The third stage of speech development usually begins during the seventh to ninth month and is called “lalling.” This stage is characterized by the repetition of heard sounds.
Perhaps the great significance of the appearance of this activity is that it indicates that the child is beginning to associate hearing and sound production—an association that is essential for the normal acquisition of speech.
But don’t expect him to imitate you. Not yet. He is now learning to imitate himself—and that’s quite an achievement! He seems to find great pleasure in the almost endless repetition of such sounds or combinations of sounds as “ba-ba-ba” and “gub-gub-gub.”
If an occasional repetition of “ma-ma” is heard, don’t become too elated. The chances are all against his using these syllables to designate you. But the time will come. Just be patient.
The successful imitation of a sound stimulates him to try again, and this repetition serves as further stimulus. Sometimes a single combination may be practiced for hours—even for days at a time.
Listen to him when he’s not aware of your presence. He may start out whispering the sound, repeating it, and after a moment, trying it again and again with increasing volume. Then, after a moment, he may repeat the process—this time with increasing variety of pitch and inflection—obviously pleased with the result and with himself.
By this time other interesting developments are taking place. He’s making practical use of his repertoire of sounds. This is not yet true speech, but it might be called “socialized vocalization.”
He uses one cry to attract attention; he makes a particular kind of sound to accompany the physical activity with which he rejects what is offered; and another kind of sound to accompany the muscular responses with which he tries to make his demands known.
You’ll probably notice that he uses many nasal sounds to express displeasure or rejection, but uses few nasal sounds when he is happy and contented.
Yes, he’s beginning to express himself, and he may be quite insistent about it. Now he has become aware of his vocalization as a practical tool—a way of getting what he wants and rejecting what he does not want. And when this happens he has taken a significant step toward the acquisition of true speech.
During this time he has practiced inflections so that questions and demands are differentiated, and he has also practiced some of the back vowels, such as oo (pool), u (put), and probably aw (awe).
When he has mastered the sound of o (as in owe) there is cause for rejoicing!
Another interesting—and welcome—development is that he’s crying less and spending more time in lalling and babbling, for there is considerable overlapping of these activities.
He also shows more comprehension of the gestures you make. Probably if you interrupt his repetition of “da-da-da” by saying “da-da” he will either eye you with disdain or reply gleefully, “gub-gub.”
Soon, however, he will be more apt to answer your “da-da” with his own imitation—but that belongs in the next stage of development.
