Language is a system with basic units such as sounds, signs (symbols) and words, used as a means of communication (Baykoç, 1986: 90). Language is a means of communication and basically provides communication between people. However, language is not only a means of communication, it becomes the transmission itself and opens the universe to humans (Poyraz, 1995: 11). Language is a behavior that distances the child from his ego, enables him to become a social person, allows him to control and follow himself, can gradually teach his thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and helps him feel safe. Studies on language development constitute the most exciting and intense studies among contemporary child psychology research. Because the development of the child's language skills occurs at an incredible pace. Almost all children in all cultures say their first words around 12-18 months on average. By the age of four, most of them can form well-organized sentences, and sometimes they can even express their thoughts in surprisingly complex sentences. The building blocks of language are words. But every word consists of primitive sounds of the language called phonemes. Every child first learns to make these sounds. For example, it produces the sounds “b” and “m” first. The development of language ability follows an orderly sequence. Language development research conducted on children has revealed that almost all children around the world use basically the same grammatical rules when they first learn to speak (Yavuzer, 1998: 46). Language is a tool we use to express and learn thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, value judgments, and to convey information and cultural accumulation about seen and perceived events. All these reveal how important language is in the child's cognitive and social development. Just as the transfer of social structure and culture is largely based on language, language development and cognitive development progress in mutual interaction in areas such as concept formation, thinking, establishing relationships, and problem solving. Language is a very important factor in a child's learning. For this reason, importance should be given to the child's language development in the preschool years and language development should be encouraged. 4 supportive environments and conditions need to be created. Considering that the period between the ages of 2 and 6 is the period when language development is most intense, the importance of preschool child development programs becomes more evident (Fişek and Yıldırım, 1983: 44). The development of language is closely related to a certain degree of maturation, as well as to learning.
In order for the language to take action, that is, to be expressed in verbal or written form, there is a need for harmonious and sufficient cooperation among many organs of the body. has. The development of the language manifests itself when the person becomes capable of doing the following five things.
These are;
a) Being strong enough to produce the sounds of meaningful words,
b) Things, situations and their to be able to make associations between the meanings expressed,
c) To know the meaning of the words formed and to use them appropriately,
d) To know and use the suffixes added to the words,
e) To reach the desired expressions Being able to form appropriate sentences.
Speech is learned by children after birth, over time and as a result of interaction with the environment, through methods such as trial-error and imitation (Yavuz, 1991: 68-69). There are also parallels between language development and motor development. The age when a child's first words come out of his mouth coincides with the age when he can sit up without help. The child's early development in sentence formation also depends on emotional elements such as the love and compassion he receives from his elders (Arthur, 1979: 480). In speaking, mental preparation comes after motor preparation. Readiness to talk is mostly seen in children between 12 and 18 months of age. This period is called the 'teachable phase' (Yavuzer, 1998: 99). Language development is, in a way, mind development. Because language cannot develop until mental abilities such as perception, memory and imagination develop and function properly. For this reason, the years when intelligence develops are also the years when language develops (Binbaşıoğlu, 1995: 134). The early years are of great importance in language development. Language mistakes made at this age cannot be easily corrected at later ages. The baby's speech organs are mature, the influences from the environment are "optimal" and basic communication skills are well developed. The age at which it was born is the 3rd year. Half of the sentence structures used by many children of kindergarten age meet adult standards. (Binbaşıoğlu, 1995: 129).
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