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Children's language development

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do children learn to read and make sense of print?

Reading development: phonics and the alphabetic principle, whole-word and psycholinguistic approaches, the role of caregivers and the debate over how reading is best taught.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language reading topic, covering phonics and the alphabetic principle, whole-word and psycholinguistic approaches, the role of caregivers and the debate over how reading is best taught.
10 min answer →

How do children learn to speak from babbling to full sentences?

Spoken language development: the stages of phonological, lexical, grammatical and pragmatic development from babbling through holophrastic, two-word and telegraphic stages.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language child language topic, covering the phonological, lexical, grammatical and pragmatic stages of spoken development from babbling through the holophrastic, two-word and telegraphic stages, with terms like overextension and virtuous errors.
11 min answer →

How do children acquire language so quickly and what explains it?

Theories of language acquisition: behaviourism (Skinner), nativism (Chomsky), cognitivism (Piaget), social interactionism (Bruner and Vygotsky) and the evidence for each.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language acquisition theory topic, covering behaviourism (Skinner), nativism (Chomsky), cognitivism (Piaget) and social interactionism (Bruner and Vygotsky), with the evidence and criticisms of each model.
12 min answer →

How do children learn to write, from first marks to organised text?

Written language development: Kroll's stages, spelling development, the move from speech-like to written forms, and the development of genre and organisation in children's writing.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language child writing topic, covering Kroll's stages of writing, spelling development, the shift from speech-like to written forms, and the growth of genre awareness and text organisation in children's writing.
10 min answer →