Between ___ and ___ months of age, children make an important perceptual shift that impacts their subsequent language learning. They become less successful in perceiving the differences between sounds that are not characteristic of their native language.

The correct answer is 6; 12

Language allows the learning of notions such as time, space and develops the ability to reason. The development of language and speech is closely linked, but this process goes, in a way, separate. Language is the broadest aspect, that is, it is the ability to communicate, to understand and be understood (facial expressions, tremors, tears and smiles); speech is the expression of speech, that is, the way we transmit our ideas.

Every language carries meanings that correspond to a general, social knowledge, but these are not understood by the child only through linguistic information. Despite having a command of grammar prematurely and using the same terms of language as adults, this does not mean that the child gives the terms the same meanings as those. The meanings of the child's language are restricted to the still limited understanding of a world that he has. Therefore, adult / child interaction is extremely necessary, as language depends on this interaction to constitute itself.

Thus, language must be conceived in the context of social interaction, not simply as a means of transmitting information, but as a projection of the people themselves, a vehicle for exchanges, relationships, as a means of representation and communication. Language is, on the one hand, a means of interaction, relationship and knowledge construction; and, on the other hand, something that the child needs to know and master.