Childhood Observation Of Sopa

The mother was sitting at the table in the open dinning room that was connected to the kitchen. The child was in her high chair and the grandmother was in the kitchen making breakfast. The child was eating a banana as the grandmother approached her and said, “What do you want to eat mija?” The child looked at her and said, “Sopa” (translated in English it means soup). The grandmother looked at her and said, “Sopa? You want some Sopa? Mmm yummy, the sopa is delicious.” The child smiled, nodded and said the word sopa again. The grandmother went back into the got a bowl and put some of the sopa in it and gave it to the child. As the child was eating she came to a stop half way, looked at her mother and said, “Aqua.” (translated in English it means water) The mother got up, took a small cup, filled it with water and gave it to the child.

You want some Sopa? Mmm yummy, the sopa is delicious.” Sigelman and Rider (2015) describe child-directed speech as the speech that adults use when speaking with children. The grandmother was looking directly at the child and talking to her in an exaggerated and high-pitched voice. The exaggeration and high pitch according to Sigelman and Rider (2015) are also characteristics of child-directed speech. Because the grandmother repeated the word sopa many times the child is more likely to remember or use the word in the future.

The early combinations of words, known as telegraphic speech, can work together to help a child express a basic idea (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). In my observation the child used the telegraphic phrase to express that she did not want to play with the baby doll. Although it is not grammatically correct the child is still able to convey her message. The mother, by repeating that the child did not want to play with the doll using the correct grammatical form, is demonstrating to the child how you would say “No want” in a full