Introduction

Noam Chomsky believed that a Childs brain contains special language learning mechanisms at birth.
Sure this biological theory may be dated, but regardless it is true that children are eager to learn .If
we look at how we acquire language, where does it start? For my investigation I will briefly look into
the holophrastic stage, the birthplace of singular words. From this, I will investigate how the phase
develops into a more sophisticated format. Of course, every child will learn at different stages of
development. I will expect to find phonological errors during the first stage; however, I will also
expect that such errors be smoothed out later on. I am hoping to find out how children use language
to structure logical conversation with people considerably older than them. Child directed speech
would be expected to take place within my data and shall be highlighted in accordance to how much
guidance the child needs and slowly how language independence forms. I find the topic of language
acquisition particularly interesting, the fact that children develop linguistically at such a fast rate
shows how willing they are to learn and explore the wonderful world of English.

Methodology

My investigation will prominently require raw data. I plan to collate numerous transcripts of the
recordings of a conversation between children and their parents and also the children
independently. By doing so I can comment on aspects of creativity and communicational skills,
which can be contrasted against each transcript and ultimately, signify development. My intentions
are to record conversations involving children aged 1:2, 2:0 and 2:8. My focal point however, will
revolve around the age’s 2:0 and 2:8 as from reading such books as David Crystals ‘listen to your
child’ it notes a significant change from the telegraphic stage to year 3. Although my recordings are
not exactly 12 months apart I believe that you cannot fully generalise a Childs ‘language capability’
and I expect this point valid within the investigation. My question will be categorised under three
linguistical frameworks. These will include lexis/syntax, pragmatics/discourse and phonology. I
believe these to be the more elaborate frameworks to choose as they all refer too aspects of
conversation and therefore correlate well with my data.
 Lexis /Syntax Structure

During the progression of language, certainly, when time passes so will the development and
sophistication of lexis and syntax structure. From a recording of an infant aged 1 year 2 months I
discovered the pronoun “it’s” used within the child’s utterance. I find this discovery remarkable, as
pragmatically the child has used a contraction not only to represent a noun but also to convey a
sophisticated “clipping” of a word. This both makes the utterance shorter and helps channel a
feature found in Standard English, which I believe to be linguistically mature for such a young age.

A child aged only 8 months older uses a variety of word classes to structure a simple sentence.
Sanjay made the utterance “ pick car up mummy “. The verb “pick” forms an imperative and
therefore shows a command, of course, the sentence is missing the preposition “the” however
during the telegraphic stage we may enrol in what Roger brown describes as “Meaning Relation” the
same child says “ truck faster” the “truck” being the “actor” and “faster” the action. The theory is
also noted by David Crystal and ultimately depicts how the context can still be fully understood even
with the deletion of certain lexicons which usually takes prominence to function words.

8 months on (2:8) A child is in the kitchen with his mother and makes the utterance “Me and Mr
Teddy are washing the (.) um dishes” the sentence is linked with a conjunctional word “and” making
the utterance as a whole, compound. More importantly, this shows a development out of the
telegraphic stage as it adopts the coherency of a clear context with little mistakes made through the
utterance.

Below are two pie charts. The first representing word classes used within a transcript involving a
child aged 2:0, the other 2:8

Word classes used within 2:0

Verb
Noun
Adjectives
Prepositions
Determiner
Adverb
Pronoun

Data 1
 word classes used within 2: 8

verb
noun
adjective
preposition
determiner
adverb
pronoun

Data 2

In regard to David Crystals “Listen To Your Child” during the second year, children talk mainly about
the “Here and now”. Data 1 takes prominence to nouns and verbs, which essentially depict notions
that the child can physically see. The context involves a mother and child playing with cars on a play
mat. Lexis used within this transcript includes “Car” “Truck” “Fast” and “Pick” such lexicons are in
the “here and now” of the past conversation and therefore represent what is physically seen. Data 2
is far more lucid with most word classes exploited. Is seems that the child at 2:8 has acquired the
understanding of pronouns, with the utterance “He is” which shows development out of the
telegraphic stage and into a more coherent and sophisticated format.

