Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-1-a-childs-first-year-and-consonant-acquisition

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# A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition

CPD for Primary: Children's Language Development (by Tom Hollins), topic 1.1.1

## Phonology - A Child's First Year

Even before a child is born, they can start to __‘hear’__ sounds.

### 17-week-old-foetus

![17-week-old-foetus](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-07/6fac24d8-9714-4272-8910-1e5ec5992e1a/foetus-baby.jpg)

- From around 17 weeks, a foetus can hear sounds in utero. This is often shown when a child reacts more when they hear a certain voice or when they hear a certain piece of music. 
- This is often shown again after birth.

### __Mehler__

![__Mehler__](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/memory-location-images/Paris,%20France-min.jpeg)

- In 1988, __Mehler__ found that French babies had a stronger reaction to French sounds at four days old than they did to English, Spanish or Italian. 
 - This proved that babies become accustomed to their native language before birth.

## Phonology - Pre-Lingual Stage

Before a child can pronounce words, they go through what is known as the __‘pre-lingual’__ stage. This is formed of six key stages.

### Word of warning

![Word of warning](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-11/9051963e-17f1-4c27-a0fe-1d49f444cda7/warning-sign-.png)

- As a word of warning, all theories/concepts mentioned  in this module are rough guides and all children are subject to individual variation.

### Stage 1: Biological noises – 0-2 months

![Stage 1: Biological noises – 0-2 months](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-08/a2ad3d6c-a804-46d9-a57e-c5c68b8512fd/baby-crying.jpg)

- This involves a lot of crying (which usually takes the form of the long a sound (/a:/)).
- The child begins to gain control of their air stream.
- This is universal – parents of all nationalities can recognise the different types of crying. As a result, this isn’t really a __‘language’__.

### Stage 2: Cooing and laughing – 2-5 months

![Stage 2: Cooing and laughing – 2-5 months](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-10/a2f1f4e4-acfe-40c6-86dd-53cb7801e835/baby-teeth-.jpg)

- We begin to see a control of vocal chords, but the sounds are meaningless, like **‘coo’,’ hoo’** and **‘ga’.**
- Tongue control is evident when coos get strung together.

### Stage 3: Vocal play – 5-8 months

![Stage 3: Vocal play – 5-8 months](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/f203f409-06d3-456c-9818-89e2a04a0265/baby-390555_1920.jpg)

- The child begins to experiment with different vowel and consonant sounds.
- The child begins to play with pitch.
- There is no meaning behind these noises – they are playing.
- Parents may respond very positively to certain sounds and as a result, the child may produce these again and again.

### Stage 4: Babbling – 6-12 months

![Stage 4: Babbling – 6-12 months](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-08/916d63d0-00b9-49e2-a7d8-57eb34a89ab6/dad-mum-baby-parents-child.jpg)

- After starting, babbling happens for a long time, permeating even into the holophrastic stage.
- Consonants begin to get linked to vowels. There is still no meaning to these sounds.
- Parents will react if __‘da’__ or __‘ma’__ is formed (coincidently). 
- There are two types of babbling – reduplicated and variegated. 
 - Reduplicated babbling happens when the sound is repeated. For example, __‘mamama’__. 
 - Variegated babbling happens when the sound is differed, like __‘dabama’__.

### Stage 4: Babbling (cont.)

![Stage 4: Babbling (cont.)](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-10/43ab43cb-5bdc-4e2a-a6af-75ea8c62481e/baby-chinese-.jpg)

- To start with, a child will try as many new sounds as they can – this is called phonemic expansion. 
- At roughly 9/10 months, the child narrows their range to those found in their native language. This is called phonemic contraction.
- At this point, a parent can recognise a child of the same nationality.

### Stage 4: Babbling (cont.)

![Stage 4: Babbling (cont.)](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/ce7bf1f1-5868-4b29-b877-d4e392445cba/twins-matching-similar-.jpg)

- A child gains more control over their body and face at this point, and so paralinguistic features develop (gesturing and facial expressions).
- A child also develops intonation as of real speech. This includes rising intonation at the end of the interrogative mood.

### Stage 5: Melodic utterances – 9-18 months

![Stage 5: Melodic utterances – 9-18 months](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/8a8c9055-7080-4912-a5c5-8d77241285b2/people-1839564_1920.jpg)

- A child lets out utterances containing rhythm. 
- Tone is developed.

### Stage 6: protowords – around a year

![Stage 6: protowords – around a year](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-05/0d26f4f5-167a-4a46-81d0-3bf6ae5992f0/shutterstock_189429203.jpg)

- A child starts to use protowords. These are utterances which resemble words and are word-like __‘dap’__ for a phone. These protowords would not make sense outside of the context of primary caregivers.

## Test yourself on A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition

- From what age can a foetus can hear sounds in utero?
- The Key Stages of the __‘Pre-Lingual’__ Stage
- At what stage is tone developed?

[Practise this topic for free](https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/8ba0c8b1-9e90-4088-8dd8-d20e52cdbc5b/section/87cfb24f-1ca0-46c0-b0b2-80b146b35cb3/session)

- Next topic: [1.1.2 Consonant Acquisition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-2-consonant-acquisition.md)

## CPD for Primary: Children's Language Development (by Tom Hollins) contents

### 1 Children's Language Development
- 1.1 Stages of Development
  - [1.1.1 A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-1-a-childs-first-year-and-consonant-acquisition.md)
  - [1.1.2 Consonant Acquisition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-2-consonant-acquisition.md)
  - [1.1.3 Beginning Stages of Language](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-3-beginning-stages-of-language.md)
  - [1.1.4 Lexical Development](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-4-lexical-development.md)
  - [1.1.5 Stages of Development](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-5-stages-of-development.md)
  - [1.1.6 Grammatical Constructions](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-1-6-grammatical-constructions.md)
- 1.2 Theories of Language Development
  - [1.2.1 Behaviourism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-1-behaviourism.md)
  - [1.2.2 Interactionism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-2-interactionism.md)
  - [1.2.3 Interactionism 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-3-interactionism-2.md)
  - [1.2.4 Nativism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-4-nativism.md)
  - [1.2.5 Chomsky](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-5-chomsky.md)
  - [1.2.6 Cognitivism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-6-cognitivism.md)
  - [1.2.7 Social Constructionism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-for-primary-childrens-language-development-seneca-certified/1-2-7-social-constructionism.md)