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Childrens Language Learning Audio CD - Learn to speak a foreign language
Children Language Learning Audio CD
equally ideal for ESL pupils! Includes a 70 minute DVD movie with a full color Lyric Book an sound CD containing 21 bilingual tunes About the Spanish Language Spanish (español ) or Castilian (castellano) is a Romance code initially within the northern location of Spain. From there its employ slowly spread inside the Kingdom of Castile where it evolved plus eventually became the main code of the government plus trade. It was later taken with Africa the Americas plus Asia Pacific whenever they were brought below Spanish colonial direction involving the 15th plus 19th centuries. The code is talked by between 322 plus 400 million folks natively generating Spanish the many talked Romance code plus perhaps the next many talked code by amount of native speakers. Today it really is among the official languages of Spain many Latin American nations plus Equatorial Guinea. In total very the southern states of Brazil. It is estimated which the combined total of native plus non-native Spanish speakers is around 500 million probably creating it the 4th many spoken code by total amount of speakers. Global web use statistics for 2007 show Spanish because the 3rd many extra info
years old. Brand New - However inside Original Packaging Before they focus inside about their native code infants have a great ability with hear plus absorb sounds which adults unconsciously block out like the subtleties of the foreign code. "Baby's First Words inside Spanish" is an introduction with the sounds of Spanish plus locks inside a child's ability with discover these sounds. Created by linguistic specialists "Baby's First Words inside Spanish" is made for newborns with toddlers about 2 years of age. Each package includes: -A CD of sweet plus soothing tunes rhymes words plus stories -Parents' guide which explains how kids discover languages -Lyric sheet thus which parents will sing along with the tunes found on the CD with their children Here's what a well-known expert has with state regarding Baby's First Words: "it makes wise research plus wise states besides English; inside the U.S. state of New Mexico by way of example 30% of the population speaks the code. It also offers sturdy influence inside metropolitan regions like Los Angeles Miami San Antonio NY City plus inside the 2000s the code has fast extended inside Atlanta Houston Phoenix additional info.....
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Teach The Baby Italian Audio CD plus easy training Guidebook Brand New (nevertheless shrink wrapped): 1 CD This CD has been uniquely tailored with teach infants a foreign code inside a all-natural plus powerful means. Set against a soothing musical background it teaches counting colors body components animals plus articles of clothing and more concentrating about concepts plus objects that infants will understand. It also involves brief widespread words a parent might state with a baby like "Mummy likes you" plus "Let's change which nappy". This enables you to communicate with a baby inside the same means because any Italian-speaking parent might. Teach The Baby assists the child with understand multiple code throughout the many important window of chance - the initially 3 years of lifetime. Children understand several code more conveniently inside life! Includes a easy training guide with word list. This product is right for utilize with a parent plus baby without past knowledge of Italian. Audio CD (25 mins) + Teaching Guidebook About the Italian Language Italian is a Romance code talked by about 63 million individuals basically more advice
-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star -The Wheels found found on the Car -Dinner is Delicious -Days of the Week -Head Shoulders Knees Toes ...and a lot more! Since 1985 the Teach Me... series has been appreciated by teachers parents and kids alike due with its innovative enticing and fun approach with foreign code learning. Knowing that music is a universal means of correspondence the award-winning Teach Me... books uses familiar music with teach kids the fundamentals of foreign code vocabulary the alphabet numbers and hues days of the week plus more. Available inside 10 languages Teach Me... is the greatest means for training children a foreign code. It's a fun easy and engaging shape of educating kids by music! Each CD has been brilliantly recorded using native speakers and professional musicians and is accompanied with a delightful totally illustrated book. Every book is over the planet by regarding 128 million people considering initially or upcoming code and by regarding an more 72 million people with limited code abilities with significant speakers inside 54 countries. Many native speakers of the code live inside France [5] where the code originated. Many extra info
