Building Communication By Vocabulary Development
Learning to talk, for most, is developed in the early years through repetitiveness, mimicking and building vocabulary words in educational and school programs. However, the concept of vocabulary development applies to more than the growth each individual has gone through. It is known that there are alternative concepts applied to learning and cognitive understanding of communication. Understanding what needs to be given to children who are learning to communicate and read in the formative years is essential with their abilities to read and comprehend concepts for the rest of their lives.
There are four waves of learning children go through, specifically which pertain to vocabulary development and reading comprehension. On average, these waves can be seen at ages 4, 5, 6 and 8. Each of these years are focused on children learning vocabulary words at a specific level and that are developing cognitive skills to apply different words to conversations and reading. During each of these waves, it is essential teachers and families help children to understand different vocabulary words and how they assist with new abilities in communication.
Each of these waves leads to several needs that have to be meet with the development of vocabulary. This includes phonological memory, nonverbal intelligence, reading and vocabulary comprehension. Each stage includes average correlations to what children should understand and apply. For instance, between 4 and 5, the first wave of vocabulary learning, children should be able to apply phonological memory to words. This results in learning more vocabulary, which moves from hearing comprehension to seeing words[1].
After these basic levels of vocabulary development, are new levels that have to be applied to understanding vocabulary. After these first four waves, children move into more than recognizing and applying words. They also develop the ability to comprehend vocabulary at deeper levels, with a complete understanding of what vocabulary words mean. Children between the ages of 8 and 10 years old move into new levels of development, which includes application of some of the main vocabulary words and their application to literature and communication, leading to a complete understanding of words, instead of recognition alone[2].
The concepts of vocabulary development, as can be seen, don’t just include a basic understanding and recognition of words. As children go through various waves and stages, especially in the earlier and more formative years of their life, is also the need to build different levels of understanding of words. This includes the concept of recognizing words, which then moves into deeper meanings and application of the words. Combining these concepts through vocabulary learning is the beginning to helping children with better cognitive recognition and communication skills.
[1] Gatherscole, S.E., Willis C.S., Emslie H, Baddeley A.D. (1992). “Phonological Memory and Vocabulary Development During the Early School Years: A Longitudinal Study.” Developmental Psychology (28), (5), 887-898.
[2] Anglin, Jeremy, George Miller, Pamela Wakefield. (1993). “Vocabulary Development: A Morphological Analysis.” Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. (58), (10), pgs. i-186.