Looking at the high noun use in data 1, due to my data being a transcript the expression of deixis is
clear within this context. In language acquisition we refer to this as linguistical pointing. The child
relies more on language than paralinguistic features by simply expressing his desire, the utterance
made at 2:0 “ red truck “ indicates that the child wants what is expressed as a noun “truck” I recall
the child making the utterance with no assisted pointing at the object. I therefore would say that the
high noun use fills the gap for a physical request by the child and therefore requires contextual
understanding by the parent to eventually assist the child. Although at 2:8 I noted numerous
occurrences of pointing to assist language. This therefore signifies a clear development in the space
of only 8 months as the child slowly is becoming more aware and effective in terms of requesting. I
would also assume that the child gains the understanding of how effective paralinguistic’s are and
therefore uses them accordingly.
 Pragmatics and Discourse Structure

In language acquisition, creativity forces a strong input into learning. Although the child may not
directly know, some utterances they make carry more than a semantic or “literal meaning” and cross
into a more complex and deeper aspect of language, pragmatics. From a recording of a child playing
independently at the age of 2:0 I noted the utterance “Snuggles. Saved space” I believe that such an
utterance has been adapted from a children’s book where I assume a common “super hero”
narrative is underlined. Pragmatically, the language used whilst the child is playing with his toys has
creatively been extended from the original narrative and put into a real life context. When
conducting my research, I came across a theory entitled “Michael Halliday’s Taxonomy” it essentially
depicts what language has been used and for what purpose. The “imaginative” category can express
such features as the child is “creating his own world” which is evident within the transcript.

During the collation of my data I also decided to record a child at 2:8 playing independently. I found
the expression “ Big bad car brake”. I immediately made the assumption that the child has adapted
the utterance from a storybook. The use of alliteration in the expression “Big bad” is a common
devise used within children storybooks as the repetition of the phoneme “B” allows the expression
as a whole to be remembered by the child and therefore be expressed within “playtime”. I believe
that by doing this it acquires the contextual awareness of a written text. The child would have to
Remember and recall a text from a past event. This will therefore require pragamtical understanding
of language used within a written text that will then be converted to an utterance by the child.
Likewise, the transcript at 2:0 also depicts similar notions of creativity although I believe the fluency
and sophistication improves during the space of 8 months, as the text reflects a more solid discourse
structure during 2:8.

What can also be noted as development can be shown in the utterance made at 2:8 “ Mr teddy soft
and nice” if we look at the context the mother has just asked “who is better” and is asking the child
to make a decision. However, when the child responds with his expression it can be deemed as
irrelevant. The theory of ‘Grice’s Maxims’ can be applied, as by not responding with ‘relevant’
information the utterance therefore flouts the maxim of relevance. This being said, it is suggested
that by not abiding to the maxims set out by Grice shows that the child does not want to cooperate.
I believe that the expression is not directly said in a negative way as when applying pragmatics more
is discovered. The child may have responded to take a dominant role in the conversation as by
shifting the discourse structure the ‘control’ of the conversation changes. If the child had intentions
of doing this then I believe it has been successful as the topic of conversation then changes to
revolve around the teddy.
 Phonology

From a biological perspective as the child develops so do such things as vocal chords, allowing the
child to explore new sounds and therefore adapt them into their everyday language. I picked up
upon some features a child had uttered at the age of 2:0 a simple exclamatory sentence “yeah!”
shows that the child has learnt how to use intonation in order to convey an emotion of excitement.
If we take a step back, a recording of a child aged at 1:2 still uses features involving phonetic
intonation, the child says, “ want more!” which again expresses excitement. I believe that due to
child directed speech (involving phonetical assistance from the adult) it helps the child develop
phonologically. The theory of Imation can be applied, as the child would mirror phonetical devices
from the adult.

In terms of my initial prediction (seen in the methodology) I would of guessed that phonological
errors would be apparent. With this being said, the utterance made at 2:0 “wat dis one?” shows a
phonological error of substitution. By not combining the phonemes “T” and “H” and instead
replacing it with a “d” sound it shows that the child is making a phonological error. Michelle Aldridge
stated that consonant clusters like “th” would be mastered after the child had articulated single
consonants. With the child substitution of the cluster, the phoneme “D” shows a common error
during the telegraphic stage. Dewi’s speech study however explained that these “errors” are the
result of a simplifying process, where the child would rather use less psychological effort, as they
know that the context they speak about is understood anyway.

When looking at a transcript of a child aged 2:0, I identified a phonological struggle during the
conversation. The child attempts to say the noun “apple”. However, when he does so it is expressed
as “app” although the toughest phonemes are dealt with, particularly the double-barrelled “pp” it
seems that the child cannot deal with the psychological effort needed to complete the word. This
gives me an insight into how the child was taught; the process entitled “Jolly phonics” is a teaching
process involving the blending of sounds, which is then converted to language. Again the expression
“app” is a great example. Children generally enjoy this method of acquiring language through this
process, however there are also some disadvantages to this. It is apparent that some Phonemes are
still not yet been understood, the blending of the two syllables “app” and “le” cannot be articulated
as a whole, which I partly believe is through the learning process of Jolly phonics which teach the
blending of sounds, which in this case may not be taught to the child, and therefore cannot be
expressed in conversation.