The development of the child's speech

Waiting for the first syllable and the first word spoken by the child, parents of toddlers would like to know how long it lasts and how it works speech development in a child. Does it take place in leaps or rather continuously? When does the pronunciation of individual sounds begin and how quickly do the children learn their mother tongue? Whether stages of speech development they are the same in all childrenCan this process be different for everyone? Below you will find answers to these and other questions, as well as speech therapy tips for each stage of speech formation.

The development of speech is genetically determined. It is a process in which biological and social factors play an important role. It depends on the innate human predispositions, but it is possible only in contact with other people. Acquiring and shaping speech begins in utero and coincides with the greatest plasticity of the nervous system, when synaptic connections are formed and strengthened.

How long does it take speech development in a child?

This period begins right after birth and lasts until around the age of 13. The mother tongue is assumed to be mastered by the child within the first five years. Later, the speech is perfect.

The development of a child's speech follows the general biological regularities that define the sequence of the stages and their time limits. All children go through the same stages of speech development, despite considerable individual differences. The differences are particularly noticeable with regard to the vocabulary, i.e. the scope and content of words. They result from the individual pace of development as well as the influence of the environment in which the child is brought up.

How is speech development in a child?

A child's speech and language develop in stages. The developmental stages are not so much related to the child's age as they determine the level of linguistic development. Until recently, speech development was divided into distinct stages: stabbing, babbling, first words, two-part utterances, sentence period. The period of the so-called "Speech explosion" in the third year of life. While the table illustrating the stages of a child's speech development is still applicable, it is currently considered to be continuous rather than sequential in nature. The transitions between particular periods are smooth, despite the fact that the table clearly separates them. The basic development of speech in a child begins at birth, a the first year of life is the most important for its proper development.

STAGES OF CHILD'S SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

XNUMXst stage - melody period (1st year of life)

The first interactions are non-verbal and most often take the form of crying, facial expressions or gestures. In the early stages of life, the child pays attention mainly to the prosodic features of the language, such as: melody, rhythm, accent, and timbre. Often this stage is called the period of the melody  or also the pre-language phase. The sounds made by babies do not have intentional meaning, but can express many emotional states, such as: joy, anger or dissatisfaction. The earliest form of vocalization is screaming. The scream of a newborn, which is a specific form of articulator gymnastics, is the primary source of information for its caregivers about the child's condition and its needs. In the first eight weeks of life, newborns occasionally produce speech-like sounds similar to normal vowel sounds. In the period of the melody, several stages of vocalization can be distinguished. The child's entry into the next stage does not mean, however, that the vocalization characteristic of the previous stage has abruptly ended. Often, new phenomena coexist with earlier ones.

• Around two months of age, it appears stabbingwhich, like shouting, serves to train the child's articulation apparatus. Stinging is an unconditional reflex and is not subject to auditory control. Therefore, it also occurs in deaf children.

• Around four months of age, babies begin to repeat sounds of the same type. This stage is called with a playful voice. During this time, the repertoire of stabbing sounds expands to include k, g, y, r uvular (lingual), nasal and bipolar sounds m, b.
• The seventh month is the transition from fasting to babbling. Cooing is the first period in speech development in which hearing begins to play a role. This is evidenced by the fact that children who are born deaf do not babble, while their fasting (reflexive) persists until around 18 months of age. When chatting, the child mainly uses open syllables. Occur: h, d, b, m, t, g, w, n, k, j, p. The most common phoneme in the world is [m], which appears very early during speech development.
• In the third quarter of the first year of life, the baby begins to repeat already not just single syllables, but whole combinations of them. These are not words yet because they have no meaning to the child who is saying them. It is only an imitation of overheard words. This stage in the development of a child's speech is called echolalia.

Stage II - the period of expression (1-2 years of age)

Verbal communication with the environment begins as the child enters term of expressionwhich falls in the last quarter of the first year of life. The ability to understand words always precedes the ability to pronounce them. During this period, the child understands much more than he can verbalize himself. Most babies use the sounds they mastered during the cooing period to form their first words. During this period, the child is able to use all the oral vowels correctly: a, o, u, i, y, e. The nasal vowels are still missing. The consonants are pronounced correctly: p, b, p ', m, t, d, n, ń, ś, k, k' and a semivowel j. Other sounds are replaced by consonants with a similar place of articulation. Temporary pronunciation may appear k instead t (similarly g instead d).

