Looking at Babies Learning to Speak
The nature of language acquisition is still mysterious. From birth, children seem to have a natural interest and desire toward learning to speak. Most children are able to speak in simple sentences by the age of two, Researchers have formed many theories as to why children are able to easily learn a language. These theories to explain some of the unknown aspects of language acquisition. In particular, they examine the behavior children display during the various stages of speech development
The imitation theory focuses on the habit children have of repeating what their parents say This is a widely recognized trait of young children. The theory suggests that imitation is the basis by which children leam a language. Parents play an important role in speech development for this particular hypothesis.
There are two interesting habits of most parents that directly relate to this theory of language learning. First, parents seem to naturally adapt their normal manner of speaking to suit infants and very young children. They change their voice and speak in much simpler sentences. This kind of language is known as child-directed speech, or more informally "motherese."
There have actually been studies showing that children enjoy this variety of speech more than typical adult speech. Another habit scientists noted is how parents simulate conversations with children. The parent will say something to the infant and pause, signaling to him or her to respond. When the child makes a noise of some sort, the parent continues as if the child had actually given a proper answer.
In addition to the imitation theory, another explanation of how children might develop