Wonderful changes
you see rapid and exciting changes in form, content, use
move from simple multi-word utterances to sentences that approach adult-like form and can be used in a true conversation
Semantic Development
most rapid lexical development
the average child adds about 5 new words to their lexicon each day between the ages of 18 months and 6 years old
2200 words by age 5
Fast Mapping
process whereby child learns a connection between a word and its referent after only one exposure
only a shallow understanding of the full meaning is taken in after only one exposure
subsequent exposures helps refine and stabilize the meaning
words are le
Development of Interrogatives
Understanding and use of early question forms start at around 2 years: what, where, who
Then: whose, which
finally: why by 36 months, when and how by 48 months
temporal concepts are more complex
Morphology and Syntax
Five Years +: later developing morphemes, Be verbs, regular past tense, third person /s/
Later Developing complex sentences: relative clauses, infinitive clauses, gerund clauses, wh-infinitive clauses
should have browns 14 morphemes
Morphology and Syntax Milestones
3 years: present tense auxiliaries (can, will), possessive (s), overgeneralized past tense forms
4 years: complex sentence forms-prepositional clauses, wh-questions, conjoined clauses
Pragmatics: Conversational Skills
young preschoolers (2-3 years) are capable of introducing a many topics, but often do not sustain the topics
by age 3, the child expands dialogue beyond a few turns, but still has difficulty maintaining a topic
bye age 5, 50% of children can maintain a co
Narratives
Centering: linking of events from a story nucleus, story focuses on the highlights of a topic, has very little plot, lacks a beginning middle end, contains many unrelated statements, no concept of time
Chaining: sequence of events that share attributes an
Development of Narratives
tremendous variability in ages of acquisition
by age 3, 50% of children can use centering and chaining
by age 5, 75% use both strategies
causal chains not seen until around 5 years old