Behaviorists believe that language happens as a process of stimuli and response. Children learn language when the child produces a sound and a parent or other caregiver reinforces that action positively. The positive reinforcement would lead the child to respond by producing this sound gain and the positive reinforcement eventually leads to full adult language proficiency. This theory has since been rejected.
Language and cognition are related but develop separately. The relationship between the two is strongest early in life. Language is used to learn new concepts. Language development is consistent among ethnic and language groups.
1 to 8 months, children babble.
8 to 12 months, children form syllables with consonants and vowels.
12 months, children form words of people and objects important to them. They use speech called telegraphic where only key words aroused to convey a message.
18 months, children form two word simple sentences and vocabulary increases at a rate of one word every two hours.
24 to 36 months, language explodes.
Sign language acquisition has similar developmental patterns indicating that babies have the innate ability to acquire language (Freeman & Freeman,2004, p. 6).
As stated in our text, “A normal child acquires this knowledge [of language] on relatively slight exposure and without specific training. He can then quite effortlessly make use of an intricate structure of specific rules and guiding principles to convey his thoughts and feelings to others, arousing in them novel ideas and subtle perceptions and judgments” (Freeman & Freeman, 2004).
Teachers can teach their students how to use circumlocution to talk around a word they have not yet acquired, using words they do know and still get their point or idea across. We can encourage our students to still talk and know it's ok to make mistakes or not know all the words (Freeman &Freeman,2004)
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