What Is Attachment Affect Language Development?

Language plays a large role in the interaction of human beings. Language is described as a social cognitive function; it is used by adults to express and understand mental processes with of humans, form bonds, and distinguish cultures. Given language’s social function for adults, it is no surprise that the development of language in infants is primarily a social activity. A caregiver, typically the mother of the infant, plays the greatest role in a child’s linguistic journey by developing a relationship in the dyad. Such a relationship is enhanced and characterized by the communicable give and take between parent and child. All elements of language are then grounded in the emotional and social bonds.
Language is best developed within the bounds of a strong mother-child relationship. …show more content…
This initial relationship with the mother introduces the infant to the first person they will desire to share his or her inner self with. The emotional security and desire to share oneself in this attachment style serves as nourishment for language development. Attachment style has been shown to have an effect on language, while it has not shown an effect on general cognitive abilities; this emphasis language’s role as a social cognitive function. A study of early attachment disturbances and language deficits in internationally adopted children hypothesized that there would be a bidirectional relationship between the two variables (Jensen, Helder & Gunnoe, 2016). On the contrary, their results showed that while attachment style had an effect on language outcomes, there was no effect of early language on attachment. This supports the concept that language is primarily a social experience and commences with emotional bonding. It is also suggested that early attachment disturbances may have risks for language development. Studies show that children that show secure attachments to their mothers exhibit more advanced skills in language than infants