The stages of language development as defined by the AQA specification. Turn off Written exercises.
Features of the Pre-Verbal Stage are…
Cooing and Babbling to try and figure out the tongue positions needed to produce specific sounds.
Beginning to use paralinguistic/prosodic features such as Intonation in their speech.
The time period for the Pre-Verbal Stage is… (in months)
0-12 Months
Cooing begins within ________ of the Pre-Verbal Stage.
Around 6-8 Weeks
Babbling begins within _________ of the Pre-Verbal Stage.
Around 6-9 Months
Features of the Holophrastic Stage/One-Word Stage are…
Single-Word Utterances, often referred to as holophrases, such as “Milk?” to mean “I want milk”.
Vocabulary mostly consisting of content words - with a minimal understanding of grammar.
Largely relies on prosodic features in order to convey meaning.
The time period for the Holophrastic/One-Word Stage is… (in months)
12-18 months
Features of the Two-Word stage are…
Two-Word Combinations, such as “want milk” instead of “milk?” to say “I want milk”.
Simple speech which begins to show an understanding of the relationships between words.
Speech is direct and concise. Grammatical parts such as “a” or “is” are often omitted.
The time period for the Two-Word Stage is… (in months)
18-24 months
Features of the Telegraphic Stage are…
Multi-Word Combinations such as “Where my milk?” to convey thoughts, wishes and ideas.
Some grammatical words, such as copulas and articles, are still omitted.
Children begin to experiment with other parts of grammar such as tenses, plurals, and possessives - they learn how to form these through correction from caregivers.
The time period for the Telegraphic Stage is… (in months)
24-30 months
Features of the Post-Telegraphic Stage are…
Longer sentences with a larger range of grammatical structures - often described as more complex language.
Larger variations in verb forms and sentence types.
Increased accuracy when attempting to form sentences.
Use of auxiliary verbs, pronouns, and tenses - more advanced grammar while speaking.
A deeper understanding of social nuances and pragmatics - turn taking, politeness, context, etc.
The time period for the Post-Telegraphic stage is…
Beyond 30 months