more. These everyday words and sentences help kids build their vocabulary inside a natural age-appropriate system. Boxed set contains 64 flash cards (4-color 1 side 1-color the other) that obtain kids talking regarding Family Numbers Colors My Day Food and more. These everyday words and sentences help kids build their vocabulary inside a natural age-appropriate technique. Audio CD offers native pronunciation of the Indonesian words and the sample sentences for practice - plus Indonesian music with help with learning. Color Wall Poster keeps hot vocabulary inside sight. Guidebook for Parents and Teachers ( 16 pp saddle stitched) aids you use the cards for ideal learning. It equally involves escapades and games for building kids' vocabulary pronunciation and conversation abilities. Focused found found on the learning demands of preschoolers by age 12 . means "language" plus consequently is equally not an official expression for the Indonesian code. Linguistics To a certain degree Indonesian is considered an open code. Over the years foreign languages like Sanskrit Chinese Arabic Portuguese Dutch and English have enriched and extended the click on
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Bruzzone the Italian for Children system is a fun plus powerful technique for the child with discover the Italian code plus culture. This introduction gets a son or daughter talking Italian from the beginning plus keeps him or her involved with a variety of escapades plus games which keep language-learning fun. A complete system this package features: A full-color illustrated 80 page guidebook which attributes cartoons characters plus fun information Two sound CDs which guide a child from the course plus teach code by the mixture of Italian-language tunes games plus escapades An activity book filled with interactive puzzles plus games which reinforce unique code abilities Advice for we about assisting a child receive the many from thelanguage-learning experience. Free print plus sound downloads. Topics include: Saying hi Saying "yes" plus "no" Saying where places are Italo-Dalmatian languages of the South plus Northern Italian dialects of the North. Unlike many alternative Romance languages Italian has retained the compare between brief plus extended consonants that existed inside Latin. As inside many Romance languages strain is distinctive. Of the additional info.....
of the two-package series. It contains 4 authentic stories ("The Market At the Farm The Tower " plus "At the Park") regarding 2 CDs plus with 2 accompanying books and a Parents' Manual. Pimsleur is the planet leader inside training adults with talk a foreign code. These programs provide Spanish code understanding with kids ages 2 with 6. Kids are right inside the center of the action with age-specific vocabulary plus fascinating real-life conditions featuring their neighbors Dora Diego plus Boots. "Speak Spanish with Dora & Diego " Simon & Schuster's""new children's Spanish sound code system ""is the newest addition with the acknowledged Pimsleur(R) Language Programs. After the amazing achievement of the adult programs inside training real-life correspondence abilities whenever talking with native speakers of Spanish these programs offer the same chance for Interval Recall.” This Method has been chosen with the several degrees plus languages of the Pimsleur Programs. Audio books are a advantageous means for kids with enjoy stories whether they are fine visitors or like a narrative read for them. Students may hear talking books inside every types click here.....
Audio CDs 1 Parents Audio CD Brand New Includes A Full Color Activity Book (80 pages)- A complete Language Course A range of Activities Games French-language music the cartoon adventures of Superchat Stimulating System CDs - Many -activities drawn in the activity book additional escapades built extremely for the CD the music for all units each exciting episode of Super-Katze. Parents/Instructors CD - Tips for helping kids obtain the countless within the program More games plus escapades All the program music gathered together the adventures of Superchat read aloud. Already a proven home-study program the Language for Children series is generating sound with this up-to-date integrated book-plus-audio edition. Along with its charming visuals and lively escapades the series now delivers inside CD format the stimulating sounds of code with entice preschoolers considered a pluricentric code. In countless regions the speakers employ a continuum of mixtures from more dialectical kinds with more standard kinds according with condition. In the German-speaking components of Switzerland mixtures of dialect and standard are really seldom click on
presents for their grandmother. Audio books are a perfect signifies for kids with enjoy stories whether they are strong visitors or like a story read for them. Kids may hear with audiobooks inside each kinds of places. A child might hear with an audiobook found found on the bus with school. You can hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 structure and hear regarding an ipod we have info for we with convert a CDs into an mp3 audiobook here with play them regarding an ipod rockbox sony or synonymous mp3 playerSpanish Berlitz Kids a Visit with Grandma by Chris Demarest more details.....
