Component 2 – Spoken language acquisition: Types of structures used by children and formation of larger structures (syntax)

This topic explores how children acquire the syntactic structures of their native language, from single-word utterances to complex multi-clause sentences. It covers the stages of syntactic development, including holophrastic (one-word), two-word, telegraphic, and later multi-word stages, as well as the emergence of grammatical morphemes, negation, questions, and passive constructions. Understanding these patterns is crucial for analysing child language data in the exam and for evaluating theories of language acquisition.

Syntax acquisition is central to understanding how children move from simple naming to expressing complex ideas. It reveals the interplay between innate linguistic capacities (e.g., Chomsky's Universal Grammar) and environmental input (e.g., usage-based approaches). By studying the order and nature of syntactic milestones, students can critically assess nativist, constructivist, and interactionist perspectives, which is a key skill for top-band answers.

In the wider A-Level course, this topic links to phonology, lexis, and semantics, as children develop all aspects of language simultaneously. It also connects to debates about the role of imitation, reinforcement, and the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Mastery of syntactic development enables students to analyse transcripts with precision, identify patterns, and evaluate theories with evidence from real child data.