Stage III - sentence period (2-3 years of age)

Another change occurs in the development of speech during the post-infancy period, i.e. between the ages of one and three. Until now, the child used words in speech, now he begins to build sentences out of them. Therefore, this stage is called period of the sentence. The child pronounces all the vowels i, y, e, ę, a, o, ą, u, all labials hard and softened k, k ', g, g' and slotted h, prelanguage t, d, n, anterior lingual gingival l, l ' and semivowels ł, j. The pre-linguals appear sporadically s, z, c, dz,  and even sz, ż, cz, j.

Characterizing the phonetic aspect of the sentence period, it should be emphasized that usually - despite the incorrect articulation of some sounds - the child is already aware of what they should sound like. There are still some abnormalities in the pronunciation of the hissing and often hissing series, as well as sound substitution r easier (usually j and/ or l). If sounds that are difficult to pronounce appear adjacent, they are usually distorted or replaced with simpler ones. 

Stage IV - the period of specific children's speech (3-7 years of age)

Entering the preschool age, the child has basically mastered all the linguistic norms and there is still only the completion of the phonological and inflectional systems. This step is referred to as period of specific children's speech. This name is dictated by the fact of frequent occurrence of linguistic incompetence, caused by incomplete mastery of the phonetic and morphological aspect of the language.

• The three-year-old should be pronounce all the oral and nasal vowels, as well as consonants: p, b, m, f, w, ś, ż, ć, j, ń, k, g, h, t, d, n, l, ł, j. Increasingly, he also uses pre-lingual sounds: s, z, c, plot, although it can still replace a series of hissing and humming - silent ones, e.g. little sister instead juice. When sounds are difficult for a child to pronounce, they often replace them with easier equivalents. This applies especially to the pronunciation of consonantal groups, e.g. fiat and/ or chiatek instead flower.
• By the fourth year of life, the hissing series should already be pronounced according to the linguistic norm, although the humming row can still be replaced with an easier one. A four-year-old improves his skills, asks a lot of questions, uses more and more complex sentences and can talk about events in the recent past. The pronunciation of sounds is mastered s, z, c, plot; they can still replace the sounds that are the most difficult to articulate sz, ż, cz, j. Sometimes a difficult voice may or may not appear r - its absence is not yet a cause for concern at this stage.
• Between the ages of four and five, the sounds are fixed  s, z and sz, f. There may be a so-called hyper-correctnessex, e.g. speaking onion instead onion. The likelihood of the appearance of sounds in the child's speech also increases r.
• Five-year-old children they speak basically correctly - in full sentences, correctly from a grammatical point of view and in a way that is understandable to the environment. These skills allow a five-year-old to tell even longer stories. Describing items by their functions is also not a problem for him. When it comes to articulation of sounds, a five-year-old child can repeat sz, ż, cz, j (although he sometimes uses colloquial language to still replace them with s, z, c, plot). If he doesn't pronounce the sound yet r, it often replaces her l, eg. Lowe instead bike.
• At the age of 6 the child uses complex sentences and with their help is able to convey more extensive content. Six-year-olds are getting better at coping with consonant groups and differentiating sounds sz, ż, cz, j and s, z, c, plot. At this age, they generally pronounce all the sounds correctly.

Speech development in a child generally lasts until the age of seven. Knowing the different stages of speech development, as shown in the table below, can help parents see how their child is doing in this matter. However, it should be remembered that each toddler, also in terms of speech, has his own development dynamics and it is more important that he is within the developmental norm than that he speaks at the pace of his peer next door.

Stages in the development of a child's speech (table)

If the child has any speech disorders or speech impediments, and also when it does not master the skills for a given period (stage), we can deal with speech development delay. Such situations should not be ignored. With any doubts, it is worth referring to a speech therapist.

Źródła:

Kaczmarek L .: Our child learns speech, Wyd. Lubelskie, 1982;
Kielar-Turska M .: Child's speech. Word and text. Krakow, 1989;
Lipowska M .: Profile of the development of phonological competence in preschool children. Kraków, Impuls 2001, 29-35;
Łobacz P .: Polish children's phonology. Phonetic and acoustic studies. Energeia, Warsaw 1996,16, 33-XNUMX;
Porayski-Pomsta J .: The issue of periodization of the development of a child's speech. Pedagogical studies. Social, Educational and Artistic Problems, Warsaw 2011.