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Look Who's Talking
The importance of language in Early Years
A good grasp of language at an early age is crucial for the overall healthy development of a child. Research consistently shows a high correlation between good language skills in the preschool years and emotional maturity and effective social skills later in later childhood (1). Interestingly, success at school is also heavily dictated by a child’s communication environment and language skills before the age of 2(2) .
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It is essential therefore that both family at home and early years staff in childcare settings encourage and support language acquisition in children.
WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
Many people struggle to come up with a concise definition of language because it covers so many things. It encompasses the words or signs we use to convey meaning, yes, but also the methods used to communicate those words, be they written, spoken or signed - and the cultural context in which they are spoken.
Yet this still does not cover the whole concept of language. Language is not just the spoken or written word, it is the subtle facial expressions and the accompanying hand gestures. It is the tone of voice, and the unspoken, inferred meaning transmitted between people. Language is far more sophisticated than the communication we see in other species: it is the way in which humans share knowledge, make connections, build communities and grow civilisations.
Language starts with a newborn baby’s eye contact, a toothless, gummy smile or a cry of upset. There are no words, but these movements and noises are a language all of their own, unique to that child and family.
MODELLING GOOD USE OF LANGUAGE WITH YOUR CHILD.
Being a good role model for language development is vital. It can be helpful to pause and consciously think about your body language, your tone and the words you are using. Make sure you fully engage with your child whenever the opportunity arises, demonstrating focus and interest.
Play should be child-led, even if that means play time sometimes heads in a completely different direction to the one you first envisaged! While you are playing try to: • Speak clearly • Make eye contact (get down to the child’s level if necessary) • Repeat sentences back to the child, replacing mistakes with corrections • Repeat sentences back to child, expanding on the vocabulary they have used • Describe and comment on what you are doing Books are a great place to start working on language development. Sharing books with even the youngest of children has huge benefits. From the closeness of sitting on a loved one’s lap while they read and talk about the pictures they can see, to discussing what may happen on the next page; every part of the experience is helping a child to model their language development, whilst also instilling a love of books!
Playing with your child, joining in with their games, building dens, asking open-ended questions… All of these are powerful tools you can use to help your child develop their language skills, which will ultimately have a huge impact on their life to come.
1. https://rightforeducation.org/2020/08/06/how-does-language-make-us-human
2. https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/2484?show=full