places. A toddler will hear with an chatting book driving inside the auto. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD structure about a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting plus hear about an ipod you will read a helpful info here for you to convert the audiobook inside CD structure with mp3 structure hereKuaile Hanyu: v. 2 by click the link
Audio Book CD Brand New (1 CD - 1 hour): About Play and Learn Spanish The fun easy and natural way with get kids started inside learning Spanish Young kids have a incredible capability for choosing up hot languages and every parent is a natural-born code teacher. Next Play and Learn Spanish introduces a specialized approach for we with receive kids started inside Spanish that is considering fun considering it's advantageous. Instead of drills and boring grammar exercises you obtain a great deal of fun games escapades and music that permit we with seamlessly integrate the Spanish code into a everyday existence. From taking a bathtub with going ordering creating lunch with driving inside the car Play and Know Spanish turns daily routines into fun learning adventures for you and a child with enjoy together. No could set aside more amount of amount of time in the combined total of native and non-native Spanish speakers is about 500 million possibly generating it the 4th countless spoken code by total amount of speakers. Global internet employ statistics for 2007 show Spanish considering the 3rd several common code online following English and Chinese Play click here.....
equally included.Audiobooks are a advantageous system for children with take joy inside stories whether they are awesome visitors or like a story read for them. Students might hear with talking books inside each kinds of parts. A teenager will hear with an audiobook regarding a quiet saturday afternoon. You can hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting and hear regarding an ipod you can read a guide here for we with translate the audiobook inside CD formatting with mp3 ogg or flac formatting hereJoyeux Noel by Judy Mahoney much more info
music including: "Silent Night" "Joy To The World" "La Marimorena" and a lot more favorites. Lyrics are also included.Audio books are a desirable signifies for kids with delight inside stories irrespective they are advantageous visitors or like a story read for them. The kids may hear audiobooks inside each types of places. A young child can hear with an sound book regarding a extended drive. You can hear with an audiobook inside CD structure regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting and hear regarding an ipod we have helpful information for we with convert the CDs into an mp3 sound book here with play them regarding an ipod rockbox sony or synonymous mp3 playerFeliz Navidad by Judy Mahoney additional info.....
Audio CDs 1 Parents Audio CD Brand New Includes A Full Color Activity Book (80 pages)- A complete Language Course A range of Activities Games French-language music the cartoon adventures of Superchat Stimulating System CDs - Many -activities drawn inside the activity book more escapades built very for the CD the music for the units each exciting episode of Superchat. Parents/Instructors CD - Tips for helping kids obtain the numerous inside the program More games plus escapades All the program music gathered together the adventures of Superchat read aloud. Already a proven home-study program the Language for Children series is creating sound with this up-to-date integrated book-plus-audio edition. Along with its charming visuals and lively escapades the series now delivers inside CD format the stimulating sounds of code with entice preschoolers by French for Children Activity Book 2 System Audio CDs 1 Parents Audio CD details
kinds of places. A toddler usually hear an talking book found found on the bus with school. You can hear with an audiobook inside CD structure regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 structure and hear regarding an ipod there are instructions for we with convert with mp3 files hereAmelie Starts a Band and Other Stories by Kim Hoffmeister related info
Get different Children's Language AudioBooks click here Play and Understand French - Understand with Speak - Audio Book CD Brand New (1 CD - 1 hour): About Play and Understand French The fun easy and natural way with obtain kids started inside learning French Young kids have an incredible capability for selecting up contemporary languages and every parent is a natural-born code teacher. Then Play and Know French introduces a distinctive approach for we with receive kids started inside French that is considering fun considering it is easy. Instead of drills and boring grammar exercises you get plenty of fun games escapades and music that let we with seamlessly integrate the French code into a everyday lifetime. From taking a bathtub with going ordering creating lunch with driving inside the car Play and Learn French turns daily routines into fun learning adventures for you and a the child state he or she would want to supply you le gros bisou du soir (a big good-night kiss). About the French Language French is a Romance code initially talked inside France Belgium Luxembourg and Switzerland and today by regarding 350 million people all over the globe considering either a considerably more details
kinds of places. A girl or boy may hear with an sound book regarding a extended drive. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 structure plus hear regarding an ipod here are assistance for you with change a audiobook with mp3 formatting hereConjugacion en Cancion: v. 1 by Frank Bignucolo more advice
award-winning illustrator Chris L. Demarest plus First 100 Words a vocabulary building book which qualities over a 100 funny illustrations. Listen with the story then sing along with children's tunes. Additionally included are a Language Club Certificate which kids will proudly display plus Help The Child with a Foreign Language a useful guide for parents. For families found on the go everything is conveniently stored inside the handy carryall. French Language Pack - Berlitz Kids - Audio Book CD more information.....
