175 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education Volume 3, Issue 1, 2025 ISSN (E): 2993-2769 Language Acquisition Ability of Children Who Experience Speech Delays Nasimova Nigina Narzullo qizi TESL Teacher at Kimyo International University in Tashkent (Samarkand branch) Abstract. Language acquisition and learning by children is one of the greatest achievements and successes for humanity. Therefore, a lot of attention is paid to this issue and it is analyzed in depth. Learning and speaking a language is an interdependent process. Fullness of a person, i.e., biological maturity, is manifested through the acquisition of language under the influence of the environment and the correct formation of speech skills in relation to age. However, not all children have the same level, some children have a deficiency in terms of biological development, and this does not affect the level of language acquisition. This problem is very interesting and important in the analysis of changes in language factors of children lagging behind in speech development. The results of the research show that the incorrect and incomplete pronunciation of certain words by the child's speech, contrary to the expected goal, led to attention to additional problems and analyzed the solutions. A child who is behind in speech activity has difficulties in pronouncing words and expressing them, and solving them requires a lot of work. Key words: language, speech, speech delay, parents. Introduction. Language acquisition is the acquisition of a language in a general sense, in other words, the language acquired is the first language.[4] The level of language acquisition is related to the level of knowledge and intelligence of the child and his/her mother. [8] Increasing the level of language acquisition indicates full development. That is, as (Ardyantama, 2021) points out, language development is an indicator of its development in all areas, which indicates motor development, social-emotional, cognitive development. For this reason, the child's language lag, cognitive, sensorimotor, psychological, emotional and environmental abilities are greatly affected (Fernandes, 2003). The child must get used to the language spoken in the environment from a young age. That is, he/she gets used to using them and acquiring language. The child's age is an indicator of language development, but it is also important to note that speech delays can occur in childhood, and sometimes age can be overlooked. [6] Children who are late in acquiring language should be regularly exposed to words that are at their own level and at a lower level. To correct speech delays, the child may be able to pronounce words that are appropriate for their age or may be able to pronounce simple words incorrectly. In general, the process of language acquisition by age can be calculated as follows: 1. At two months of age, the child can show his or her parents the ability to respond to words and gestures, which is known by moving or smiling in response to this process. 2. At eighteen months, a child should be able to say 20 meaningful words and have their pronunciation norms. 176 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us 3. By the age of two, a child should be able to say a complete sentence, that is, a sentence normally consists of 2 words. For example, “give water”, “I slepp”, “goodbye mummy” and similar words are necessary for a child to express his/her condition and existence. In most cases, the reasons for language and speech delay may be regression, among which external genetic problems, hearing loss (deafness), and the effects of problems in the organizational environment during the growth process may occur alternatively.[7] Conducting research. A study was conducted on the acquisition of language in a boy who is lagging behind in speech activity. The boy is 4 years old, he lives in the Juyi Chukhur neighborhood,in Samarkand city. For each child, the language environment has a great influence on the child, and the role of parents in this is great. At the same time, the mother knows almost as much information about her child as others do not. During the observation process, the mother is also asked about her child's behavior, the circumstances of the delay in speech activity, and the reasons for this. It is worth noting that a child who is lagging behind in speech prefers to play with a toy rather than play friendly with his peers. Because the child cannot talk to other peers and this makes him bored or afraid. As a toy, mobile phone games are also not neglected, and despite speech delay, he understands and plays logical games (shapes, colors, collecting scattered objects into one) very well. And he pays great attention to the sounds that come out in those games and it is easy to master them.[1] At the same time, logical age-specific games on the phone greatly help in the development of the child's mentally motor skills. But everything should be used in moderation, especially in such children, parental inattention and allowing them to use gadgets for a long time, to do their own things, causes negative changes in the child.