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 uses 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 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 consistency found in adult language being that the sentence is
constructed with such word classes as determiners and pronouns. To highlight the development out
of the telegraphic stage I decided to count each word class during the process of two transcripts,
these involving the age’s 2:0 (telegraphic stage) and 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 conversation and therefore represent what is physically seen. Data 2 is far
more lucid with most word classes exploited, it seems that the child at 2:8 can structure sentences
with more clarity, I find it remarkable that during the space of only 8 months, more variety of word
classes can be expressed and more importantly, understood by the child.

Looking at the high noun use in data 1, due to my data being a transcript the expression of deixis is
clear within the context. In language acquisition we refer to this as linguistical pointing. The child
relies more on language than paralinguistic features by simply expressing a desire, the utterance
made at 2:0 “ red twuck “ 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 would say that the high noun
use fills the gap for a physical request and therefore requires contextual understanding of 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 features are and how to use them
accordingly.
I feel that development cannot fully be identified through the assistance of an adult. When
transcribing, I also decided to study the recordings of children playing independently. Again, this was
at the ages 2:0 and 2:8. During the study, I noted the use of lexical fields. At 2:0, such lexis as
‘rocket’ and ‘astronaut’ tie into the lexical field of ‘space’, with the ability to link such words to form
a narrative, this indicates to me that the child has creatively used contextual understandings to form
independent utterances. The syntax structure mainly consists of simple sentences usually with
reference to nouns and adjectives. At 2:8, I believe the child to be more elaborate with the use of
words. The lexical field of ‘policing’ can be identified with the mention of such lexis as ‘criminal’ and
‘prison’ the reason for the transcripts complexity compared to the recording at 2:0 lies in the
sentences adopting more sophistication. Being that the transcript at 2:0 takes shape to numerous
incomplete structures; the consistency at 2:8 is remarkably developed. With a large clause like “ I
take the criminal too prison” we can determine several word classes exploited, in particular the
preposition “too” and determiner “the” are features that show little relation to the telegraphic
stage.
 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. 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. I believe this can be identified through
the detail in the recording. Rohin aged 2:0, makes the utterance “space. Me. Astronaut” I believe this
can be deemed as ambiguous when compared to “now can live safe and happy” made at 2:8, as we
can associate ‘safe and happy’ with the resolution to a narrative.

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. Michelle
Aldridge explained that after 10 months the child joins the linguistical world after a much practiced
process of babbling and cooing. At the age 1:2, I discovered that the child has the knowledge of a
pre-existing ‘drinking sound’. When looking at the context the child is pretending to drink water and
a “suup suup” sound is made, this shows that the child is aware of certain sounds and can therefore
replicate them. For the child this would be enjoyable as; like the pre linguistic stage of language, it
would be phonetically pleasing.

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?” it shows
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
substituting the consonant cluster, the phoneme ‘D’ is a good incentive as when put into context
“dis” is still understood by the adult as it bares similarity to the correct pronunciation “this”. In
accordance to David crystals study of language acquisition, children during the second year do not
like ‘clusters’ of consonants and instead replace them. We must not however forget that during the
second year of language, approximately 12 sounds are part of the Childs pronunciation library and
the ‘TH’ sound in some cases is still troublesome into the seventh year.

Looking at my transcript at the age 2:8, again, we can establish phonological errors. The position of
phonemes plays an important role in how the child can articulate words and this could be where the
problem underlies. When we look at the utterance “wassing” the child has contracted the ‘SH’
cluster and changed it to ‘SS’. If we look at a word like ‘shoe’ the ‘SH’ sound is positioned at the
beginning of the word and is therefore easier to articulate, the word ‘washing’ has the ‘SH’ sound
positioned in the middle of the expression and would be much more harder to understand.
Conclusion