ordinal numbers) from games these as: 'I Spy' 'Mind The Manners' plus 'Follow the Leader'. Sung by native speakers these music are a best introduction with the hot code (English or French).Audio books are a benElectronic Fuel Injectioncial means for kids with love stories whether they are strong visitors or like a narrative read for them. Boys and women can hear with chatting books inside every types of places. A student could hear with an chatting book found found found on the bus with school. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting plus hear regarding an ipod here are guidance for you with change the chatting book with ipod formatting hereEnglish-French by Marie-France Marcie more here.....
brilliant visitors or like a story read for them. Young people can hear with speaking books in every types of regions. A child will hear an chatting book driving with school. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting about a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting plus hear about an ipod here are instructions for you to change a sound book with mp3 formatting hereAmelie Stories: v. 1 by Kim Hoffmeister extra
child discover several code throughout the key window of opportunity: The initially 3 years of life! Teaching counting hues body components animals dresses and more Teach The Baby Spanish focuses about concepts and objects which babies will recognize somewhat of abstractions like time or social greetings. Teach The Baby Spanish aids stimulate a baby's neural paths build vocabulary and develop innate grammar understanding - inside several language! Children discover many languages more easily and instantaneously before age 3 than at any extra amount of amount of time in existence considering their brains are swiftly developing. Take benElectronic Fuel Injectiont of the opportunity and offer the child a head start inside life! For Ages 0 - 3 About the Spanish Language Spanish (español ) or Castilian (castellano) is a Romance code initially in the northern area of the 4th various spoken code by total number of speakers. Global internet employ statistics for 2007 show Spanish considering the 3rd numerous favored code online following English and Chinese. Teach The Baby Spanish Audio CD and Teaching Guidebook click here.....
Childrens Language Learning Audio click here Teach Me Everyday French - Volume 1 - Judy Mahoney - Book plus Audio CD Brand New Teach Me Everyday is the latest title accessible within the honor winning Teach Me series. Kids love with discover a fresh language! And what greater means than by the joy of track! Teach Me Everyday contains a 32 page difficult cover book wonderfully illustrated assisting with capture a childrens attention plus feed there imaginations! Accompanied by an Audio CD full of prevalent childhood tunes. All tunes are professionally recorded inside French . The color book contains full lyrics plus translations inside English. Teach the kids fundamentals. Covers vocabulary numbers alphabet days of the week and more. An invaluable recourse or present with parents teachers. About the French Language For the period about about 1300 several linguists refer inside specific by the consolidation of the utilization of the French code. Hence according with historian Eric Hobsbawm "the French code has been necessary with the idea of 'France' though inside 1789 50% of the French individuals didn't talk it at all plus just 12 with 13% talked it 'fairly' - related info
Learning Audio click here Other Understand with Speak Spanish Audio click here Spanish for Children Activity Book 2 System Audio CDs Guidebook Brand New third Edition Developed by language-learning expert Catherine Bruzzone the Spanish for Children system is a fun plus powerful method for a child with discover the Spanish code plus culture. This introduction gets a son or daughter talking spanish from the beginning plus keeps him or her involved with a variety of escapades plus games which keep language-learning fun. A complete system this package features: A full-color illustrated 80 page guidebook which qualities cartoons characters plus fun information Two sound CDs which guide the child from the course plus teach code from the mixture of Italian-language tunes games plus escapades An activity book filled with interactive puzzles plus games which reinforce modern code abilities Advice for we about assisting the child receive the many from thelanguage-learning experience. Free print plus sound downloads. Topics include: Saying hi Saying "yes" plus "no" Saying where places are Talking regarding family Around the home Saying what we like with do Describing more tips
community plus counting (cardinal plus ordinal numbers) by games these as: 'I Spy' 'Mind The Manners' plus 'Follow the Leader'. Sung by native speakers these tunes are a best introduction with the modern code (English or Spanish).Audio books are a great technique for kids to have stories whether they are good visitors or like a story read for them. Girls and boys can hear audio books in every kinds of spaces. A teen could hear an sound book driving with school. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD structure about a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting plus hear about an ipod you could read a hints plus tricks here for you to convert a audiobook inside CD structure with mp3 formatting hereEnglish-Spanish by Patricia Gomez more information.....
kinds of components. A toddler could hear with an talking book driving with school. You can hear with an audiobook inside CD structure regarding a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting and hear regarding an ipod we have easy procedures for we with change the CDs into an mp3 sound book here with play them regarding an ipod rockbox sony or synonymous mp3 playerBeth Manners Fun French for Kids by Manners Beth more information.....
