Donna Tiapula (English Teacher)
Babies and toddlers need to be spoken to about things they are doing. For example; “yes, this is a flower.” or “That is very big.” These words are stored up and become the child’s future language. The more the baby hears words the richer their knowledge of language will be.
Often today, young mothers or helpers are caring for a baby alone in a house and there is little talking for the child to hear. A mother alone in the quiet home turns on the TV and the child plays in the corner of the room. The child isn’t learning the language they should. A baby needs to see the mouth moving to connect the sound with speech. Young children do not focus on the TV for this learning to happen.
If mother speaks Mandarin, the child will learn Mandarin. If father speaks French the child learns French. We all know how difficult it is to learn the second language at the age of 10 sitting in the classroom. But young children learn their first language at home by hearing others speak around them seeming without difficulty. If no one in the home speaks to the child, the child’s language development is severely compromised and the child will be slow in learning at school and have difficulty with reading.
Reading is turning printed characters into sound, which explains why beginning readers will read out loud, saying each word.
The care giver should begin early to talk in a normal voice to the child about what the child is doing, seeing, or touching. When handing a ball to the baby we should say “ball”. We then change that to phrases by adding adjectives such as “Here is a red ball” or “the doll has black hair”.
Talking to the baby about how they feel, what they are doing, or what mother is doing adds to the baby’s vocabulary. “I will fix you some cereal.” The words coincide with the actions. “Shall we wear the blue shirt today.” as the shirt is put on the child. .This constant talking not only teaches the child but also builds bonds between the child and the parent.
Then the questions can begin. “Where is your bear?” and with pointing or gestures show the bear. The child will learn to look at the bear and identify the object long before he or she can say the word bear. ‘Where’ questions are followed by “Bring me the bear”.
This talking to the child becomes a habit and as the child begins to answer and talk, the parent and child will continue to add more language to their lives. The average five year old should have a working vocabulary of 10,000 words.
It all begins with mother holding a flower out to the child.
