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The capacity to distinguish their home language over others; and
A preference for the moving human form.
Watch the extract from the Open University video 'Simple Beginnings'.
What aspects of pre-verbal communication do you notice?
Learning
through interaction
In the clip on the previous page, a parent engages her baby in interaction, helping
to establish fundamental communication skills that will be needed later for conversation.
In this clip, Lesley, a teaching assistant uses the same approach with Callum,
a child with PMLD.
Teaching assistant Lesley interacts with Callum
1:22
Learning
through interaction
Q
What features characterise these early interactions?
Click for the answer
A
You might have noticed how:
The child/early communicator contributes actively;
The adult reinforces and builds on spontaneous responses and vocalisations;
Both participants are positive;
Interaction is inherently pleasurable - the child is given the clear message
that s/he is valued.
Features
of early interactions
Q
From the two clips that you have watched in this section, list the features that
characterise early interactions.
Click for the answer
A
At such an early stage of development, the earliest interactions include:
Turn taking;
Eye contact;
Monitoring gaze; and
The timing of utterances.
The child's pre-verbal exchanges with adults and caregivers are the foundations
for language development. With over 80% of all everyday communication estimated to
be non-verbal, the development of these skills will be of lasting benefit.
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Teaching assistant Lesley interacts with Callum1:22