French the Fun Way - Audio CD DVD and Activity Book Brand New The Multiple Award Winning Lyric Language series is considered the various powerful sound and video code programs accessible. It teaches foreign languages with kids from music and delightful bilingual lyrics. It's moreover ideal for ESL pupils! Includes a 70 minute DVD film with a full color Lyric Book an sound CD containing 21 bilingual songs About the French Language For the period because much because regarding 1300 many linguists refer with all the oïl languages jointly considering Old French (ancien français). The earliest extant text inside French is the Oaths of Strasbourg from 842; Old French became a literary code with the chansons de geste that told stories of the paladins of Charlemagne and also the heroes of the Crusades. By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts inside denoting creative concepts (situation piano) deluxe goods and food. Following a period of unification regulation and purification the French of the 17th with all the 18th years is usually called Classical French (français classique) though countless linguists really refer with extra info
leader inside training adults with talk a foreign code. These programs provide Spanish code understanding with youngsters ages 2 with 6. Kids are right inside the center of the action with age-specific vocabulary plus fascinating real-life instances featuring their neighbors Dora Diego plus Boots. "Speak Spanish with Dora & Diego " Simon & Schuster's""new children's Spanish sound code system ""is the newest addition with the well-known Pimsleur(R) Language Programs. After the amazing achievement of the adult programs inside training real-life correspondence abilities whenever talking with native speakers of Spanish these programs supply the same chance for English-speaking kids ages 2 with 6. Based found found on the same analysis considering the Pimsleur adult programs the course writers have chosen age-specific vocabulary plus built fascinating real-life situations take fun inside the excitement plus have the reassurance of seeing their kids figure out how with communicate inside Spanish -- plus enjoying the task."Vocabulary: " regarding 150 words"Target age range: " 2 years of age with 6 years old About the Author: Dr. Paul Pimsleur dedicated his existence additional info.....
here Baby's First Words inside French - Book and CD - Newborn with 2 Years Expand The Child's Mind and Horizons with a Second Language! Reccomended for babies and toddlers because much because 2 years of age. Brand New - But shrinkwrapped Before they focus inside regarding their native code babies have a great ability with hear and absorb sounds that adults unconsciously block out like the subtleties of the foreign code. "Baby's First Words inside French" is an introduction with all the sounds of French and locks inside a child's ability with discover these sounds. Created by linguistic experts "Baby's First Words inside French" is created for newborns with toddlers because much because 2 years old. Every package includes: -A CD of sweet and relaxing music rhymes words and stories -Parents' guide that explains how kids discover languages -Lyric sheet therefore that English has been the official code inside Mauritius and the Seychelles for a long time and has become an official code of Madagascar. Sub-Saharan Africa is the location where the French code is possibly with expand due with all the expansion of knowledge and it occurs with be also there the related info
assists a child understand multiple code throughout the important window of opportunity: The initial 3 years of life! Teaching counting colors body components animals clothing plus more Teach The Baby French concentrates on concepts plus objects that infants may understand rather of abstractions like time or social greetings. Teach The Baby French assists stimulate a baby's neural paths build vocabulary plus develop innate grammar learning - inside multiple language! Children discover several languages more conveniently plus promptly before age 3 than at any alternative amount of time in existence considering their brains continue to be quickly developing. Take benefit of the chance plus provide the child a head begin inside life! For Ages 0 - 3 About the French Language French is a Romance code initially talked inside France Belgium Luxembourg plus Switzerland plus now is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is selected because a base quantity inside the names of numbers from 80–99. The French word for eighty for illustration is quatre-vingts that virtually signifies "four twenties" plus soixante-quinze (virtually click the link
characters Maria and Pedro talk to each different inside Spanish with transition between music and sections. They also narrate the stories and prayers. The 4 sections - Sunday School; Christian Camp; Vacation Bible School; and Prayer Time - have a mixture of stories music craft escapades and prayers appropriate with each theme. Expert musicians provide accompaniment for the upbeat music which are sung by the children's choir and adult soloists. Many of the music inside this title are common like "When the Saints Go Marching In". The prayers are traditional in addition to the Bible stories are familiar. The really inconsistency is that the narrators which are expected with be a young brother and sister both sound like women. 'This really is a fun interactive technique for children with recognize Spanish individually or inside a group by familiar Christian music stories and prayers' - with appreciate stories whether they are serious visitors or like a story read for them. Children might hear with audiobooks inside each kinds of parts. A young child could hear with an sound book found found on the bus with school. You can hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting regarding a more.....
