Pace of early language development

[Matthew Saxton]

I think Brian's suggestion is ingenious. However, to my knowledge,
language change is especially driven by young people in the teenage
years - with the introduction of new meanings, terms and phrases -
rather than by toddlers.

 

The perception of a linguistic decline over successive generations is
sometimes driven by political considerations. A recent U.K. example is
the Bercow Review (by the same John Bercow who is now Speaker of the
House of Commons). Without citing any specific sources, his report
suggests that:

 

Approximately 50% of children in some socio-economically disadvantaged
populations have speech and language skills that are significantly lower
than those of other children of the same age.

 

The implication is that a steep decline is in train within the U.K.,
ascribable to socioeconomic factors. One such factor is whether or not
English is the child's first language. It has become increasingly common
for very young children, who have had little exposure to English, to be
placed in English-language Nursery settings. Such children will
naturally depress average scores on standardised language tests,
especially in the early stages of their exposure to English. But one
could not argue from such data that the language learning capacities of
children had declined in any way.

 

Regards,

 

Matthew Saxton.

 

 

 

************************************************************************
*********************************

 

Department of Psychology and Human Development,

Institute of Education,

University of London,

25 Woburn Square,

London,

WC1H 0AA.

 

Tel: 020-7612-6509

Fax: 020-7612-6304

 

http://www.ioe.ac.uk <http://www.ioe.ac.uk/> 

 

 


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