Child Language Development: Learning to TalkThis publication is concerned with the early stages of language acquisition and is designed for use by early childhood teachers, nursery nurses, special education teachers and others working with children experiencing difficulties in learning to talk. Procedures are described that can be used to assess a child' s current skills and plan activities to increase communicative competence. The programme described is based on a developmental sequence that moves the early skills of joint attention, turn-taking and appropriate play to the more complex skills of asking and answering questions. Other issues discussed include sound development and intelligibility, the use of augmentative and alternative communication as stepping stones to speech, working with children and with families. The second edition has an expanded focus on the place of communicative intentions in early language development. |
Contents
Part 1 Background to the language programme | 1 |
Part 2 Designing and implementing a language programme | 47 |
Part 3 Issues in implementation | 129 |
References | 179 |
Appendix A Language sampling | 191 |
Appendix B Summary assessment sheets | 194 |
Common terms and phrases
activities appropriate play assessment attention Auslan autism ball behaviour benefit br’mm carers Chapter chil Child Language child’s name children learn cognitive communication skills communicative intentions contexts daily routines described developmental Developmental Disabilities Developmental Psychology doll drink early childhood early communication early language early sentences encourage the child example find finger first words five gestures guage help children help the child home language infants intentional communication interest involve joint attention language acquisition language development language programme language skills learning to talk look Makaton meaning Modifier morphemes Mummy nursery rhymes observation opportunities parents performative sounds phemes play skills practise preliminary skills preschool programme level remember response significant signs single words situations sounds or words specific speech stage suggestions summary assessment take turns tasks teach teddy turn-taking and imitation utterances Wetherby