Children can listen with speaking books in every types of regions. A child could hear an audiobook driving with school. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD structure about a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting plus hear about an ipod there are info for you to change with mp3 files hereKids' French by more tips
The Baby German Brand New (nevertheless shrink wrapped): Teach The Baby German assists a child recognize many code throughout the key window of opportunity: The initially 3 years of life! Teaching counting colors body components animals dresses plus more Teach The Baby German concentrates regarding concepts plus objects that infants could know very of abstractions like time or social greetings. Teach The Baby German assists stimulate a baby's neural paths build vocabulary plus develop innate grammar learning - inside many language! Children discover countless languages more conveniently plus fast before age 3 than at any different amount of amount of amount of time in existence considering their brains are fast developing. Take benElectronic Fuel Injectiont of the chance plus provide a child a head begin inside life! For Ages 0 - 3 About the German Language The French the second-most spoken code inside Europe. Teach The Baby German click on
guys with take fun inside stories whether they are brilliant visitors or like a story read for them. Young people can hear with speaking books in every types of regions. A teen will hear an speaking book about a extended road trip. You are able to hear with an audiobook inside CD formatting about a CD player or convert it with mp3 formatting plus hear about an ipod you could read a key points here for you to convert the audiobook inside CD structure with mp3 ogg or flac structure hereHippo plus Friends Starter Audio CD by Claire Selby click on
LEARNING ABOUT THE MEANING OF WORDS
Parents impatiently await their infant's first words and regard this as one of the most exciting milestones in development. Whereas in Chapter 3 we considered speech perception in terms of units of sounds, in this chapter we are concerned with the acquisition of words as symbolic and meaningful: the emergence of the in fant's first productions and the development of the lexicon (the words that form a language). The very earliest stage of vocal output between two and three months is referred to as cooing (vocalizations that are interactional but nonlinguistic). The baby is learning to create sounds at varying pitches and exploring what her voice can do. Between four and six months, the variety of vocalizations she makes increases significantly. The infant now produces raspberry noises, interrupted by vowel-like sounds. This clumsy transition between vowel and consonant-type utterances is called marginal babbling. At first, infants may produce sounds outside those in her native tongue that may belong to a variety of world languages. With time, however, the sounds that she does not hear often are produced increasingly rarely.
From about seven months onward, vowel-consonant transitions become smoother. Productions now take the form of repeated syllabic strings such as "da-da-da-da." This stage is referred to as canonical babbling, and toward the end of the first year it becomes quite complex, involving variegated sequences such as "babi-babi," "biba-biba." Research into the structure of babbling suggests that it is not until about ten months of age, when speech processing is becoming increasingly specialized, that the child's native tongue begins to affect the kinds of sounds the baby utters.
Some time around the beginning of the second year, babbling and word production tend to coexist in the infant's vocal repertoire: each features similar syllables, intonation, and timing. It can be rather difficult, then, to distinguish early words from complex canonical babbles. When do the repeated syllables "ma-ma-ma" become a symbol for "mother"? Is the utterance "ahhr" still merely a babble if the baby is pointing to a car at the same time, or is it the child's idiosyncratic yet consistent sound for "car" that now has real referential status? Even experienced researchers can, at times, find it difficult to determine the nature of these sounds, because the transition from canonical babbling to first words is neither clear-cut nor abrupt.