[2] First of all, a 4-year-old child can be very addicted to the phone and be separated from the outside world, and his ability to communicate may be even more reduced, and during games on the smartphone he does not need to speak much, so the child lags behind in language development. As a result, the distance between the mother and the child also increases. The problem of monitoring requires great attention to this very thing. That is, parents should keep their child away from techno gadgets and focus more on practical activities with him. No one can have a greater influence on a child with speech delay than his parents. Because the child spends most of his time with his family. Taking this into account, the mother should provide her child with as much material and books aimed at language development as possible. In addition, she should take him to a speech therapist who specializes in language development and lagging behind. That is, considering that the child has little time left until school, it is advisable to engage with such children more and more thoroughly. Research methods and results. Various methods were used in the process of observing the child. In particular, these are: the auditory method, the conversational method and the natural observation method. The results of the observations show that the child lags behind his peers in language development and speech activity. This causes language differences. To express or explain his daily needs, the child chooses one of the family members, takes him by the hand, leads him to the object he needs, and holding that person's hand, shows him where the object is. Sometimes, when he gets angry, he shouts loudly, pronounces sounds that his tongue can barely reach, and cannot speak clearly. In this observed family, the mother, realizing that her child delays in speech, deals with her child every day. Observations during the practice session with his mother revealed that the child is trying to pronounce the letters shown in the book and it is easier for him to pronounce the letters (a, u, ya, t, ch, i). We found some answers to the questions about child from his mother. He can imitate the sounds of some animals by looking at the pictures, these are: "miyaou", "auu". He remembers the repeated words during the games well, he cannot pronounce them fully, that is, one can understand what he is saying, but there are some mistakes in pronunciation: he says the word "chux-chux" as -chu-chu, here he cannot pronounce the sound (x), and in another word "top-top" he pronounces it as -tu-tu, in this case the letter (o) changes to (u) and the letter (p) is almost not pronounced. Although the child tries to pronounce the words as he hears them, he cannot fully pronounce them due to the differences and shortcomings in his language and speech. In addition, it was found that the child who is lagging behind in speech activity is the result of continuous exercises that have been carried out for 4-5 months or more to understand and pronounce one word. When the child's comprehensive hearing and the good functioning of other sensory organs were examined, it was found that he has a good sense 177 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us of sound. The child pronounces his favorite cartoon and simple songs by imitating their music, that is, rather than pronouncing the letter, he sings the notes in the music with the help of long vowels (aaaa, eeee, uuuu, iii, ooo). He is very good at reciting the notes and has the ability to play the same music with his fingers even on hard surfaces. Discussion. In general, the child's inability to pronounce words and the fact that he can pronounce only a few words at the age of 4 is due to problems related to his speech delay. However, it is also necessary to take into account the environment in which the child grows up in his family. It has been found that the mother is stricter towards the child, and in order to express many of his desires and needs, the child first goes to his father's hand if all the family members are sitting in the same room at home and leads him to the place he wants to go or directs his father's hand towards that object so that he can get something. If the father is not at home, he takes the grandmother's hand and finally asks his mother for help. Therefore, when talking, the child chooses people who communicate with him more gently. It was found that the mother's child should be active during the lesson and be able to repeat the words she said, and that the mother behaves more like a teacher with her child, which led to these results. That is, in order for the child to pronounce words more freely and to be given more opportunities, the mother should be gentle with her child and, without harshly solving the mistakes made in speech, explain them in a softer way and patiently strive to pronounce a certain word slowly and correctly. When children who are lagging behind in speech activity make mistakes in their words and pronounce different letters, it is often observed that those around them pronounce those words the way the child pronounces them. This is a mistake, the child does not even pay attention to the fact that the word being spoken is being pronounced incorrectly. Therefore, adults should pronounce each word correctly when talking to children. For example, in uzbek language the ward “a bread “is "non" and it can be pronounced like "nana", and the word “give”from english in uzbek is “ber” so that adults may change the letters for ease,like "bey". This gross mistake is sometimes not changed, so it remains learned for a long time and creates difficulties for a child who is behind in speech to learn it again in a new form. Conclusion. As a result of the research, it can be concluded that the language acquisition of children who are lagging behind in speech activity is closely related to their environment, especially their parents, and other family members living with them. That is, every step taken by their child to learn the language is very important for the child, and since it is difficult for them to master the language, a lot of attention and work are required from them. Unlike ordinary children, additional training for such children leads to high results. Therefore, parents should take such children seriously and devote more time to them, as well as take additional lessons from speech development specialists, i.e. speech therapists, and not leave the child to their own devices. 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