What Is the Difference in How Speech Is Learned in Toddlers?

Just like the learning of any other basic skill, language learning occurs in many age-related stages. Arguably, the toddler years indicate the beginning of the most important phase of language learning: the abilities to switch speech patterns based on social context, to internalize words with clear definitions and to store large amounts of vocabulary over a short period of time. Parents of toddlers or soon-to-be toddlers can benefit from knowing what to expect from their children̵7;s speech.

  1. Social Cues Make Easy Clues

    • The toddler years mark a shift in the overall learning style of a child. While previously, your child was running on instinct to combine pieces of language into interpretable patterns, now he̵7;s running on social cues. As a child enters the toddler years, he becomes increasingly aware of his peers and the fact that he can use language to communicate with them. At this age, conversation starts. The conversations of toddlers often seem unorganized, sounding less like conversations and more like shared monologues. But as they grow, toddlers gradually learn important aspects of speech, such as taking turns and adapting speech style to fit the situation, such as speaking differently to adults. All of these changes stem from the social cues of those around them: peers, teachers and parents.

    "My Toddler Wants a Chocolate-Chip Cake"

    • The toddler years mark when language switches from merely being functional to being part of a toddler̵7;s inner world. At the beginning, toddlers will use words carelessly, attempting to transmit meaning without actually considering what the words mean. For example, a young toddler might point to a cookie and say ̶0;cake.̶1; In such a case, he is trying to get a parent̵7;s attention so as to procure a delicious sweet; the calling of ̶0;cookie̶1; ̶0;cake̶1; is a mistake in the understanding of the boundary of the word ̶0;cake.̶1; A toddler has a poor understanding of the boundaries of words, often calling cats and other four-legged animals ̶0;dogs,̶1; for example. But during the later toddler years, toddlers switch to an internalization process of words, categorizing words with strict boundaries as they learn new vocabulary. Thus, in the later toddler years, mistaking cookies for cakes becomes less commonplace.

    Livin' the Dream: The Word Spurt

    • Perhaps the most palpable speech change in a toddler is vocabulary growth. The average toddler learns around 500 new words before the age of 3, according to psychologist Erika Hoff, author of ̶0;Language Development." Developmental psychologists call this phase the ̶0;word spurt.̶1; The word spurt marks a change in the vocabulary learning method of toddlers, a change that psychologists still discuss the root cause of. Some psychologists believe toddlers mature to the point where the previous constraints on word-learning capacity are removed; other psychologists argue that the change is conceptual in nature, with toddlers finally understanding that every action and thing has a name. Either way, this word spurt is characteristic of the toddler years; vocabulary growth slows down after this period.

    Mothernese

    • Chinese toddlers learn Chinese; American toddlers learn English. A toddler learning her native language learns it well, and for that she has her parents to thank. Because each language has its own phonological idiosyncrasies, parents must make these idiosyncrasies salient; and they do so, though not consciously. One of the key language learning tools for toddlers lies in the way parents speak to toddlers: what child language scholars and authors of ̶0;Talking to Children: Language Input and Acquisition̶1; Catherine Snow and Charles Ferguson call ̶0;Mothernese.̶1; According to Snow and Ferguson, parents of toddlers speak in higher voices, more strongly accentuate their pitch, engage in long pauses between words and speak in shorter sentences. Mothernese helps a toddler identify and understand the features of her native language, allowing her to grasp the fundamentals needed for more advanced learning.

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