Well before uttering her first word, the infant has been busy segmenting the incoming speech stream at word boundaries. As adults we take this ability for granted. In fact, it is no easy task, because the acoustic signal itself does not provide obvious clues as to where one word ends and the next begins. In spoken language, unlike written language, there are no helpful, consistent gaps between words. But early on in language development the infant discovers the phonotactics of her language and learns which sound combinations are legal and which are not. As we saw, she is also particularly sensitive to stress patterns. Such clues help the infant learn to segment the stream of sounds into separate words. They also assist her in recognizing the presence of the same word when it appears in different linguistic contexts, or when it is pronounced by different speakers, both of which dramatically alter the acoustic signal of individual words.
Although segmentation is vital for preparing the infant for speech, learning the lexicon of one's language involves far more than simply distinguishing word boundaries. What is a "word" anyway? If you try to define this term, you will see just how difficult it is. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a "word" as "a sound or combination of sounds forming a meaningful element of speech." But this is inadequate because words also break down into even smaller
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units of meaning known as morphemes. These include parts of words such as "ed," which conveys past tense ("walked," "painted;' "cleaned") or "et.," which conveys the concept of agent ("butcher," "dancer;' "teacher"). Although morphemes convey meaning, they are not referential in isolation: they have to be attached to the stem of a word. A word, on the other hand, can on its own refer to or symbolize an object, action, event, person, abstract thought, and so forth.
So how does the infant learn that words are actually meaningful, referential symbols? There are few clues in the words themselves (apart from onomatopoeic words such as "sizzle:' "crack," or "moo"). On the whole, however, the sounds that form individual words are completely arbitrary. For instance, why is the sound "car" used to represent a type of vehicle? A car could just as easily have been called a "bip" or a "toma." Indeed, across different languages the speech sounds chosen to represent the same meaning are completely different ("car" becomes "voiture" in French, for instance, or "coche" in Spanish). None of these sounds convey the shape, purpose, or even the sound of a car.
Not only are words arbitrary, they are also conventional. By this we mean that people learning English accept that "car" refers to that kind of vehicle, rather than each person choosing his own word to represent this meaning. We would find it very difficult to communicate with one another if we did not have such a tacit agreement with respect to the convention of naming. Over time, some words may be altered by slang, replaced by new ones, or even borrowed from other languages. But such changes are only accepted as part of a language when enough people adopt them.
Having considered the arbitrariness and the conventionality of words, we can see that in order to build up her receptive lexicon, an infant needs to recognize that a word like "car" refers to the whole category car, not simply to an individual car. To determine the correct meaning of words, infants must use clues other than the sounds of which the words are composed. For adults, this is a relatively easy task. But the prelinguistic infant cannot ask for definitions, examples, or clarifications. If you point to a picture of a brown dog in a
book and say to the infant: "DOG! That's a DOG," how is she to know that you are referring to the four-legged animal on the page, rather than, perhaps, the page, the entire book, or the finger you are using to point? Even if her attention is correctly drawn to the dog itself, how does she come to realize that it is the animal as a whole that the word "dog" refers to, and not its tail, its furry coat, its long ears, or the fact that it is standing? Pointing alone is clearly too vague to convey the precise meaning of a new word. And there are no phonetic clues to meaning either. Even if, in this case, the toddler successfully learns that the word "dog" refers to the canine in the picture, how does she then come to know that the same sound refers to the whole category dog including pictures of other dogs and real dogs walking past her in the street? Furthermore, once she has learned the meaning of the new word spoken by others, what is the process that allows her to produce the sequence of sounds that makes up the word "d-o-g"? All of these steps must be taken into consideration if we are to understand how infants progress from early speech perception to understanding and producing words themselves.
Overall, the general pattern of language development is relatively similar across children. Though most of the research has centered on English and other Western languages, the cross-cultural work that has been carried out suggests that most children go through roughly the same sequence of stages on their way to becoming fluent speakers. While the sequence may be similar, however, individual rates of language development vary considerably. This is particularly true for word learning. There is considerable variation in the size and content of children's lexicons, not only from child to child, but also between the sexes. It is therefore important to take account of the influences--both biological, environmental, and sociocultural--that directly and indirectly contribute to individual differences in language production.
