e-Journal of Linguistics
Vol. 19 No. 1 (2025): January

Language Acquisition in Early Childhood: Exploring Sentence Structures in a Child Raised by a Working Mother

Agnes Maria Diana Rafael (Unknown)
Christmas Prasetia.Ate (Unknown)
Naniana Nimrod Benu (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Jan 2025

Abstract

Language acquisition is a process of absorption and mastery of language that occurs naturally in children. During the developmental period of language acquisition, children require beneficial stimulation to optimally develop their language skills. Typically, this stimulation comes from parents, who are their closest caregivers. This research focuses on language acquisition in a 3-year-old child cared for by working mothers. It aims to identify and describe the types of sentence structures acquired and mastered by the child, as well as the factors influencing the child's first language acquisition, particularly in relation to parenting styles from a working mother’s perspective. The study employs a qualitative-descriptive method. The subject of the study is a female child aged 3 years and 6 months. The data required includes primary data obtained from observations and secondary data collected from interviews with individuals living in the child’s family environment and among neighbors. The results show that the research subject, Claudia (a pseudonym), who is 3 years and 6 months old, has mastered four types of sentence structures: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. Although the structures of these sentence modes are not perfect, Claudia's performance in producing them at her age is quite commendable. The observations and interviews reveal three main factors contributing to her speaking skills: social and family environmental factors, cognitive intelligence, and motivational factors.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

ejl

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

This e-Journal of Linguistics is published by the Doctoral Studies Program of Linguistics of Udayana University Postgraduate Program and colaboration with APBL (Asosiasi Peneliti Bahasa Bahasa Lokal). The existence of the e-Journal of Linguistics aims to publish the results of linguistic ...