Language development

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Language development in humans is a process which starts early in life. Infants start without knowing a language, yet by 10 months, babies can distinguish speech sounds and engage in babbling. Some research has shown that the earliest learning begins in utero when the fetus starts to recognize the sounds and speech patterns of its mother's voice and differentiate them from other sounds after birth. Children develop receptive language abilities before their verbal or expressive language develops. Receptive language (language perception) enables internal processing and understanding of language. For instance, six-month-old infants understand the meaning of basic words (such as banana or hand). Expressive language (language production) is considered to begin with a stage of pre-verbal communication in which infants use gestures and vocalizations to make their intents known to others. According to a general principle of development, new forms then take over old functions, so that children learn words to express the same communicative functions they had already expressed by proverbial means. Children learn syntax through imitation, instruction, and reinforcement.