Research has shown that girls tend to produce language earlier
than boys. This turns out to be a biological influence. Extensive investigation into the linguistic environments of infants has revealed that this gender difference is not a result of linguistic experience. Studies of Western cultures show that parents talk as much and in a similar way to baby girls as they do to baby boys. It is thought, therefore, that differences between the sexes must be due to certain physiological factors that result in girls' brains maturing somewhat faster than boys. As a result, girls are able to gain control over their articulatory apparatus slightly earlier than boys. A further biological influence is suggested by the link that has been found to exist between maternal verbal intelligence (also referred to as verbal IQ) and infant language production. Verbal IQ refers to the mother's score on items of standardized intelligence tests that measure her language abilities as compared to those that measure her spatial and numerical reasoning. The children of mothers with high verbal IQ tend to display more advanced language skills than do children of mothers with lower verbal IQ. This finding has been further corroborated by studies of language development in adopted children. Robert Plomin and his collaborators have shown that child vocabulary competence is not simply related to adoptive mothers' verbal behavior (an environmental influence), but is also correlated with biological mothers' intelligence (a genetic effect). General biophysiological factors, such as genetic make-up, can therefore clearly affect language development even at the level of word production.
Researchers have identified the presence of a number of general, nonlinguistic influences that play an indirect, although significant, role in word learning. Rather than being specific to language development, these general factors affect the overall environment within which the child grows. Maternal socioeconomic status (SES) is one such factor. In Western societies, mothers of high SES have been shown to address their children more frequently, and with a greater variety of words in longer utterances, than those of lower SES. Other parental characteristics such as education, social competence, knowledge of child development, and attitudes toward parenting can also contribute to the way that parents interact with their infants, thereby affecting the contexts within which words are acquired.
In terms of more direct influences, the role of parental input (the actual speech that the child hears on a day-to-day basis) has been shown to be an important influence on word learning. Specifically, the language that the child experiences affects the onset and progress of word production. By contrast, as we saw in the last chapter, linguistic input does not seem to have a significant impact on the onset of babbling. Because the infant never hears babbling, she has no model to copy. So all infants tend to enter the canonical babbling stage at around seven months, regardless of how much or how little verbal stimulus they receive.
In order to begin building up her vocabulary, however, the toddler has to rely almost completely on the speech she hears. Here, the input model is crucial, whatever the cultural or socioeconomic environments. But what precisely is it about parental speech input that facilitates or hampers word learning? Caregivers who tailor their infant-directed speech by emphasizing intonation and stress, and by repeating words, make language more salient to the young listener. But it is both the way words are delivered as well as the content of adult speech that are important.
In their studies of American families, developmental psycho-linguists Letitia Naigles and Erika Hoff-Ginsberg have shown that when children acquire new verbs, for instance, the frequency with which each verb occurs in parental input has the greatest effect on speed of acquisition of that verb. Interestingly, verb acquisition is also affected by the position of the target word within parents' utterances. When verbs regularly appear at the end of speech segments, as in questions like, "where's Daddy going?" they are actually easier for infants to learn than when they appear at the start of sentences or mid-sentence, such as "Daddy's going to work." A second factor that contributes to the rate at which a verb is acquired is the diversity of grammatical structures in which the verb appears. So it is beneficial
for the toddler to hear the same verb used in a number of different ways: in questions, in commands, in exclamations, or in declarative
statements. In each case, the verb will be surrounded by different types of words, and the word order, as well as intonation and stress patterns, will vary. The verb itself will take different forms according to tense ("run," "ran," "running") and / or person ("I run," "she runs"). All of these factors make the verb more noticeable, encouraging the child to try to understand its meanings. The effects of linguistie likce contexts also hold for the learning of nouns, adjectives, and the
Even when parents are supplying such supportive models, clearly
the child's own capacities for processing linguistic input and discov- ering meaning and structure continue to play a crucial role. This is exemplified by the cross-cultural work of Eleanor Ochs, Bambi
Schieffelin, and Shirley Heath. These researchers have shown that in some cultures the simplified register of child-directed speech is not used, so it cannot be essential to language acquisition. But of course such children do participate in the everyday activities of their opment.
culture, which provide a basis for socialization and language devel
In sum, even though infants do not understand everything in the speech that they hear during the first eighteen to twenty-four months, what parents actually say to them, and how they say it, can affect the nature of their subsequent word production. The variety of words used, the manner in which they are presented, and how often a child is addressed and drawn into speech-based interaction may all influence individual differences in word learning rates.
