<P> Specifically in North American culture, maternal race, education, and socioeconomic class influence parent - child interactions in the early linguistic environment . When speaking to their infants, mothers from middle class "incorporate language goals more frequently in their play with their infants," and in turn, their infants produce twice as many vocalizations as lower class infants . Mothers from higher social classes who are better educated also tend to be more verbal, and have more time to spend engaging with their infants in language . Additionally, lower class infants may receive more language input from their siblings and peers than from their mothers . </P> <P> It is crucial that children are allowed to socially interact with other people who can vocalize and respond to questions . For language acquisition to develop successfully, children must be in an environment that allows them to communicate socially in that language . Children who have learnt sound, meaning and grammatical system of language that can produce clear sentence may still not have the ability to use language effectively in various social circumstance . Social interaction is the footing stone of language . </P> <P> There are a few different theories as to why and how children develop language . The most popular--and yet heavily debated--explanation is that language is acquired through imitation . This theory has been challenged by Lester Butler, who argues that children do not use the grammar that an adult would use . Furthermore, "children's language is highly resistant to alteration by adult intervention", meaning that children do not use the corrections given to them by an adult . The two most accepted theories in language development are psychological and functional . Psychological explanations focus on the mental processes involved in childhood language learning . Functional explanations look at the social processes involved in learning the first language . </P> <Ul> <Li> Phonology involves the rules about the structure and sequence of speech sounds . </Li> <Li> Semantics consists of vocabulary and how concepts are expressed through words . </Li> <Li> Grammar involves two parts . </Li> </Ul>

Stages of language development from infancy to adolescence