Language And Development Of Language, Experience,...

Language plays a significant role in the process of transmitting knowledge and culture among mankind. Everyone learns a language at the early stages of life. From birth to seven years, a tremendous development of language skills is seen in a child. The essay states the various developmental phases of phonetics, morphology, semantics and syntax in a child. The behaviourist and cognitive theories states that nature and nurture plays a vital role in this process. The essay also throws light on the importance of culture, experience, maturation and readiness with the aid of theories laid by Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget. Language is explained as the communication among human beings. Human communication can be either spoken or written†¦show more content†¦From this stage a child even begins to grasp the meaning of short phrases such as #39;give me#39;, do not touch#39; and the like. In the next phase of language development, the child articulates words. The child picks up simple words from its surroundings and that which may be taught him. He associates the words with its meaning (Kuhl et al., 2016). The development of semantic skills take place here. In the later phase, sentence formation begins. In the beginning, grammar and the conventional way of sentence structure is lacked. From here commences the syntactic development in an individual. Through experiences and expressions, the child unknowingly adapts to the accepted grammar and conventional sentence construction rules of its language ((Bloom, 1993). By the age of four a child speaks and understands his language clearly. A child is inspired by surroundings to develop its language skills. He or she imitates and reacts to the sounds around them. B. F. Skinner, one of the pioneers of behaviourism, emphasizes the role of environment in language development (Sommerville, 2006). He argues that a child learns words by associating it with meanings. The word #39;cat#39; brings the idea of that particular animal in the child#39;s mind. Children imitate words and sentences used by parents and elders. According to him, children learn language on the basis of reinforcement principles. Adults surrounding them, especially parents and siblings, correct and