Development of Communication and Verbal Expression in Early Childhood

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key communicative concepts, developmental stages, articulatory mechanisms, and educational interventions in early childhood language development.

Human Communication

A relational process that enables the exchange of information and experiences between people through verbal language, gestures, facial expressions, movements, sounds, or visual images.

Communicative Code

The shared set of signals and signs used by the sender to formulate and encode a message so that the receiver can decode and understand it.

Feedback

Bilateral, two-way communication between sender and receiver that ensures reciprocal transmission and verification of information.

Phonoarticulatory System

The anatomical and physiological structures needed to verbalize communicative intentions into gestures, sounds, or words.

Prelinguistic Stage

The initial language acquisition period extending from birth to approximately 12 to 15 months, characterized by non-verbal vocalizations, sounds, and phonetic play prior to first words.

Cooing (Gorjeo)

Vocalizations emerging between 2 and 3 months of age, produced in the velar or guttural area alternated with open mouth movements.

Vocal Play (Juegos vocálicos)

The babbling sub-phase between 3 and 6 months characterized by the production of isolated sounds resembling a sustained vowel or consonant.

Reduplicative Babbling (Balbuceo reduplicativo)

The babbling sub-phase between 6 and 9 months involving the production of repetitive consonant-plus-vowel syllabic chains ($CVCV$), such as 'tata', 'papa', or 'mama'.

Non-reduplicative Babbling (Balbuceo no reduplicativo)

The babbling sub-phase lasting from roughly 9 months until the appearance of first words, characterized by syllabic chains with varied consonant-vowel combinations, such as 'pata' or 'tate'.

Non-combinatory Language Stage

The language developmental period spanning from roughly 12 to 15 months up to 24 months, marked by the emergence of single words used intentionally and consistently across settings.

Phoneme Substitution

A phonological simplification strategy where a child replaces difficult speech sounds with easier ones, such as producing 'puta' instead of 'fruta'.

Phoneme Assimilation

A phonological simplification strategy where a child changes one speech sound to match another sound within the same word, such as saying 'men' instead of 'ven'.

Phoneme Omission

A phonological simplification strategy where a child leaves out difficult sounds from a word, such as articulating 'awa' or 'aba' instead of 'agua'.

Phoneme Reduplication

A phonological simplification strategy where a child repeats easier syllables instead of pronouncing the target word, such as saying 'cheche' instead of 'leche'.

Phoneme Shortening

A phonological simplification strategy where a child truncates or drops syllables from a word, such as producing 'tete' instead of 'chupete'.

Overgeneralization (Sobregeneralización)

A semantic phenomenon where a child extends a word's meaning to a broader category of referents than appropriate, such as using 'papá' for all adult males or 'guauguau' for all quadrupeds.

Undergeneralization (Subgeneralización)

A semantic phenomenon where a child restricts a word's meaning to a single specific item in a narrow context, such as using 'guauguau' exclusively to designate their own dog.

Holophrase (Holofrase)

A single word utilized by young children to convey the complete pragmatic meaning and communicative intent of an entire sentence depending on the context.

Combinatory Language Stage

The developmental period occurring from roughly 24 to 72 months (2 to 6 years), where children progress from combining isolated words into simple syntax up to acquiring adult-like grammar.

Telegraphic Language (Lenguaje telegráfico)

An early syntactic stage around age 2 consisting of multi-word combinations built predominantly with content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) while omitting grammatical function words.

El baúl del buf (The Blowing Chest)

A structured program of respiratory and blowing exercises implemented starting at age 2, conducted standing up for no more than 4 minutes per session to improve respiratory quality and prevent vocal dysfunctions.

Signifier and Signified (Significante y significado)

The linguistic distinction between the material or acoustic word form (signifier) and the concrete reality or conceptual object it represents (signified).