Language Development from 3 to 8

Language skills continue to develop rapidly between the age of three to eight, most noticeably in vocabulary, pragmatics, which is how children use language in communities, and how the roots of literacy are developed. Vocabulary includes decontextualized language, which refers to things that aren’t present or physical. Enriching vocabulary is about applying it to another situation and using complex, multi-syllable words, as well as conceptually linking words to another context. As children being schooling, they develop phonological awareness and how parts of words are linked to letters and combinations of letters, or what is called morphological awareness in some words, leading to literacy. The age of this progression depends on expectations on the community and exposure to print in the culture. Interactions with adults in daily household routines can support learning and culturally-specific forms of language use, which is called pragmatics. Narratives, which are a way that cultures pass stories on to the next generation, are very culturally-specific and emphasize different parts of the story.

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