What is ‘Expressive Language’?
Expressive language is any verbal, spoken language that we use.
How do I know if my child is experiencing difficulties using spoken language?
If your child presents with any of the following, they may be experiencing expressive language difficulties:
- He/ she struggles to learn and recall new vocabulary
- He/ she struggles to combine words together
- He/ she struggles to put words in the correct order
- He/ she presents with difficulties applying grammatical rules (e.g. incorrect use of pronouns, inconsistent use of verb tenses)
- He/ she struggles to sequence their ideas and to retell stories
Why might my child have difficulty using spoken language?
Some children struggle to use spoken language due to:
- Difficulties learning new vocabulary
- Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
- Delayed expressive language development
- Learning difficulties
What should my child be able to say?
Birth – 12 Months:
0-3 Months
- Your baby will ‘coo and goo’ when content
- Your baby will frequently cry especially when they are unhappy or uncomfortable
- Your baby’s cries will change dependent on the situation
4-6 Months
- Your baby will start babbling at this age & it will sometimes sound as if they are ‘talking’. This ‘speech-like’ babbling includes many sounds including e.g. p, b, w, m
- Your baby will make sounds back when spoken to
- Your baby will vocalise or gesture to get your attention
7-12 Months
- The sound of your baby’s babbling will change. This is because it now includes more consonants, as well as long and short vowels
- Your baby will use speech and other sounds (i.e. other than crying) to get your attention and to hold on to it
- Your baby will start using single words, although they are not likely to be spoken clearly
1 – 2 Years:
- Your child will start to copy gestures & words used by adults
- Your child will use intonation, pitch & changing volume when ‘talking’
- Your chill will have developed 50+ words at this stage; however these words will most likely still be unclear
- Your child will start to put 2-3 word phrases together to comment on what they are doing or to ask questions (e.g. “more juice”, “push car”)
- Your child’s speech will start to become clearer as they develop a wider range of initial consonants
2 – 3 Years:
- Your child’s vocabulary is growing by the day! They will now be using up to 300 words & their vocabulary will now include descriptive language (e.g. time, function)
- Your child will now be putting 2 – 4 word phrases together & family members will typically understand them
- Your child will now start to use pronouns (e.g me, he) & prepositions (e.g. in, on, under)
3 – 4 Years:
- Your child is now using sentences containing 4+ words
- Your child will talk about what happened during the day & enjoys telling longer stories
- Your child will start using the simple future & past tense; however they will still struggle to use irregular tenses (e.g. “I goed to school”)
- Your child will start to ask “when” and “how” questions
- Your child will start to use rhyming words (e.g. hat- cat)
- Your child’s speech is typically fluent & clear and unfamiliar people can understand what your child is saying most of the time
4 – 5 Years:
- Your child will now be using well-formed & detailed sentences; however there may still be some grammatical errors
- Your child will start using sentences that contain more than one action word (e.g. “Sarah gots two dolls, but I got one”
- Your child will now be able to communicate easily with familiar adults & children, and they will be able to keep conversations going
- Your child can tell a long, imaginative story & can stick to the topic
- Your child will frequently ask for the meaning of unfamiliar words
References:
- Bowen, C. (1998). Ages and Stages Summary: Language Development 0-5 years. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on 25/08/2019.
- https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/01/
- https://www.iaslt.ie/documents/public-information/Childhood%20Speech%20and%20Language/communication_development_factsheet_July_20101.pdf
- Blank, Rose and Berlin (1978). Levels of Questioning
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