Problems & Solutions of Language Development

Problems of Language Development

Children develop language skills through socialization. School is a socializing agency where children learn their language. But all children are not in equal their language ability. Some children face problems in this regard. The main problems of language development faced by children are presented as follows :

• Lack of initial listening and speaking opportunities.
• Inability to express through the spoken or written medium.
• Blocks due to genetic impairment of emotional problems of an impoverished environment.
• Ambiguities in comprehension such as phonological, lexical, or deep structural ambiguities, etc.
• Inadequate cognition of word meanings.
• Poor concept development.
• Over-emphasis on writing prematurely.

Implications for Teachers

An effective teacher should be aware of the problems faced by students in the classroom. He should create a homely environment in his class where students feel free to express and share their feelings, opinions, and viewpoints with their teacher. Such an environment will facilitate the acquisition of language competency.

• Language is learned and developed in a social context for functional purposes. 
• For older children, one should provide ample scope to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.
• One should create settings where language may be used for various purposes. 
• One should be cognisant of multilingual interferences, identify them, and provide remedies.
• One should encourage students’ creative efforts.
• One should de-emphasize excessive writing or rote repetition, provide a relaxed environment for free expression of ideas, thoughts, and feelings, provide structural and semi-structural settings to express verbal and non-verbal ideas, organize debates, class discussions, and displays, etc.
• One should help students develop early reading habits and enable them to do book reviews.