Difficulties in a childs acquisition of vocabulary.

Explain some of the difficulties a child might encounter in its acquisition of vocabulary from the time it speaks to the age of seven. You can also refer to some phonological features, as well as considering ideas such as the use of concrete and abstract nouns, overextension, acquisition of grammar words etc.

There are many different difficulties a child might face in their acquisition of vocabulary from their first words to the age of seven. One feature noticeable is that children of a young age tend to use monosyllabic words, for example wow, moo, quack etc. By taking part in the activity ‘a child’s first 50 words’ it is evident that children mainly use naming words, and objects they are surrounded with are very commonly used. This supports Skinner’s imitation and behaviour theory, which children learn from what is around them. It also supports Bruner’s social Interactionists theory, which if modes are witnessed in social interactions children will use them. 

Other difficulties a child might face are the different concepts of words. Some families use different words for certain things than others and this can cause confusion for the child. If an adult holds a toy and calls it a teddy bear, but the child’s parent calls it a cuddly bear, the aspect of the same object having two different names but meaning the same can confuse the child. This fits in with overextension. Overextension is when a child will have the same word for objects or things of similar likeness. For example, every four legged animal might be referred to as a doggie. This occurs because although a child understands what the animal is and notices differences, the infant only has one word for animals with for legs, this word being dog.