SAMBA wishes to thank Marney Yeates, TALK Speech Pathologist for preparing the following article.
The Early Months
Long before they can speak, infants are listening to their parents and carers. They start to make noises and sounds that come before speech. Adults imitate and respond to these noises and begin the “communication exchange”. This is where learning to talk begins.
6 Months
Start babbling eg “ba-ba-ba, bub-bub”
Reinforced for smiling and changing facial expressions by adults looking at them and talking to them
8-12 months
Lots of babbling eg “da-da-da, ma-ma-ma”
Know the meaning of some simple words (they might not say these words, but should understand them) eg “mummy, bottle, no, drink, more”
Use one or two single words
Wave “bye-bye” when prompted
Follow simple requests – eg “give me the ball”
Use noises or movements to show things and to get adults attention
Look where the adult has pointed
12-18 months
Lots of babbling in the child’s ‘own language’
First single words emerge by about 12 months – eg “no, dad, mum, dog, more”
Can point to objects they know when asked – eg “Where’s the cat?”
Know their name and respond when they hear it
Often copy familiar words
Understand simple, short phrases and instructions – eg “you shake it”, “where’s your shoe?”, and “can you dance?” etc.
18 months to 2 years
Have 100 plus words in their vocabulary, but may only use 20 to 30 expressively (including names)
Understands “no”
Can say their name
Ask for simple things that they need eg “drink”, “no more”
Start joining words together – eg “mummy home”, “all gone”, “daddy do it”
Often copy the last part of a sentence heard
Make the sounds of familiar animals –eg “meow” for a cat, “moo” for a cow
Experiment with speech sounds (and make lots of mistakes with speech accuracy!)
Can point to basic body parts – eg “where’s your…eyes, nose, mouth?” etc
2 to 3 years
Chats to self and other toys / dolls
Asks, “What’s that..?” and “Where’s my…?”
Use 2 word negative phrases such as “no want”, “no more”
Forms some plurals by adding –s to the ends of words – eg book ?books
Vocabulary develops to around 450 words
Combines nouns and verbs – eg “mummy go”, “Sarah jump”
Refers to self as “me” rather than by name, or with “I”
Likes to hear stories repeated
May say “no” when means “yes”
Answers “where” questions
Names common pictures and things
Uses short sentences like “me want more”, or “more drink mummy”
Matches 3 or 4 colours and knows some simple concepts – eg “big, small”
A Parent’s Guide to Early Language Development
SAMBA wishes to thank Marney Yeates, TALK Speech Pathologist for preparing the following article.
The Early Months
Long before they can speak, infants are listening to their parents and carers. They start to make noises and sounds that come before speech. Adults imitate and respond to these noises and begin the “communication exchange”. This is where learning to talk begins.
6 Months
8-12 months
12-18 months
18 months to 2 years
2 to 3 years