How children acquiring first language

By Azys Syaiful Anwar

As a simple example, I have analyzed the language development of a child, Fariz Ahza Bahtiar (1.5 years old). I obtain the data by observing Fariz for his latest language development and also interviewing Fariz’s parents to get some information about the language development of Fariz in the past. Based on the observation, I can tabulate the research report in this following table. 

Age (Month)	Speaking ability
7	At this age, Fariz cannot speak any words but he can understand if his mother calls his name. He tries to search the sound source location.
1 2	Fariz is able to speak one syllable words, such as “wah”, “pak”, “ba”, “bu”. He can imitate the word spoken by his mother by saying one syllable of the word, for example when his mother ask a question to Fariz, such as “Dik, Fariz pipis?”, then Fariz imitates his mother by saying “pis”.
18	Fariz has able to speak two syllable words, such as “abuk”, “mimik”, “cucu”. At this stage, Fariz words can be understood. At least, his mother can identify the words spoken by Fariz.

Reading:

Scott, Wendy A. and H. Ytreberg, Lisbeth. 1990. Teaching English to Children. New York: Longman