ABSTRACT
Children learn to talk their native language without specific tuition and with remarkable ease and rapidity. Learning about phonology involves eliminating the sounds which are not phonemes in the child’s native language and acquiring the phonological rules of that language. Phonology is the first, and probably the simplest, element in language learning. Learning about phonology continues throughout childhood. This process of learning phonology continues for a number of years with the child developing more and more complex rules. As in the case of learning words, there are various other factors which could enable children to learn grammar without this specific innate information. From the moment that children begin to use two-word utterances they show sensitivity to syntax, and by the age of six they are using most grammatical constructions with ease. The sorts of mistakes that children make in learning syntax are often revealing.
