child’s
language
(Hendra 060954)
A. Introduction
A child is a greatest
gift from God. He is unique (Musthafa: 2003) that needs to be loved and
respected for his differences. He is mandate that should be managed, treated,
and taught well. Childhood is our past phase that we have encountered. It is
our job to detect and encourage the positive attributes in each one. Observing
the child’s language, character, attitude and world will be interesting since he
is a unique creature that always make adult people some time are not aware who
the child is.
The child’s developments
have been highlighted by Islam for more fourteen centuries ago. As in the Noble
Qu’ran (Surah An-Nahl/The Bees:
78) said:
And Allâh has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while
you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might
give thanks (to Allâh).
Meanwhile, concerning with the
childhood, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him once said:
كل مولود يولد على الفطرة فاباه ان
يهودانه او يمجسانه او ينصرانه
“Every child was born upon his
“fithrah” (inner capacity), and his parents who make him Jew, Zoroastrian or
Christian.”
This means that every
child, who was born in this universe, knows nothing then God gave him hearing, sight, and hearts to imitate,
learn and think (Pinker). A child will easily learn from his environment as he
has his own “fithrah”
(inner capacity) from his birth to develop and create his future.
In line with both Qur’an and Hadits, nowadays
some theories of child development, especially how a child learns a language,
have emerged. After the child was born, we still question what first step in
the child language is? Children learn new languages very easily, almost too
easily (J. Doug McGlothlin:1997). To a child, the life is all play and no work (Einon:
2005). God has given young children a magical ability to learn new languages.
This ability slowly disappears, and is completely gone by the time an adult
begins the task of learning a new language. Sometimes, problems with speech or
language delays may signal another problem. For instance, hearing loss or
hearing impairment can be responsible for delays in speech development. Babies
who fail to coo and babble may do so because they haven't been hearing the
sounds around them. It is because God first gave human kinds hearing, then
sight and the last heart. Therefore, when the child has problem with the
hearing, he or she automatically will find problem with speaking.
According to the theory, children learn a
new language easily and adults do not because the magic is limited to
childhood. With the magic gone, they find it a little easier to cope with their
difficult studies, knowing that now there is no other way for them to learn a new
language. (http://iteslj.org/Articles/McGlothlin-ChildLearn.html)
B. The child’s
language
Language is human and non instinctive method
of communicating ideas, feelings and desires by means of a system of sounds and
sound symbol (Oxford Advanced Lerner’s Dictionary of Current English). From the moment of birth, a child began to
communicate. At first, child’s cries may seem like a foreign language to us.
But before we know it, we will learn baby's "language" and be able to
provide him with what he needs. After birth, we introduced baby to our own ways
of communicating: touching, soothing, holding and making facial gestures.
The baby will learn our "language," just as we will learn his.
The baby is born with the ability to cry,
which is how he will do most of his communicating for a while. The baby's cries
generally tell us that something is wrong in his world; it may be that his
belly is empty, his bottom is wet, his feet are cold, he's tired, he needs to
be held and cuddled and so on. Soon we will be able to recognize which need the
baby is expressing and respond accordingly. In fact, sometimes what a baby
needs can be identified by his cry - for example, the "I'm hungry"
cry may be short and low-pitched, while "I'm upset" may sound choppy.
Crying is a baby's way of communicating one of those
needs. As babies grow, they gradually learn other ways of communicating with
us, too. They get better at eye contact, making noises, and even smiling, all
of which reduce the need for crying
C. The Child's
Language Environment (J. Doug McGlothlin: 1997)
As well as receiving sounds, the child has
been producing them from the very beginning, first in the form of cries and
then as coos. At about 4 months, he'll start to babble, using many of the
rhythms and characteristics of his native language. A research about “a Child's
First Steps in Language Learning” has been done by J. Doug McGlothlin in 1997.
He observed his own child development since his child’s birth. (http://iteslj.org/Articles/McGlothlin-ChildLearn.html)
and here are his findings as follows:
1.
There is
NO DIRECT PRESSURE to learn (no tests, no grades, etc.).
2.
There is
NO TIME LIMIT for learning (no end of the semester).
3.
There is
NO WAY OF ESCAPING into a different language (no vacations).
4.
The
language is NOT SEQUENCED BY GRAMMAR OR VOCABULARY (no textbook).
5.
There is
LOTS OF REPETITION. His life contains repetitions and the language around him
reflects it.
6.
Both the
LANGUAGE AND THE WORLD ARE NEW (and therefore interesting).
7.
All the
language is spoken IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SURROUNDING WORLD.
8.
THE
LANGUAGE IS ALL AROUND. The child has native speakers of the language speaking
to him often.
9.
The child
has MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR USING the language to communicate to those around
him.
10.
Much of
THE LANGUAGE IS SIMPLIFIED to the level of understanding of the child. It is
tailor-made for the child.
D. The Child's
Learning Strategies
Below are some findings
about what strategy child learns a language done by J.
Doug McGlothlin in 1997.
