Article Written by Miss Sharline Gutzmore
July 01, 2010
According to Ronald Cramer in his book points out that Language development is an immersion learning experience. As a result of what R. Cramer put forward it does affect our children’s lifestyle. Language is a shared learnt and arbitrary system of vocal sound symbols with which people in a given culture can communicate with one another. Language is something that is acquired through effective listening activities and other media. There are various factors that affect the language development of a child. This can either be positive or negative. Some factors that affect language development are: intelligence, home environment, sex differences, cultural differences and family make-up.
Intelligence means that you have the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. When one is said to be intelligent, he/she should be able to think critically, do abstract reasoning and is very good at solving problem. In addition he/she should be able to speak fluently and be a good user of the language.
Previous studies indicated that males are more likely to show interest in displaying putative qualities and to describe events of action, location and timing, while females would be more liable to discuss personal affairs and relationships. When male are intellectually inclined they are better able to perform academically. They tend to get higher and better scores than females. However females would demonstrate a greater emphasis on shared values in using the language.
The home environment plays an important role in almost everything we do and learn. It plays a critical role in influencing language development as early as infancy, beginning with its use in the home through vocabulary, tone, modeled reading, attitudes about reading and a print-rich environment that leaves language everywhere. The home is the first learning centre. This is where the child learns his/her first language. Therefore, when parent/guardian is a frequent user of the language, the child becomes more exposed to the language and therefore it aids the child to become a fluent user of the language.
Parent/guardian should avoid using baby talk and use the language of books even if it incorporates vocabulary that is vicarious for young children. It is observed that children who lack skills in phonics will have difficulty keeping up with their peers. Early exposure to print has much to do with language and literacy development. Establishing a "print-rich" environment surrounds children with language while familiarizing them with vocabulary, word use and how to access more words when they need to.
Having lots of print around in the home for example; storybooks, chapter books, magazines--even if children are not reading yet, furthers language development.
Cultural differences differentiate societies from one another. In today's world of globalization, the world is certainly becoming smaller and people of various cultures are able to communicate freely. Nowadays there are different ways to express thoughts, ideas which can span across cultures through different forms of media like the television, the newspapers and even the Internet.
It is common knowledge that everyone learns his/her first language with a fair degree of success. The reason for this is that everyone is born with the ability to learn a language and then grows up in a community in which he/she needs to function to some degree through language, for example, a child in an area where he/she socializes using the Jamaican Creole (JC), that child is expected to be an excellent user of the JC as this was the rules of which were imparted to him/her in the normal course of the day. Yet, some people can be more successful than others at learning a second language. For example, a little boy from China came to live in Jamaica. The only language that this little boy knew was Chinese language; he had to communicate with the students at his new school and the people in his new surrounding.
This little boy was able to learn the language because he sees the need to communicate. This was done through effective listening and speaking. Some people have adopted the theory that the way of fostering child’s initiative differs because the frame of reference for American people is that of their own identity, while others believe it is set on how they perceive their relationship with those around them. A test was done to prove this hypothesis. Several mothers who had a child attending a prominent University-affiliated elementary school were asked “what expressions do you use when speaking to your child when he/she gets home from school. The three most popular questions asked were: “Did you express your opinion?” “Did you contribute to your class?” and lastly “Did you enjoy your day?” For them, the behavior of referring to one’s own self is favorable. However, mothers in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan care about whether their child can get along with everybody in class.
