The Various Language Skill Development - 1250 Words

Being social animals, human beings experience an innate drive to communicate and share their thoughts and feelings with others. The essay discusses the various language skill development stages among the children from zero to seven years. It analyses the importance of nature and nurture with the aid of behaviourist and nativist perspectives. In the light of the explanations by Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, the essay attempts to discuss the role of culture, experience, maturation and willingness to learn. Cambridge dictionary defines language as #39;a system of communication#39; among human beings. This communication system consists of sounds and words. The element of grammar makes communication meaningful (Cambridge Dictionary 2016).†¦show more content†¦Gradually the child imitates the words from its environment. Children are more used to the words, like mom, milk, dad, no, that are recited to them frequently. At this stage, the child associates these words to their meanings. After the age of two, there is a tremendous exploration of vocabulary (Clarke, 2009). Children accumulate thousands of words till the age of six. Initially they go for replacement of difficult terms with simple ones. This is due to their struggle with complex vocabulary. This tendency changes after six. The conventional word order, tense and grammar are grasped during these ages. By the age of four, children would be good conversationalist. At this stage the syntactic and semantic developments occur in children (Choice2099, 2014). Children, in their early years, imitate sounds and words that are produced by adults. B.F. Skinner employs his theory of behaviourism to explain this mental process (Nellie, 2013). Skinner argues that language development like any other behaviour or habit, can be imbibed through repetition and reinforcement. He uses the concepts of classical conditioning and operant conditioning to explain this phenomenon. Children associates the frequently used terms with its meanings. The word #39;mom#39; brings the mental image of their mother. They tend to use correct words and pronunciation to experience positive