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LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
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There is something almost
miraculous about a baby’s first words.
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When the baby says pa-pa or
ma-ma or da-da for the first time, the parents or grandfather get very
exited.
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It is a matter of fact that
social interaction provides a foundation for language learning.
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In fact, the development of
speech is closely tied to maturation.
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By 6 months of age, the
nervous system has matured enough to allow children to grasp objects, to
laugh, sit up, to smile and babble.
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In this stage, environmental
influences have great importance.
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In fact, children babble
more when parents talk to them.
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The ability to communicate
and to understand language is a major achievement of human beings.
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At about the age of 1,
children can stand on their own for a short time and respond to words such as
yes or no.
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An amazing feature of
child’s language development is the speed with which it is acquired.
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The first word is spoken at
about 12 months.
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The children may address
their parents as pa-pa or ma-ma. By the age of 1˝ to 2 years,
their vocabulary may include from 24 to 270 words, and this increases up to
2600 or more words at the age of six.
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By the time they start
school the children understand around 8,000 words and use about 4000.
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