Language development Essay Example

Language development Essay Example Language development Essay Language development Essay The language during the observation showed that he was able to communicate confidently with the adult, he looked relaxed and he wasnt shy to talk. G was able to listen to the adult and answer the questions which were asked although sometimes he didnt understand the questions, for instance when the adult asked about colours, Gs answer was given as sun, Lindon (1993) says children get confused if given complicated instructions even though the question is not difficult for an adult it might be for a child. This might have been the case with G as the answer was different to the question or it could have been that he did not no the colour so he compared it  something he had seen of that colour e.g. a sun. Beaver et al (2001) say that a child of 3 and 6 months is able to use complete sentences. G showed he could do this, however his sentences were simple and not complex. G tended to use one word answers a lot of the time and as G spoke his word order was incorrect for example when he said ~we t~nd some more suns whats there, as stated in Beaver et al (2001) Word order is sometimes incorrect. G also demonstrated that he uses silly talk such as Yep and Yer instead of yes. Bruce et al (2000) states that Children love to use silly talk, Although G can say yes as shown in my observation, he chose not to. When G was talking about the sun shape he said goes in sky he missed the word the out which, as Sunderland says children carry on conversation but missing link words like the out. Lindon (1993) says Children will make mistakes in their pronunciation of words and in how they put sentences together G made a few mistakes but each time the adult still understood what was being said but didnt correct his speech. G was able to describe an object like something else (a simile) for example when he said its like sun as Beaver et al (2001) tell us he is linking ideas to speech. (i was able to discuss his environment because he noticed the picture of dolphins and started talking about them; Hobart and Frankel (1995) state that a 3 year old can relate to present and past experiences. G did show this as he was able to tell the adult about the dolphins. Beaver et al (2001) say that when G told the adult that he saw stars outside, he was using language to report on experiences. Sunderland states Children love telling adults what to do, G showed this as he kept asking the adult to look for shapes.  Conclusion  [feel that I have met my aim which was to observe and look at the language skills of a child. I observed G for about 30 minutes whilst he was standing at a table with bootlaces and different shaped beads he was also talking to an adult. I placed a tape recorder near G and the adult so that I could accurately record exactly what was said. I also watched them and recorded Gs actions whilst he was talking. I dont think that I would have changed the way I observed him as I wouldnt have been able to accurately write down everything which was said and how it was said. The tape was a good method because I could listen and rewind and listen again as many times as I wanted. It helped writing down his actions as well so I knew exactly what was going on whilst I listened to the tape at a later date. If I was to observe language again I would still use the same method as I think it was the best and most accurate.  G was at his normal stages for his age as Beaver et al (2001) say ~a child of 3 and 6 months can use complete sentences G showed this whilst he was talking to the adult, for example when he said a special thing for music. Although El has reached his developmental norms in language, some children reach them at different times and might be a little behind or a little in front. Personal learning I learnt that children do use silly talk but they can speak properly when needed and that children can get confused and need a little help to understand things. I also learn that children love telling adults what to do. I learnt that there are different types of questions, open ended and closed questions. The open ended questions need more than a one word answer and children would benefit from being asked these as they help with a childs language and pronunciation development. Recommendation I would recommend that when an adult is talking to G the adult should try and use open ended questions as El would probably benefit from this, as he would be able to build on his language skills and talk to the adult more, the adult asked closed questions such as Do you like dolphins? or What colour is that? These questions only need a short answer but if G was given open ended questions like What are you doing? or Why do you like dolphins he would be encouraged to answer with more than one word, which would help him to extend his language skills and pronunciations of words. I would help him by getting some picture cards and holding them up then get him to say what is on the card (e.g. an aeroplane) I would also ask him questions about the picture on the card. It would help improve his language skills. Also if G had his word order wrong, the person who was with him should correct him so he would know how words are said properly.