|  | Family Health | Childrens Health

Levels of Language Development

When a baby says his first word, parents are understandably excited. Their child has just hit one of the major milestones in language development. Language development, however, begins long before the first word. There are six levels or stages of language development. The ages given for each stage are approximate -- children naturally develop at different rates. Consult your child's pediatrician for more information.

  1. Pre-linguistic Stage

    • Children under 1 year old are considered pre-linguistic. At this stage, infants use different cries to indicate different needs. Babies make babbling sounds when interacting with caregivers. Infants make eye contact, use gestures and imitate their caregivers' speech and facial expressions.

    Holophrastic Speech

    • At around a year, children begin to speak real words. Toddlers will use single-word utterances to convey an entire thought. Children use body language, gestures and facial expressions to clarify their meaning. For example, a toddler may hold up her bottle and say "More." The parent knows from the context and body language that the child wants more milk.

    Telegraphic Speech

    • Children reach the telegraphic stage of language development at around 18 months. The toddler uses two words to convey his meaning in this phase. For example, he may say, "Where bottle?" Caregivers can tell this means, "Where is my bottle?" These two-word phrases are accompanied by facial expressions, eye contact and gestures the child uses to clarify his meaning.

    Multiple-word Sentences

    • Around 2 years, the child begins to use multiple words in her utterances. She adds prefixes and suffixes to indicate tense. For example, the child might say, "I falled," rather than "I fell." This indicates an understanding that the "-ed" suffix indicates past tense. Children at this age begin asking questions frequently.

    Complex Grammatical Structure

    • Between 2 and 3 years of age, children start using more complicated grammatical structure. Children at this stage use pronouns correctly. They also add prepositions and conjunctions to their speech. At this age, people outside the child's family can usually understand his speech.

    Adult-Like Language

    • Around 5 to 6 years, children begin to use more adult grammatical structure in their utterances. Children at this age begin using irregular verbs and plurals. They use correct sentence structure for questions versus statements. Children use adjectives and adverbs appropriately in their language. Children at this age should have intelligible speech, even though articulation errors, such as substituting "w" for "r" or "l" are common. The school-aged child should use compound and complex sentences.

Childrens Health - Related Articles