As we take a close look at parenting and child development there is no doubt that we will have to take a close look at the excitement that parents do have when they hear the very first words that their children say because those first words grow into a sentence and after that into the conversation. A child learns the first words from the parents as they are their first teachers and thus the children will want to speak and pronounce words like them. When the children are young they find it more enjoyable playing games with their parents, listening to them, talking, reading with them, singing and so on. All this constitutes part of child development since they get important language skills that last for a lifetime. As far as communication is concerned, language development is very important, though there are times when some children fail to develop language due to many different factors that affect them and this could include factors such as birth weight, premature birth, and many other countable factors (Chaimay, Bandit & Jadsada, 2006).
Single parents may not find it easy to raise their children because children need parental care from both the mother and the father thus the absence of one of them will affect the development of a child in one way or another. Considerable research has suggested that language development in children may be affected by behavioral problems or diseases and this may affect them psychologically since they have higher risks of academic difficulties and disabilities in learning in the future among other risks such as Specific Language Impairment (SLI) which is an important neurodevelopmental disorder in children.
Breastfeeding is named as a protective measure against SLI. That is, SLI can be reduced by about 50-60 percent in children who have been breastfed for nine months. Further research has reported that the longer the breast feeding, the better the polysyllable babblers. In addition, SLI is more prevalent in boys than in girls. For instance, a woman with SLI will produce seven times boys with SLI and four times girls with SLI. The study also states that the birth order of children in a family can also contribute to the effects of their language development. The first-born child in a family is more likely to have a higher chance of better language development than the remaining children that follow him. The report further indicated the likelihood of children born later being more prone to SLI than firstborn children.
Moreover, the education level of the parents extensively affects the language development of their children. A wide range of reports has shown that those children born of parents who have low education have higher chances of suffering from language impairment compared to those born of highly educated parents. The environmental factors also contribute to child language development. The environment is defined as the condition in which a child is raised and is also associated with his abilities to communicate effectively. Moreover, many investigators have reported that children born of single mothers are more likely to have SLI compared to those that are born of parents that are married (Chaimay, Bandit & Jadsada, 2006).
Other factors such as maternal age, number of siblings, bilingual home, and poverty pose a high risk to children with SLI. Such children are more likely to suffer from language delays in preschool. Families with SLI history are more likely to have children with the same problem (Chaimay, Bandit & Jadsada, 2006). In summary, the key factors that increase language impairment include birth weight, birth order, parental education, gender of the children, number of siblings, single parenting, and many others. However, the mentioned factors are not conclusive, and more investigation should be carried out especially on areas of environmental factors such as single parenting, maternal age, and poverty. In addition, milk has been cited to be very important in language development. Research on the exact role of milk is recommended.
References
Chaimay, B., Bandit, T. & Jadsada, T. (2006). Risk Factors Associated with Language Development Problems in Childhood – A Literature Review. Journal of Medical Association Thailand, 89(7), 1080-1086. Web.