The last time I undertook a review of Martin's language was in 1994, when he was 5 years old. As the number of utterances has increased in frequency, and the Mean Length of Utterance (M.L.U.) and quality of his speech has also changed, I thought it time to assess it again.
Martin's language has developed over the years, and this brief report is an attempt to record the type of language which he produces now:
The M.L.U. has increased considerably from around 3 at age 5 to around 6-7, and Martin produces sentences which are, on the whole, grammatically correct (although of a restricted form).
Martin still makes requests, often echolaic in nature, for his needs. These are requests for "concrete" matters such as drink, the toilet, a video etc. They are also immediate; he does not request future events (i..e. asking to go to the park, or the shops), although he can respond to choices if offered ("Do you want to go to the park", response "go to the park".
When offered a choices, he can make a decision, but if the order of choice is changed, this can also alter the response. His ability to make choices is limited and poor, and depends how eager he is to choose something.
The result of the choice is also limited to the question. "Do you want a drink?" may elicit "yes", but a further choice "Do you want Orange or lemon?" will be needed. Questions of the form "What..." are not easily answered, if at all ("What do you want to drink?").
He can, however, respond to questions which need "yes" or "no" as a reply, which he was unable to do at 5.
Questions about his health, being more abstract, tend to be replied to by repeating the sense of the question ("Does your tummy hurt?", "tummy hurt", "Is your tummy ok?" "tummy ok" etc). This highlights his problem responding to more abstract questions, and to questions with an implicit choice (yes or no).
The best form of question to use is to ask him to make a choice, and end the question with "or not.". "Do you want to go to the park, or not?". He then has a explicit two part choice, and will reply "go to the park" or "or not".
However, the most prolific speech produced is limited to what Chomsky termed a "finite state grammar", wherein sentences are generated by means of a series of choices made "from left to right", in which most elements of the sentence are kept the same, but the end is varied. For instance:
"Go to sleep at school", "Go to sleep at Mrs Davies house", "Go to sleep at Denises house" "Go to sleep at the car" etc.
This can be seen as a "language game" for him, which he clearly enjoys for the effect on others, and does to be noticed., sometimes to try to create a conversation (albeit limited to this repetitive form) and sometimes simply as a means of creating attention.
In the latter aspect, he is more aware now of the effect of language, and that inappropriate language, especially when loud, can send a message that he does not want to do something or be somewhere; he is not above using the occasional "swear word".
His vocabulary is extensive, but restricted to those nouns and verbs which might be described for the most part as concrete rather than abstract; there are very few adjectives in use.
He does not ask questions, even simply formed. Even basic questions involve the application of implicit transformational rules on sentences, and his grammar is restricted at present to its finite state form.
While Martin's language is more prolific than at 5, in many respects it has developed only slightly. It has not followed any patterns of normal development, as can be seen in children from ages 1 to 3, for example.
His repeating entire passages from books or videos has dropped, however, and a new arrival is the use of the "language game" described above.
Because his language clearly follows a pattern which deviates markedly from the norm, it is difficult to place, but the level of his language does not yet show any traits which one would expect from a two year old, except as regards M.L.U. and extension of vocabulary (basic verbs and nouns).
These are suggestions for ways which may improve Martin's language.