- The child is NOT INTERESTED IN LANGUAGE for its own sake.
- The child is NOT DISTURBED by the language he does not
understand.
- The child ENJOYS THE REPETITIVE events of his life, and uses
this enjoyment to help him learn.
- The child USES HIS PRIMARY INTERESTS to help him learn.
- The child directs his attention to things that are EASY TO
UNDERSTAND.
- The child possesses a natural desire TO CALL AN OBJECT BY ITS
NAME.
- The child uses his natural desire TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LIFE
AROUND HIM to help him learn new language.
- The child adds words to his speaking vocabulary more easily IF
HE ALREADY KNOWS HOW TO PRONOUNCE THEM.
- The child IMMEDIATELY USES the language, and his SUCCESS IN
COMMUNICATION BUILDS CONFIDENCE.
- The child brings TREMENDOUS INGENUITY to the task of learning.
E. When and how
the child’s language begin
Every child is
different and will develop language skills at his own rate. While some are
speaking in full sentences by 18 months, others of that age are nowhere near
ready. General guidelines can be minded by parents, but care should be taken
not to worry excessively if Child’s language develops on a slightly different
timetable.
(http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/LanguageDevelopmentConcernsForKids.html)
R Birth to 3 Months
Very
young babies cry in order to communicate their needs. While some feel
that the cries are indistinct, others believe that infants make specific sounds
for varying needs. In any case, babies do communicate their needs verbally and
wise parents are quick to react, further encouraging their babies to
"talk."
R 4 to 6 Months
At
about this time, babies start to babble, showing a special fondness for
repetitive sound. Often, they are a combination of consonants and vowels, such
as "baba" or "gaga." Occasionally, babies of this age will
choose "mama" and/or "dada," sure to delight their proud
parents, but experts believe that babies are not yet associating words with
meanings, so it is highly unlikely that they are actually calling their parents
by name!
R 7 to 12 Months
During
the second half of a baby's first year, his talk will begin to have rhythm and
tone, much like that of the adults that he hears. While the words are not
likely to make sense yet, a baby's language now starts to feel like real
talking.
R 13 to 18 Months
Once
they are armed with a few real words, babies begin to understand their ability
to communicate their needs through language, leading to even greater attempts.
Parents should try to identify things and people to their babies, offering them
opportunities to increase their vocabularies.
R 19 to 24 Months
While
many toddlers regularly use only 50-75 words, they have the capability to
understand many more. New words are learned on a daily basis, and parents often
realise that their little ones repeat the words that they hear mum and dad
using (uh-oh!). Simple two-word sentences begin to emerge ("Hungry
now.") and by the two year mark, sentences of three words are common. Now
that they are opinionated and verbally capable human beings, two-year-olds
often amaze their parents at just how well they can get their points across!
R 25 to 36 Months
The
year between the second and third birthdays shows huge leaps in a child's
ability to communicate verbally. Sentence structure will improve, as will the
use of appropriate pronouns and tense. Children now have an extensive enough
vocabulary to participate in conversation, talking about their weekend or
recalling the details of a family outing.
While each child is a unique individual with a timetable
of their own for language development, the following are guidelines that it may
be some thing wrong with the child if he has some phenomenon below:
(http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/LanguageDevelopmentConcernsForKids.htm)
R
No making
noises or cooing by three months of age
R
No
babbling by the first birthday
R
No words
by 18 months
R
Less than
50 percent of words spoken are understandable by strangers by the second
birthday
R
Less than
90 percent of words spoken are understandable by strangers by the third
birthday
R
Any
difficulty with language at age four to five should be investigated
F. conclusion
After having described some steps of child’s
language, I can take some conclusion as follows:
1.
The first
thing first that child got from his birth is hearing. By hearing he can imitate
the sounds and voices then react to it. Thus, if the child has problem with
hearing, it is undoubtedly he will find problem with his speaking.
2.
A child
communicates from the beginning of his birth by crying, cooing and bubbling.
When a child or baby cries, it generally tells us that something is wrong in
his world; it may be that his belly is empty, his bottom is wet, his feet are
cold, he's tired, he needs to be held and cuddled and so on.
3.
Every
child is different in how they acquire the language and will develop language
skills at his own rate. While some are speaking in full sentences by 18 months,
others of that age are nowhere near ready. There is a timetable of his own self for
language development. And if he does not require the guideline;
it may be some thing wrong with him.
4.
A child
has his own interest and strategy in acquiring the language. He was born with
inner capacity; therefore he can easily acquire the language.
REFERENCES
Einon, Dorothy. 2005. Permainan
Cerdas Untuk Anak (Things to do: Play and learn by Hamlyn Octopus). . Jakarta
Musthafa, Bahrudin.2003. EFL
for Young Learners. Bandung : Department of
English, Indonesia
University
Noble Qur’an translation, http://dar-us-salam.com.
Sukyadi, Didi 2007:
Language Acquisition – Additional Reading (Compilation), Bandung : Indonesia
University
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