Halliday and John Dore:

halliday broke down children’s early language functions into what he called a taxonomy language;

• instrumental - express needs

• regulatory - tell others what to do

• interactional - make contact with others and form relationships

• personal - express feelings, opinions, and identity

• heuristic - gain knowledge about their environment

• imaginative - tells stories and jokes

• representational - convey facts and information

John Dore created an alternative to halliday, which he named his infant language functions:

• labelling - naming a person, object or thing

• repeating - repeating an adult’s word or utterance

• answering - respond to an utterance of another speaker

• requesting action - want something done

• calling - get attention

• greeting - greet somone

• protesting - object requests

• practising - using language in the absence of an adult