Supporting language development

Language development is the process through which children gain the ability to understand and to talk. Language skills develop gradually.

Children may need help with:

• Developing vocabulary/learning new words
• Understanding instructions
• Joining words together to make short phrases and sentences
• Responding to questions
• Using correct grammar within their sentences
• Retelling events or stories in sequence
• Developing conversational skills

Factors such as, attention and listening skills, hearing and motivation to communicate, can affect how quickly a child’s language skills develop

Tips to support your child’s understanding

• Reduce background noise, e.g., turn off the TV and other devices
• Get your child’s attention before talking
• Talk about what your child is looking at or showing interest in. Children learn best when you are following their lead
• Rephrase or simplify what you say
• Give simple descriptions of what you are doing during daily routines
• Use a slow rate of speech
• Keep your sentences short. The less you say, the more your child is likely to listen!
• Use pauses to break up longer pieces of information
• When reading books, first talk about the pictures to aid understanding

Watch this short video from RADLD (Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder), parents share tips about how they help their children to understand https://youtu.be/ZhQOJYYtrww.

Tips to support your child’s spoken language

• Talk about what you are doing together. Repeat key words and phrases during daily routines and at play times.
• Instead of a question, make a comment. Reduce the number of questions you ask. Try turning questions into comments, e.g., instead of: “What’s that? Is it a plane?” Comment: “There’s a plane, up in the sky.”
• Add and expand. Expand on your child’s language attempts by adding one or two words and simple grammar, e.g., child says: “Boy sleep.”  Adult response: “Yes, the boy is sleeping.”
• Interpret your child’s language. Repeat your child’s sentence the way it should be said (from your child’s perspective), e.g., child says: “Him want my book.” Adult response: “He wants my book.”

Activities for developing words and sentences in young children

• Books: Read books together. Talk about the pictures in the book. Talk about who is in the story, name objects, use describing words, etc. Encourage your child to retell the story.
• Nursery Rhymes: Nursery rhymes can boost language development. Pick two or three rhymes. Regularly say or sing the rhymes together. Use actions. Have fun together.
• Feely Bag: Place some objects in a feely bag.  Take turns to pull out an object.  Together talk about the object, name it, describe it, talk about what it is used for, etc.
• Play: Have regular ‘special time’ with your child. Set aside 5 minutes. Spend the time together doing what your child has chosen (e.g. a puzzle, lego, playdough, doll play or small figure play). Talk about what you are doing together.

Activities for developing words and sentences in older children

• Word of the day: Select the word of the day (e.g., she, beside, ate, drank). Have a family game. Everyone at home should try to use the word as much as possible (in grammatically correct sentences). The winner will have used the word most frequently.
• What I did today: At the end of every day take turns to talk about the day. Talk about what your child did in the order that it happened (use words like, first, next, then, last). This can help your child with sequencing language, describing things and developing grammar (e.g. past tense).
• Build a story: One person starts a story, using one sentence, e.g., “Once upon a time an enormous giant was sleeping when…” Others then take turns to build on the story, one sentence at a time.
  Get creative and see what twists and turns you can add to your story.
• Retell: Ask your child to retell their favourite film or favourite story. There should be a beginning, middle and end. You could help your child to structure their story by drawing pictures of the main characters and using these to act out some parts.

Useful links

Speech and Language UK: Further information and support