LANGUAGE

Language is used to communicate our needs, wants and desires. It is used to tell about our experiences , and also to understand what others are saying. In typical language development, children are like sponges that soak up the language they hear daily, learning the grammar rules automatically, without external direct teaching.

The three main areas of language are:

1. Receptive Language - the understanding and processing of verbal information, including vocabulary, concepts and syntax (grammar)
2. Expressive Language - how the child uses vocabulary and syntax to express their needs, feelings and experiences
3. Pragmatic Skills - how the child uses the social rules of conversation to communicate appropriately to others, e.g., turn-taking within a conversation, topic maintenance, eye contact.

A language disorder may involve a difficulty in one or more of the above areas of language.

Language-Devt

What is typical language development?



At 6 - 12 months, children usually:
  • enjoy babbling, e.g., baba, mama
  • understand 'No', 'Where's....?'
  • imitate actions, e.g., wave good-bye
  • attempt copying of sounds

By age one, children usually:
  • understand simple instructions, e.g., wave 'bye', come here
  • recognise his/her own name, and names of familiar people
  • start to develop an expressive vocabulary (single words)

By age two, children usually:
  • have an expressive vocabulary of 25-50 words
  • start to put two words together, Mummy go, Daddy shoe
  • understand simple sentences
  • talk to themselves or toys when playing
  • enjoy listening to stories and naming the pictures in the story

By age three, children usually:
  • use 3 to 4 word sentences
  • are understood mostly by familiar adults

By age four, children usually:
  • use 4 to 5 word sentences
  • use more grammatically correct sentences
  • answer questions such as 'What's a spoon for?'
  • ask a lot of questions
  • understand names of shapes and colours
  • are intelligible to most people most of the time

By age five, children usually:
  • talk about preschool experiences, etc
  • explain why something happened
  • tell how they feel
  • use mostly grammatically correct sentences
  • are understood by strangers
  • count to 10 by rote

By age six, children usually:
  • use adult-like language (sentences are long/complicated)
  • continue to understand more and more words
  • use sentences with correct grammar most of the time
  • retell stories accurately
  • count to 30 by rote


What should I do if I suspect my child has a language disorder?

If in doubt as to your child's level of language development, a Speech Pathologist can conduct a Speech and Language Assessment to analyse all areas of your child's language.

A Speech and Language Assessment is recommended when:
  • the child's speech is difficult to understand (particularly by people other than the mother. It is quite common for Speech Pathologists to hear reports that the mother can understand what her child means, however few other people can)
  • the child gets frustrated by their lack of communication and conversational skills (which can lead to behavioural problems),
  • the child has difficulty following instructions and understanding others in general (and where a hearing test has ruled out a possible hearing impairment)