Communication is an important aspect of every person’s life due to the fact that it allows transferring essential information to others and expresses their feelings. Language begins to develop from during the infancy and toddlerhood, which starts from the most basic signaling approaches, such gestures. It further improves though learned or acquired vocal imitations of words. By the later stages of toddlerhood, a child will be able to construct telegraphic speech, which consists of short incomplete sentences or phrases.
The very first form of communication can be observed in newborns, who mostly express their emotions through physical manifestations. It is stated that one can distinguish a baby’s motivation for crying, which can be hunger or pain (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017). Most of the communication is realized through facial expression, sounds, and gestures. Soon after, a newborn will transition into a stage of intentional vocalization, where he or she begins to coo (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017). My nephew’s daughter is at this stage, where she uses one of the simplest sounds to grab people’s attention.
By the tenth month, a child will have the ability to comprehend some basic words, such as his or her name (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017). The following stage is accompanied by a holographic speech phase because children start to use a shortened version of words to refer to various items and objects. In the next stage, an infant will be influenced by his or her culture for the first time. For instance, in the English context, the initial word tends to be a noun, whereas, in the Chinese environment, a child can acquire a verb as a first word (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017). During the toddlerhood, a toddler will have a vocabulary consisting of up to 200 words (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017). In addition, this is the phase where a child develops a telegraphic speech, which means that he or she does not use unnecessary words.
Reference
Lally, M., & Valentine-French, S. (2017). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective. College of Lake County.