Robert

Describe the phonological and morphological acquisitions that occur between 12 months of age and age 7. How does the introduction of reading and writing impact this progression?

Porter and Hodson (2001) noted various steps of phonological acquisition that serve as a guide during this time. During the first period, at approximately 12 months of age, the child does canonical babbling and uses vocables. By 18 months, the child has recognizable words, produces CV structures, and produces stops, nasals, and glides. By age 2, the child uses final consonants, communicates with words, and has “syllableness.” The 3-year-old’s speech will show an expansion of his phonemic repertoire, including /s/ clusters (although distortions are common) and anterior–posterior contrasts. By age 4, omissions are rare, most simplifications are suppressed, and the child’s speech sounds adult-like. The child’s phonemic inventory stabilizes between 5 and 6 years of age. Liquids become consistent, with /l/ appearing at age 5 years and /r/ at 6 years. The final step, at approximately 7 years of age, has the sibilants and “th”

perfected, such that the child has “adult standard” speech (Creaghead, Newman, & Secord, 1989).

Of importance during the stabilization process, at approximately 6 years of age, the child is introduced to two important skills: reading and writing. Development of these skills helps to provide an extension of the understanding of the phonemic nature of the sound system and can add another modality for enhancing the child’s phonemic repertoire.

The development of morphology is a lengthy process, which begins when the child first begins to combine words and typically ends at approximately age five, when a child has learned to use most of the major types of English sentences, suffixes, and phonological patterns.