Phonological development is the process of learning speech, involving the auditory and vocal systems. The pre-representative stage involves babbling, while the representational stage involves learning to position the tongue and teeth for proper sound production. The target grammar stage involves expanding vocabulary and correctly pronouncing words. Problems in each stage can lead to issues in later stages if left untreated.
Phonological development is the process of learning speech and is most closely associated with children. The physiological systems, which take part in this process, are the auditory and vocal systems. The auditory system includes the ears, the ear canal and the brain. The vocal system includes the vocal cords, throat, mouth, teeth and tongue. The jaw is included in the vocal system due to the jaw movements needed to create sounds, which create words.
The first stage of phonological development is called the pre-representative stage. This stage of speech begins after a child has spent a year listening to others speak and collecting their own interpretation of auditory input. A baby will enter this stage around 14 months of age; since the child does not have the appropriate vocal system physiology to speak correctly, the sounds will be babbles and very simple consonant sounds. These sounds are referred to as formulas, echolalia and facial expressions.
The second stage of phonological development is called the representational stage. Babies enter this stage around the 24th month. The vocal cords begin to strengthen as babies begin learning how to position their tongue and teeth for proper sound production. During this stage, children cannot pronounce a consonant against a consonant, as in the word spaghetti. Often children replace the combination “sp” with a single consonant sound, giving them a consonant versus a vowel. Young phonological learners are unable to pronounce a consonant against a consonant; they can only pronounce a consonant versus a vowel.
The target grammar is the third and final stage of phonological development. This stage finds children knowing how to place their tongue against their teeth correctly, as well as discovering how to place a consonant next to a consonant in a word and make the correct sounds to create the correct word. Vocabulary begins to expand during this stage. Phonics and reading are often introduced, although the child cannot read cognitively until they have been in this stage for a few years. It is common for a child to misuse words, as their vocabulary expands faster than their ability to grasp the definition of any single word.
Problems found within each stage of phonological development will cause problems in later stages if left untreated. Hearing problems in infants delay speech, as the infant cannot hear well enough to begin stage one. Neglected children will miss the second stage entirely; if they don’t hear the words, they won’t learn the pronunciations. Physiological problems, such as cleft palate, problems with the tongue or jaw problems will prevent a child from progressing to stage three.
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