The comparison of the communication between an adult and a three-year-old child shows a difference in their use and interpretation of sounds used to make words. While the adult understands and correctly differentiate the different sounds and their meanings, the child still struggles to master and interpret the sounds used to make words. At some point, the change in sound used to make a word changes the meaning, but the child could not notice the change in the meaning unless the adult further elaborates. The child is also seen to struggle with morphology as he could not do an internal organization of words. The child could pronounce some single words as separate. For example, the word “birds” is pronounced as one by the adult,but the child could pronounce it as “b- irds.” The child has however good knowledge in syntax as he could organize the words correctly to produce a meaning. The child however has a problem in organizing word order for the long sentences and could be seen getting stuck in the process of communication.
An effective language requires interaction of content (semantics), form (phonology, morphology, and syntax) and the use of pragmatics. At three year, the child could integrate language content, some little knowledge of phonology and good knowledge syntax. The child could make the first grammatical morphemes with limited word choice. To support the child’s little knowledge in morphemes and phonology, the adult repeats some words while also using gestures to make the child understand. Because the child could not understand or pronounce long sentences, the adult uses short sentences and simple words to promote understanding. The use of gestures and repetition of words plays a key role in supporting the conversation. In areas where the child could not understand, the adult showed emphasis and demonstration of certain actions to enhance understanding.
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