(a) From the moment a baby opens its eyes, it is learning. Sight and sensation spark off a learning process which will determine in large measure the sort of person it will become. Language stands head and shoulders over all other tools as an instrument of learning. It is language that gives man his lead in intelligence over all other creatures. No other creature can assemble a list of ideas, consider them, draw conclusions and then explain his reasoning. Man can do all this because he possesses language. And if thought depends on language; clearly the quality of an individual’s thought will depend on that person’s language-rudimentary or sophisticated, precise or approximate, stereotyped or original.
(b) Very young babies are soothed by human voice uttering comforting words close to them. This essentially emotional response provides early evidence that feeling is an important component of language learning. Children learn to use language in interaction with other human beings and this learning proceeds best against a background of affectionate feedback from the person who is the closest to them. This is seen to perfection in the interaction between parent and child, eyes locked together, the adult almost physically drawing a ‘verbal’ response from the baby, both engulfed by that unique experience of intimate and joyful ‘connecting’ which sets the pattern of relationships between two people.
(c) Thus long before they can speak, children are involved in two way process of communication which is steadily building a foundation on which their later use of language will be based. Constantly surrounded by language they are unconsciously building structures in their minds into which their speech and reading will later fit grammatical constructions, tense sequences and so on. The forms of these structures will depend on the amount and complexity of speech they hear. The fortunate children are those who listen to articulate adults expressing ideas and defending opinions. They will know long before they can contribute themselves, that relationships are forged through the process of speaking and listening; that warmth and humour have a place in the process, as have all the other human emotions.
(d) Using books is the most important means of ensuring a child’s adequate language development. None of us can endlessly initiate and maintain speech with very small children; we run out of ideas or just get plain sick of it. Their lives are limited and the experience just is not there to provide the raw material for constant verbal interaction, without inevitable boredom on the child’s part and desperation on the adults.
(e) Parents and children who share books also share the same frame of reference. Incidents in everyday life constantly remind one or the other of a situation, a character or an action, from a jointly enjoyed book, with all the generation of warmth and well being that is attendant upon such sharing. All too often, there is a breakdown of communication between parents and the children when the problems of adolescence arise. In most cases, this is most acute when the give- and- take of the shared opinions’ and ideas has not been constantly practised throughout childhood. Books can play a major part in the establishment of this verbal give-and-take, because they are rooted in language.
(f) Young children’s understanding greatly outruns their capacity for expression, as their speech strains to encompass their awareness, to represent reality as they see it. Shades of meaning which may be quite unavailable to the child of limited verbal experience are startlingly talked to the toddler. All the wonderful modifying words-later, nearly, tomorrow, almost, wait. half, lend etc. begin to steer the child away from the simple extremes of “Yes” and “No” towards the adult words of compromise; from the child’s black and white world to the subtle shades and tints of the real world. The range of imaginative experience opened up by books expands the inevitably limited horizons of children’s surroundings and allow them to make joyful, intrigued, awestruck acquaintance with countless people, animals, objects and ideas in their first years of life, to their incalculable advantage.
On the basis of your understanding of the given passage, answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option.
(a) Quality of thoughts depend upon
(i) Other creatures.
(ii) Originality.
(iii) Reasoning.
(iv) One’s own language.
(b) Which of the following is a sign of affectionate feedback?
(i) Locking together of eyes between parent and child.
(ii) A soothing voice uttering comforting words close to the child.
(iii) Both (i) and (ii).
(iv) None of the above.
(c) How does language provide a lead to man over other creatures?
(i) They can assemble a list of ideas
(ii) They can draw conclusions
(iii) They can explain ideas reasonably
(iv) All of the above
(d) Why is it difficult to maintain speech with small children?
(i) Children get desperate soon
(ii) Children do not have raw material for constant verbal expression
(iii) Children are very articulate
(iv) All of the above
(e) According to the paragraph 2, how do young children learn to use language?
(i) They give verbal response to adults physically
(ii) They are full of passion
(iii) They interact with other human beings
(iv) None of the above
(f) How do books help children as mentioned in paragraph 5?
(i) They help solve their adolescent problems
(ii) Children enjoy reading books
(iii) They provide give and take of shared ideas & opinions
(iv) All of the above
