If they are exposed to oral language, young children learn new words at a remarkable rate. Through a process known as “fast mapping,” young children can learn an average of nine words a day from the time they start talking until about age six, by which time, they have, on average, a vocabulary of about 14,000 words. (Black, 1996)
To the toddler, words are quite magical. If they say, “mama,” then mother will usually appear. If they say, “cookie,” one will often be forthcoming. Children whose words do not bring results may learn to talk, but they often do not achieve true mastery of language. (Furman, 1987)
There is no question that children who are spoken to a great deal speak earlier than children who are exposed to fewer words in their lives. They also develop richer vocabularies. But don’t forget that children with big vocabularies are still children. Don’t expect maturity commensurate with language development in children who are precocious in this area.
I was an only child of older parents (my mother was 46 and my father was 66 when I was born). While I had aunts and uncles who lived nearby, my cousins were all much older than I was and had moved away before I was old enough to get to know them. So, when my parents visited with my aunts and uncles on Sundays, there was no one for me to play with. My parents had no choice but to include me in adult conversation. As a result, I developed an advanced vocabulary for my age, and I learned the art of conversation (such as the give and take of questions followed by answers and the taking of turns in conversation). This knowledge served me extremely well in elementary school and beyond.
This is not to say that parents need to force their children to sit in on adult conversation. It is merely to point out that the more sophisticated language your child is introduced to in his formative years, the stronger his vocabulary will be. And if, as parents, we delight in the use of language, it is likely that our children will take pleasure in verbal expression as well.
Toddlers often use what is known as “telegrapic” speech in which only the words necessary for conveying the meaning of the sentence are used. For example, “Doggie eat” means “The dog is eating his supper” or “The dog wants his supper” and, “Up!” means “Pick me up!” True sentences can appear in children as young as 12 months but are usually in place when children are between 2 and 3 years of age. In the meantime, parents need to develop their ability to understand telegraphic speech in order to keep the toddler from feeling overly frustrated.
Another thing that parents can do to help their children develop their language skills is to “scaffold” their children’s speech through the use of “extensions” (using the child’s speech and extending the meaning) and “expansions” (providing the child with the opportunity to hear the conventional form of the language). If your toddler says, “Get ball,” you respond with the extension and expansion “Oh, you want me to get the ball? I see that it rolled under the table.” If he says, “I eated lunch,” you say, “Yes, you ate lunch. What did you eat?” Research suggests that when adults use these techniques, children progress more quickly in their language development.
One other thing to note about early speech in toddlers is that words for concrete things come first, and toddlers may be able to name many things before they can put words together in sentences. Also, words for abstract concepts such as feelings come even later. Words like, “angry” and “tired” and “happy” may not be part of the toddler’s spoken vocabulary, so parents may have to read the child’s nonverbal signals and then label their child’s feelings for him. (Furman, 1987)
Helping the toddler express his feelings in words can help reduce the feelings of helplessness that lead to temper tantrums in toddlers and young preschoolers. In reality, a child cannot be master of his own feelings until he can express those feelings verbally, and mastery of feelings is a step toward maturity and independence. (Furman, 1987)
Other abstract concepts such as those involving time such as “not now, but later” and “not today, but tomorrow” may be difficult for the toddler to grasp, but it is good to use these expressions with them anyway, as they will soon begin to understand their meaning. These particular time words will be helpful when saying “no” to an older toddler or preschooler. (Furman, 1987)
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