Le développement langagier présente une grande variabilité entre 0 et 2 ans. Les paramètres ci-dessous sont indiqués seulement à titre illustratif. Voir également la rubrique Troubles de développement et de langage – Signaux d’alarme.
De la naissance à l’âge de 6 mois, l’enfant :
- Entend tous les sons environnants
- Compile les sons et les classe selon la fréquence
- Se tourne vers la source sonore
- Communique (pleure, fait des bruits de succion, bouge les lèvres)
- Est sensible à la mélodie du langage (intonation, musique, comptines)
- Babille, gazouille, joue avec ses cordes vocales et commence à imiter les sons
Entre 3 et 4 mois, l’enfant :
- Émet des pleurs et des cris différents selon la raison (faim, douleur, inconfort)
- Suit des yeux les mouvements de l’adulte
- Commence à babiller
Entre 5 et 6 mois, l’enfant :
- Répond vocalement s’il est stimulé
- Vocalise en public et en privé
- Suit des yeux le regard de l’adulte
To find out more…
- Guide du développement du langage chez l’enfant en milieu exogame (in French with tips and advice in English for language development in a family where the parents don’t have the same mother tongue) | A practical guide for parents of children from 0 to 7 years old by SOFA (Yukon). Written in simple language, it contains useful information classified by the age of the child, and practical advice in French and English for life in a bilingual family (e.g. what the parents who speak different languages can do to support their child’s language development). Interestingly, the author suggests the use of a few American sign language (ASL) gestures for the period from birth to six months, to allow the child to express a few basic concepts (I love you, thirst, hunger, etc.) that both parents can understand.
- Comment la parole vient aux enfants (Bénédicte de Boysson-Bardies) Éditions Odile Jacob, 2010, 289 p. | A very detailed reference book on language development from birth to 24 months of age. From the “preparation” of an infant even before his/her birth to the explosion of vocabulary at 24 months, this psycholinguist explores a child’s language development progression, step by step.
- Votre enfant apprend à parler (Jean-Adolphe Rondal), Éditions Mardaga, 1998, 110 p. | A classic book about the stages of language development in children, written for parents and educators. Written by a renowned specialist, the book reminds us that language learning is rooted in the relationship between the child and the child’s parents. The child’s first words, usually spoken at around the age of 12 months, are preceded by thousands of moments of non-verbal communication (gestures, smiles) and verbal communication (little noises, listening, vocalizations) between the child and the child’s family circle. Each chapter is devoted to a particular aspect of the child’s progress from the first year to the age of six, and addresses the issues of developmental delays and possible language difficulties and what parents can do about them. Each chapter concludes with a list of benchmarks summarizing the concepts introduced, as well as detailed advice for parents to support their children.
