For the development of linguistic functions, or free use of the language, one has to understand the language, select necessary languages for expression, and develop the ability to structure sentences.
This proposition is, as I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest questions in the current language science: whether the dominant factors to rule this linguistic development process are genetic factors or environmental factors. The theory that genetic factors play a central role in the linguistic development is that people's linguistic ability is innate that was acquired in human evolutionary process; that environmental factors are merely taking out the linguistic ability that is stored in the brain.
Children Start to Speak Without Being Taught
It seems that speaking ability, unlike reading and writing, is not a skill to be taught; it is the ability to be achieved in the development process just like standing and walking.
Then why do children start to speak naturally when they become 18 to 28 months old? It is not that mothers start to give them speech training or education both consciously and systematically. However, the linguistic ability develops naturally at certain specific ages in order.
A child who could say only "dad" and "bye-bye" becomes able to combine these two words and structure 2-word sentence. This ability is a major function of the cerebrum, not a motor function.
Even children who only babble can speak with various accents; they naturally come to know how to subtly move their larynxes, tongues and lips before they acquire motor function of their hands.
1: Language Science
A science system to study languages
2: Cerebrum
The oval, principal part of the brain, consisting of left and right hemispheres divided by the deep vertical ditch. Central nervous systems for various motor perceptions are distributed.
Kobayashi, Noboru (1981). "Kotoba wa Hippari Dasareru-1" (written in Japanese). Tokyo: Child Research Net. Retrieved Oct. 8, 2004, from the World Wide Web http://www.crn.or.jp/LIBRARY/KOBY/MIRAI/cbs0117.html
This proposition is, as I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest questions in the current language science: whether the dominant factors to rule this linguistic development process are genetic factors or environmental factors. The theory that genetic factors play a central role in the linguistic development is that people's linguistic ability is innate that was acquired in human evolutionary process; that environmental factors are merely taking out the linguistic ability that is stored in the brain.
Children Start to Speak Without Being Taught
It seems that speaking ability, unlike reading and writing, is not a skill to be taught; it is the ability to be achieved in the development process just like standing and walking.
Then why do children start to speak naturally when they become 18 to 28 months old? It is not that mothers start to give them speech training or education both consciously and systematically. However, the linguistic ability develops naturally at certain specific ages in order.
A child who could say only "dad" and "bye-bye" becomes able to combine these two words and structure 2-word sentence. This ability is a major function of the cerebrum, not a motor function.
Even children who only babble can speak with various accents; they naturally come to know how to subtly move their larynxes, tongues and lips before they acquire motor function of their hands.
1: Language Science
A science system to study languages
2: Cerebrum
The oval, principal part of the brain, consisting of left and right hemispheres divided by the deep vertical ditch. Central nervous systems for various motor perceptions are distributed.
Kobayashi, Noboru (1981). "Kotoba wa Hippari Dasareru-1" (written in Japanese). Tokyo: Child Research Net. Retrieved Oct. 8, 2004, from the World Wide Web http://www.crn.or.jp/LIBRARY/KOBY/MIRAI/cbs0117.html
