The Role of Parents in the Language Development of Monolingual Children

Abstract

Between September and December 2023, Babylonia collected questions from parents regarding their children's language development. This article aims to answer the following questions:

How can I encourage my child's language development?

What strategies can I use to promote vocabulary development?

How can I help my child develop good grammar and sentence structure?

What role does reading and storytelling play in language development?

[summary generated by Claude-3-Haiku - we refer the reader to the French article in PDF format for a complete answer]

This article discusses the role of parents in the language development of their monolingual child. It answers various questions about strategies to stimulate this linguistic development.

The author first emphasizes the importance of a rich and varied sound environment for young children. They should hear a variety of noises, sounds, and words, while avoiding excessive stimulation. At the same time, capturing the child's attention and fostering attentive listening are essential.

To support verbal comprehension, parents can name objects and actions, use simple words and gradually diversify them, and repeat the same words in different contexts. These strategies help children make connections between words and their meanings.

Even before they can speak, children show attempts at communication through gestures, facial expressions, and vocalizations. Parents can respond to, imitate, and validate these attempts, encouraging future verbal production.

Vocabulary and grammar learning also benefits from parental attention. Parents can introduce new words, rephrase the child's statements, and gently correct their mistakes.

Finally, shared and interactive reading plays a crucial role. It exposes the child to richer and more complex language while fostering joint attention, interactions, and the development of narrative skills.

In conclusion, the role of parents is essential in providing children with a stimulating and secure environment conducive to the flourishing of their language abilities, fostering enjoyment and connection.