Looking at Babies Learning to Speak

The nature of language acquisition is still mysterious.

• reason

• plan

• choice

• character

Children have a natural desire toward learning to speak.

• fear

• dream

• problem

• wish

Researchers have formed many theories.

• experiments

• rules

• questions

• explanations

They examine the behavior children display.

• toys

• schools

• families

• actions

The imitation theory focuses on the habit children have of repeating.

• problem

• decision

• accident

• routine

Parents play an important role in speech development.

• game

• stop

• place

• growth

This kind of language is known as child-directed speech, or informally “motherese.”

• seriously

• officially

• legally

• casually

Parents simulate conversations with children.

• copy

• ignore

• stop

• pretend

The conditioning theory says children are conditioned to speak in certain ways.

• confused

• worried

• free

• trained

A word association is formed in the child’s mind.

• mistake

• story

• plan

• connection