Nursery World - It's time to talk

Children can learn to talk in ways that are meaningful and appropriate, say Helen Shelbourne and Dominic Wyse The skills and understanding necessary for anyone to be able to develop into an experienced language user begin from birth, and develop rapidly.

The skills and understanding necessary for anyone to be able to develop into an experienced language user begin from birth, and develop rapidly.

Amazingly, by the age of five years, spoken language acquisition is largely complete. Children are able to draw on a vocabulary of several thousand words and control many of the major grammatical constructions of their language (Wyse, 2004).

During this time, young children have to learn how to use words to communicate:

* information

* their thoughts

* their feelings.

An additional layer of language learning for children is developing an appreciation of how social context affects the language we use. For example, saying 'Give me that teddy!' demonstrates that a child may be able to communicate their wish but lacks an understanding of what is appropriate language. A child's developing language skills are, therefore, inextricably linked to their personal, social and emotional development.

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