CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
to the Study
Social competence and emotional well-being in young
children have received much attention in recent years as they link to language
development and early school adjustment and learning (Price & Plomin, 2006).
The ability of young children to manage their emotions and behaviours and to
make meaningful interpersonal relationships is an important prerequisite for
school readiness and academic success.
Most children develop speech and language skills effortlessly,
acquiring this basic human skill with relatively little instruction. However,
there is considerable variation in the rate at which children acquire language.
For example, Roulstone et al (2002) found that, in a population sample of 1127
children aged 25 months, nearly 55% were using three to four word sentences; a
further 27% were using two-word utterances and the remaining were at or below
the single word level showing a wide spread of achievement in these two year
olds (Roulstone 2002).
Social development in children is most
often evaluated by psychologists and teachers. A child must be interested in
socializing and communicating with others to be an effective communicator.
Consequently, difficulties with social interaction can profoundly impair communication;
indeed, this problem is one of the hallmark features of autism (Gerber, 2003).
In early infancy, we are most concerned with a child’s connectedness with his
world. This connectedness is initially expressed through nonverbal modes, such
as eye contact and facial expression. The infant will produce a behavior that
elicits a reaction in the environment. The infant will respond to this
reaction, thereby resulting in learning. For example, in the first month of
life, a baby will smile reflexively.
There is no evidence that the smile is of
itself a planned action. In response, adults in the environment will usually react
in a positive manner, using exaggerated vocalizations and laughter. Over time,
the infant learns that the smile elicits a very positive reaction from others.
Thus, between two and seven months of age, we see the emergence of a social
smile, which is a purposeful act. Its development is evidence that learning has
taken place for this young child (Brown, 2003).
Parks (1992) explained that all humans are
bombarded with sensory input almost constantly. Our bodies are exposed to
visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli, as well as changes in
temperature, motion, and balance. We must make decisions about how and when to
respond to each of these stimuli. As we mature, we learn to ignore certain
stimuli and to pay attention to others. This ability to discriminate between
stimuli, and then determine which to ignore (or suppress) and which to attend
to, is at the core of regulatory development. Sleep–wake cycles are good
examples of the development of regulation. In the first month of life, infants
sleep many hours per day. They awaken briefly to feed and then fall asleep
again for just a few hours. This pattern continues throughout the day and
night, and results in parents who are constantly tired. After the first few
weeks of life, the infant is able to maintain the awaken state for a longer
period of time, which provides the baby with an opportunity to observe and
learn from her environment.
The time during which the infant remains
awake lengthens. Although the sleep periods lengthen, they decrease in number.
This is an example of the development of regulation for the sleep–wake cycle.
The result is a rested, alert baby and happy, rested parents (Newborg, 2005).
Linguistic
development occurs in the first two months of life; infants make sounds for
limited purposes. They may cry to seek assistance, usually for fulfillment of a
physical need such as hunger or other discomfort. When they are calm and in a
regulated state, they may make pleasure sounds; these noises may sound like
vowels, but are not yet true speech sounds. Nevertheless, these quasi-resonant
nuclei may form the basis for later sound-making (Kapp, 1991).
As infant
approaches three to four months of age, he produces cooing sounds, which
approximate a single syllable consisting of a consonant and a vowel. The
child’s production of different vowels also increases and diversifies. Sometime
after four months of age, the infant begins to babble, which consists of
production of strings of consonant–vowel productions.
Initially
these vocalizations will consist of repetitions of the same sound pattern over
and over (e.g., ba-ba-ba ). As
time goes on, the variety of sounds used in one string will vary, and the
babble becomes more complex (e.g., ba-ta-ba-taba-ti-ba-ti ). Intonation,
volume, and pitch begin to vary, too. As the infant approaches 9 to 10 months
of age, this vocal pattern is
called jargon. At this time, adults will report that the baby seems to be
speaking a true language, except without true words. The jargon is often
accompanied by gestures and body movements, as well as changes in facial
expression. All of these developmental behaviors prepare the child to eventually
use true words, first by themselves, and then in strings of longer and longer
phrases. Sometime around 10 to 12 months of age, the first word emerges. The
first word is typically an approximation of the true word, in that the child
must produce a simplified version ( Rossetti, 1990).
1.2
Statement
of the problem
It
is truism that the developmental milestones achieved by children across
multiple domains in the early years of life are language and social emotional
development of a child. Hence, existing studies have addressed issues on social
and language development of children. For example, Gerber (2003); Bloom &
Tinker (2011); Thera et al (2006); Lock (1991); Brabdone & Golinkoff 2008;
Omolabi, 2014 etc.) These studies have considered various developmental stages
of children. For example, Brandone & Golinkoff 2010 worked on language
development; the study revealed that language development may hinder
development of a child if there is a disruption within any one component of the
model in their integration.
Also,
Peters et al (2012) worked on investigating the role of language in children’s
early educational outcome and it was revealed that the child’s performance at
school entry on addition to their social background. Furthermore, Gerber 2003 explained
that social emotional development in children is most often evaluated by
psychologists and teachers. He further expressed that a child must be
interested in socializing and communicating with others to be an effective
communicator. Therefore, hardly any of these studies examined both social
emotional and language development at a stretch. Hence, it has become necessary
to place the two developmental milestones together with a view to seeing how
children acquire language in the society.
1.3
Research
Questions
1.
What are the
processes of acquiring language as expressed by infants?
2.
How do the
children socialize and communicate with others in the environment based on
their age?
3.
How do the component
models of language development promote children’s acquisition of language based
on their exposure?
4.
How do the
children elicit reaction to language based on the environment?
5.
What are the
effects of language and social development on the young children?
1.4
Research
Hypotheses
H1 There is no
significant differences in the processes of acquiring language as perceived by
the infants
H2 There is significant
difference in the process of acquiring language as expressed by the infants
There is no significant
different in how children socialize and communicate with others in the
environment based on their exposure
H3. There is
significant difference in how children socialize and communicate with others in
the environment based on their exposure
H4. There is no
significant difference in the perceived components of language development of
children based on their exposure.
1.5
Purpose of the Study
The
purpose of this study is to investigate a survey of language development
process of a child. The researcher looks into consideration moderating
variables of infant, age, environment, and imitation.
1.6
Significance of the Study
The findings of the
study may have both theoretical and practical implications for the future of
the children learning language. Theoretically, the study is expected to
contribute to the creation of knowledge about child psychology in the
curriculum development education in Nigeria. It has also highlighted factors
that hinder successful acquisition of language for the children.
Practically, the study
may lead to the improvement of the acquisition of children’s language as well
as social emotive of child process of learning language. It may also help the
Ministry of Education in formulation of future education policies aimed at
maintaining standards in order to enable children with poor learning of
language benefit. Furthermore, the study may enlighten curriculum developers on
achievements of objectives outlined in the curriculum for the infant
psychology. Parents/ teachers training and other stakeholders in the study of
child psychology in the country would also benefit from the study. It has also
highlighted the various theories of language acquisition and how the help in
the development of children language. Furthermore, it would form a base on
which other researchers can develop their own studies.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study is limited to
find out social and language development process of a child. This study is also
limited to variables such as gender, environment, age, Infant and imitation.
The instrument is limited to a self structured questionnaire data from two
hundred respondents only while t-test and ANOVA statistical tools are used to
test the formulated hypotheses.
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