When children start to say certain words and letters, they start asking question after question. Sometimes they ask the same question over and over again until they get an answer, causing parents to get bored and not listen to them. However, experts say that children see asking questions and getting answers as a game, and not answering their questions even though they know the answer does not contribute to their language development.
Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center Speech and Language Therapy Specialist Gözde Malkoç evaluated the behaviors and parental attitudes that support children's language development process.
Questions support language and concept development
Speech and Language Therapy Specialist Gözde Malkoç, who made remarkable explanations about the questions children ask, said, "What is this? Who is this? Mom, where is the car?" and the different questions that follow are very important patterns that feed language and concept development. The questions asked to the child by the adult, the questions the child asks himself/herself and the questions the child asks his/her parents to fulfill his/her needs are very important in language development. The adult's questions to the child are a valuable opportunity for the child to think. With the child's answers to the questions, language skills and thought are combined. In the face of questions, when the child feels well-intentioned pressure with a soft tone of voice and eye contact, if the child understands the question and makes an effort to answer, this gives information to parents about receptive language skills. The response may not always be verbal, it may be just a nod of the head. To get a verbal response, the mother may repeat the question. With these repetitions, the child begins to grasp the question forms and starts asking questions."
They see asking questions as a game
Malkoç said that it is always curious why children ask a lot of questions and continued his words as follows:
"Children see asking questions and getting answers as a game and they want to play because they like it. He already knows the answers to the questions he asks, but finding the questions dysfunctional or ignoring them because he knows them does not serve language development. The child enjoys asking questions and is cognitively renewed at the same time. He/she wants to hear that you accept the truth of what he/she knows. These questions such as 'Will my aunt come, will my aunt come mom?' may not be continued if the answer is positive if the aunt is a desired person. If the response is negative, it can be repeated until the child is satisfied with the response. This style is important in terms of developing the child's abstract thinking and encouraging them to speak.
The child may also be directing a question to you that they do not know the answer to. They want their questions to be answered, so they shape their questions in a way that their parents can understand them before or during asking. This shaping includes the skills of choosing appropriate concepts and expressing words in the appropriate order and in a certain tone of voice. The game of asking questions and getting answers also helps develop turn-taking skills in communication."
Questions change as they grow up
Stating that children change the content of their questions as they grow up, Malkoç said: "The 'what' and 'who' questions in the early years become more complex with 'where, why, why, when' questions in later ages. The child establishes causal relationships with why questions and because answers. They make spatial inquiries with 'where' questions by imagining an object that is not in the environment. They begin to understand the concepts of past and future with 'when' questions. Different types of question games are of great importance for the cognitive and grammatical development of preschool children. If the child does not make an effort to answer the questions, does not attempt to ask questions or asks only the same type of questions without differentiating them, it will be useful to get expert opinion at this point."
