Language learning in early childhood

tarrrrra

Hello all,

I'm a child psychologist and language teacher writing about language acquisition in infants. I'm particularly interested in the babbling or nonsense phase some babies go through, which others seem to skip; also the effect that socialisation has on language learning. If you have a moment, help me with my research by answering these questions. Also, if you have children of your own, I'd love to hear about how they mastered speech, so feel free to answer on their behalf. Names aren't necessary and I won't quote you without asking.Thanks!

1) Please state your age and nationality. At what age did you begin to talk (it's ok if you don't know!)?

2) Do you remember/have you been told your first words?

3) Did you have, or have you been told that you had, your own "babbling" langauge? (Did you assign your own names to things?)

4) Were you a tv addict as an infant?

6) Did you have an imaginary childhood friend?

5) Your immediate social circle- were you part of a large family? What was your position in the family (eldest, middle etc)?

6) Were there people in your life who spoke different languages/ different dialects or had different accents to you? Please give details.


Thank you for your contribution- any further information you want to share is more than welcome.

Fluorescence

tarrrrra wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm a child psychologist and language teacher writing about language acquisition in infants. I'm particularly interested in the babbling or nonsense phase some babies go through, which others seem to skip; also the effect that socialisation has on language learning. If you have a moment, help me with my research by answering these questions. Also, if you have children of your own, I'd love to hear about how they mastered speech, so feel free to answer on their behalf. Names aren't necessary and I won't quote you without asking.Thanks!

You might find it useful to make a survey on the likes of Survey Monkey - it should be easier for you to collect and analyse data from lots of different sources that way.

Anyway, my answers:

tarrrrra wrote: »

1) Please state your age and nationality. At what age did you begin to talk (it's ok if you don't know!)?

20, Irish. I'm not sure, but I think it was sometime before I was 1 and a half.

tarrrrra wrote: »

2) Do you remember/have you been told your first words?

My mam says something different every time I ask. She thinks it was either "spoon" or "mama" - but I said them both a LOT so she can't say for sure which was first.

tarrrrra wrote: »

3) Did you have, or have you been told that you had, your own "babbling" langauge? (Did you assign your own names to things?)

I have no idea

tarrrrra wrote: »

4) Were you a tv addict as an infant?

No. The only tv show I watched was Barney as a toddler

tarrrrra wrote: »

6) Did you have an imaginary childhood friend?

No

tarrrrra wrote: »

5) Your immediate social circle- were you part of a large family? What was your position in the family (eldest, middle etc)?

Middle child of 3 children (though there's 6 years between me and my younger sibling). My grandmother lived in the house with us (it was like having 3 parents). We socialised a lot with cousins of a similar age.

tarrrrra wrote: »

6) Were there people in your life who spoke different languages/ different dialects or had different accents to you? Please give details.

No, though I had older cousins I saw a few times a year who had strong northern accents. They wouldn't have been part of my day to day life however.

tarrrrra wrote: »

Thank you for your contribution- any further information you want to share is more than welcome.

Best of luck with your research

tarrrrra

Thanks for that! Very helpful. And I've taken your advice about Survey Monkey.