Abstract:
This paper is an attempt to investigate and analyze different categorizations
proposed for the early syntactic development stages in L1 and also discuss the
characteristics of early child syntax in first language acquisition. Data
collected from L1 learners will be presented and discussed from both linguistic
and psycholinguistic perspectives. Different approaches to understanding L1
acquisition and processes involved in child syntax will then be reviewed
critically. Developmental stages and chronological succession of different
stages in the acquisition of English as the first language will be presented.
Machine summary:
Caretaker speech is language used by adults for children, and has been an important source of evidence for understanding early language development (Snow & Ferguson, 1977).
Sachs, in a review of related studies, noted that in conversations between adults and children under 3 years of age, most of the child speech refers to the immediate context.
1 Summarizing the milestones of language development (taken from Stork & Widdowson, 1974) Month Receptive skills Expressive skills 0-3 Recognizes human voice reflex sounds 3-6 Learn to distinguish affection from scolding Babbling begins 6-9 Responds to simple word increasing variety of sounds & reduplication 9-12 Responds to simple comments uses first words 12-18 increasing responses to more complicated sentences 20 words + jargon concatenation The single word utterances of the child may be used in context which would contain different grammatical constructions in the adult language.
If the child gestures towards his mother''''s shoe when saying "mummy shoe", it suggests that- deep structure underlying the utterance is a possessive relationship which in the adult language might be expressed by ''''s.
Stork and Widdowson (1974) argue that according to the innateness hypothesis: Abstract: This paper is an attempt to investigate and analyze different categorizations proposed for the early syntactic development stages in L1 and also discuss the characteristics of early child syntax in first language acquisition.
Key Words: Child language; Development; Syntax; Acquisition ___________________________________ * - تاریخ وصول 30/1/83 پذیرش نهایی 24/4/83 ** - Massoud Rahimpour, Ph. D- Associate Professor of Department of English Language & Literature The University of Tabriz