Communication Development

AGE

MILESTONE

Birth -3 Months

From the very start, infants pay close attention to language. In the first year, they can distinguish all of the speech sounds that occur in natural language; then they begin to specialize in the sounds of their home language. Most infants will:

Respond to speech by looking at the speaker
Respond differently to the voice of a parent than to other voices
React to changes in a speaker's tone, pitch, volume, and intonation
Respond differently to their home language and another language
Communicate with bodily movements, by crying, babbling, and laughing
Attempt to imitate sounds

Exchange sounds, facial expressions, or gestures with a parent or caregiver
Listen to conversations
Repeat some vowel and consonant sounds

3-6 Months

Even small babies love to have "conversations". Most children will:

Begin repetitive babbling (deaf children also start to babble with their hands)
Associate gestures with simple words and two-word phrases, like "hi" and "bye-bye"
Use vocal and non-vocal communication to express interest and influence others

Children's vocalizations increase. Most babies of this age:

6-9 Months

Children are getting ready to talk. Around this first birthday, language production doubles. Many babies of this age:

9-12 Months

Understand the names of familiar people and objects
Show their understanding with responsive body language and facial expressions
Say a few words
Respond to a firm "no" by stopping what they are doing

1-2 Years

Children begin to learn many new words and begin to use simple phrases. Many children can:

Understand many words, as well as simple phrases and directions ("Drink your juice")
Follow a series of two simple but related directions
Respond correctly when asked "where?"
Say a few words clearly, and a few dozen additional words so that family members can understand. The words denote important people and common objects, and a few prepositions such as "on", "in", or "under". Many can say "more" and "all gone".
Say successive single words to describe an event
From about 18 months, begin learning about 9 new words a day
Use "my" or "mine" to indicate possession; begin to use "me", "I", and "you"

Join familiar words into phrases
Begin to use modifiers (adverbs and adjectives)
Point to common objects when they are named
Name objects based on their description
Respond to "what?" and "where?" questions
Enjoy listening to stories and asking for favorite stories
Recount events that happened that day

Both understanding of language and speaking develop more rapidly at this stage. Most 2-year-olds can:

2-3 Years

Make themselves understood to strangers, despite some sound errors
Use and understand sentences
Use more complex grammar, such as plurals and past tense
Understand sentences involving time concepts (for example, "Grandma is coming tomorrow") and narrate past experiences
Understand size comparisons such as big and bigger
Understand relationships expressed by "if... then" or "because" sentences
Follow a series of two to four related directions
Sing a song and repeat at least one nursery rhyme

Language usage becomes more complex. Most 3-year-olds can:

3-4 Years

Retell a story (but may confuse facts)
Combine thoughts into one sentence
Ask "when?", "how?" and "why?" questions
Use words like "can", "will", "shall", "should", and "might"
Refer to causality by using "because" and "so"
Follow three unrelated commands appropriately
Understand comparatives like loud, louder, loudest
Listen to long stories (but may misinterpret the facts)
Understand sequencing of events when clearly explained (for example, "First we plug the drain, then we run the water, and finally we take a bath")

4-year-olds use language not only to converse, but also to exchange information. Most can:

4-5 Years

Long before children can say words or join them into sentences, they are active language learners. Within a few short years, young children go from newborns without language to excellent communicators and lively inventors and tellers of stories. Language-learning can be a life-long journey, but the bulk of that journey takes place in our earliest years. In the first five years of life, when brain development is most rapid, children are more open to learning and more receptive to enriching experiences than they will ever be. Studies have shown that during this critical period, children learn language by participating in back-and-forth interactions with the important adults in their lives. When a child sends a message, whether it be with a gesture, a sound, or a word, his parents' responses serve as helpful feedback that reinforce and encourage his learning. This responsive feedback is an essential ingredient in the language-learning process for every child.