Language Development In Children

Language and communication skills are critical to a child’s development. Good communication makes them better able to engage in socialization as well as learn from formal classroom instruction and the environment around them.

Communication involves both speech and language. Speech is the verbal means of communication, and language is using shared rules to put words together to express thoughts and feelings. Since parents are a child’s first teacher, knowledge of language development in children improves a parent’s ability to interact with their child to stimulate and guide them to understand and communicate with their environment.

There are four main components of language:

• Phonology involves the rules about the structure and sequence of speech sounds. Semantics consists of vocabulary and how concepts are expressed through words.
• Grammar involves two parts. The first, syntax, is the rules in which words are arranged into sentences. The second, morphology, is the use of grammatical markers (indicating tense, active or passive voice, etc.).
• Pragmatics involves the rules for appropriate and effective communication. Pragmatics involves three skills:
  • using language for greeting, demanding, etc.
  • changing language for talking differently depending on who it is you’re talking to
  • following rules such as turn-taking and staying on topic

From birth on, children are programmed to develop speech and language. The first five years are most critical, but language development continues throughout early childhood and into adolescence. During the first five years, stimulation of language development is essential as the brain is developing new nerve cells as well as multiple connections between these cells to serve the function of expressive and receptive language. Lack of stimulation during this time could result in a child making slower progress or end up with poor communication skills. Later, we provide some tips for parents on how to help with language development, but some simple suggestions are to spend lots of time talking, singing, and reading to your child.

In the early stages of language development, the brain is programmed to attend to speech sounds and begin to mimic them. Early on, babies like to make sounds up on their own. Later they attempt to repeat sounds and words they’re exposed to from their environment.

Children usually say their first words between nine and 18 months old. The most common first words are either “mama” or “dada.” What’s interesting is no matter what language children are taught, the first words usually reference either mother or father.

By about 18 months, a child usually has a vocabulary of 50 to 150 words. Children at this age begin to put a couple of words together to form a sentence sometimes referred to as “telegraphic speech,” such as “Mommy ball” or “Mommy throw ball.” By two-years-old, they can typically use over 300 words and understand about 1,000 words.

Around three years of age, children begin to use language for all kinds of things. They’re not only trying to get what they want by asking, but they’re also talking about past experiences and even beginning to use it to pretend. By preschool (4 ½) they’re beginning to understand and use the rules of language to express possession of something, connect thoughts and quantify. Their language is becoming more like that of adults.

In elementary school, children continue to expand their use of oral language and are also learning to read a write. As children progress through middle school and high school, they continue to expand their vocabulary, refine their grammatical skills and write in more complexities as well as continue to develop reading comprehension skills.

The tables below describe specific skill development for each stage of development through age 8. Below the developmental timeline, you’ll find information on how you can stimulate and encourage language development as well as information on how to recognize lagging development and what to do about it.

Things Parents Can Do To Stimulate Language Development

Early Years

• Verbally respond to your baby’s vocalizations.
• Talk to your baby.
• Around six months of age, use shared attention and sign language (gestures). Point and name things that they see. Use an exaggerated voice when you describe things. Use feeling words.
• Sing to your child from babyhood until they ask you to stop.
• Have older children make up songs.
• Use songs to communicate things such as time to go to bed, time to clean up, etc.
• Make up songs that are silly or that communicate affirmations related to their positive qualities.

Older Toddler and Preschooler

• Initiate conversations with your child related to recent events and what they’re doing.
• Make up stories along with your child where each contributes. This not only stimulates language, but thinking, creating, and a sense of humor.
• Gradually increase the complexity of grammar and vocabulary you use to communicate.
• Provide children with expanded information about events, as well as things they see and how they feel.
• Read interactively to engage their participation. Ask questions, use dramatic inflections, let them guess what will happen next, point to pictures and describe them, and ask your child to do the same. Learn More About Interactive Reading.

School Age and Beyond

• Keep the conversations going.
• Have family meetings.
• Have dinner together at the table and encourage conversation. =You can use “Thorns & Roses” by each family member sharing one thing that went wrong and one thing that well during the day.
• When you go out to dinner, keep the electronics at home or turned off.
• After seeing a movie or TV show together, talk about what happened.
• Encourage reading. When they finish a book, ask about their thoughts and feelings.

Recognizing Problems

Check out the timelines and look for delays. Remember that there is quite a range of time for the achievement of each milestone. If you feel there is a delay, discuss it with your child’s primary care physician.

• Look for poor eye contact and lack of attention and focus.
• Listen to how they pronounce words. Are they hard to understand?
• Can they understand simple directions?
• Are they having trouble with basic social skills?
• Does your child not seem to be interested in having you read to them?
• Do they repeat what you say or say the same thing over and over?
• Do they lack empathy for the feelings of others?
• Do they avoid conversations?
• Are they only interested in talking or reading about one subject?
• Is your preschooler not engaging in fantasy play? Do they lack a sense of humor?

Recommended Books for Parents

Beyond Baby Talk: From Speaking to Spelling: A Guide to Language and Literacy Development for Parents and Caregivers Language is about so much more than just words, and healthy communication is the foundation of your child’s ability to succeed emotionally, socially, and academically. The first eight years of life are a critical period of language and literacy development, and as a parent, you are your child’s primary role model as he or she begins to acquire speaking, reading, and writing skills. And yet, you may be uncertain of what constitutes typical language progress and of what activities and practices will enhance your child’s learning experiences the most. Fully revised and updated for our modern times, Beyond Baby Talk is here to guide you through the easiest and most engaging ways to instill strong communication skills in your child, and to provide fun for you both along the way.

The Parent’s Guide to Speech and Language Problems Your definitive guide for helping your speech-impaired child and co-written by two in-the-trenches experts. When a child has communication problems—diagnosed or not—parents are first looking for a place to go for help. The Parent’s Guide to Speech and Language Problems is a one-stop resource, offering not just the most up-to-date medical information, but also advice and encouragement from a mom who’s been there. Author Debbie Feit has two children with speech problems and knows what it takes to survive and thrive day-to-day as a family. No other book on the market can match this one for its combination of clinical research and real-world, hands-on parenting solutions.