbal language?
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Three general stages differentiate the changes in development that children go through in acquiring verbal language: a prelinguistic communication stage, a stage of lexical expansion, and a stage of grammatical expansion.
1. Prelinguistic communication stage.
In this stage, which covers the period from birth to approximately 12 months of age, language foundations are being prepared, although language as is used by adults is not present. A rudimentary system of movements and vocalizations enables the infant to communicate basic biological and social needs. Additionally, infants are able to perceive certain aspects of human communication and recognize voices. At about 8 months of age, the infant engages in more persistent communicative signaling. Gestures, facial expressions, and vocalizations begin to interact in a complex manner, eventually followed by the emergence of first words early in the second year of life.
2. Lexical expansion stage.
In this stage, which covers the period of approximately 12 to 14 ...
Solution Summary
This solution provides a detailed discussion of the three stages of language acquisition that demonstrate the changes that children experience in acquiring verbal language. It is from a developmental perspective.