Fenómenos transicionales en el acceso al lenguaje

Abstract

The development of 4 children�aged 7, 12, 18 and 21 months-old when the research began�was studied over a 6 months period. The subjects were recorded monthly, in their homes, in hour long sessions. Tests from the Uzgiris and Hunt�s developmental scale (1975) were administered to evaluate their cognitive development. At about 9 months of age, infants are already able to communicate intent through gestures and vocalizations. These are progressively substituted and widened by utterances. Language begins when children have reached a certain point in their cognitive development, in establishing relations between phonetic productions and intentional meaning, and in their communicative behaviours. It is concluded that, even though the emergence of languages is prepared by these transitional forms and former acquisitions, on their own none can explain the systematic use of words which implies a qualitatively new level in children�s competence, and is the result of a creative synthesis of former gains.