Broken homes 'damage brains of infant children'
After reading this article, I believe that it is a slightly extreme
view on how broken homes affect language acquisition. To start with, the
article has been very scarce in classifying what they view a broken family is,
which has highlighted an issue for me. I agree to some extent that families who
are neglectful, can have a negative impact on their children’s learning,
however, if the government is classing divorced, single, or reconstituted
families as ‘broken’ also, then this is a ludicrous idea.
I believe that
children learn language through imitation mostly, and also the social reactions
that they get from when they say a word for the first time. For example, when a
baby says ‘Mumma’ or ‘Dadda’ for the first time, they are greeted with smiles
and positive reinforcement, likewise if they swear, they are likely to be
condemned; therefore learning how to speak the English language ‘correctly’.
However, in those families where the parents/caregivers are ignorant towards
their children, problems begin to occur, as when the child speaks, they are not
greeted with any reinforcement in order for them to learn. Additionally, the
child may copy some words or phrases but not understand what they mean, or how
to use them correctly. Furthermore, if a child is not spoken to at all, then
they will not learn any words or phrases at all. Therefore, in the respect of
family life influencing language acquisition, I agree with the article, but I
disagree with the use of the term ‘broken home’, as this could happen in a home
where the parents have a very happy life, but their child is not given their
attention.
However, a study in the psychological field has shown that
when a child suffers maternal deprivation in the critical period of their life
(up to three years old), that they do lack in social skills, and that their
physicality is smaller than other infants of their age. This means that in some
cases, children are affected by their home life, and that their cognitive
abilities may fall below average at the age that the enter nursery school or
reception.
However, the thing that shocked me most in this article is
the governments disregard for these children in school, simply stating that it
is ‘‘expensive to rectify this’’ and that the children ‘‘simply bump along the
back and at the bottom’’, leading them to become drug addicts, criminals, or
alcoholics. This particularly stood out
to me because I believe that schools should put more effort into helping these
children, rather than viewing them as an economic liability. Coming from an
area that isn’t as affluent as some, my Mum working in the local primary school
has solidified this for me, as she often comments on how hard she works with
the children who start skills with little social and academic skills, but how
the government funding within this area has reduced as the years go on, making
it much more difficult to intervene and help these children to progress.
Therefore, I think that language acquisition does start in
the home, however it should be enhanced in schools, when the family is unable
to do this adequately.
