Supporting the 5 stages of Language Development

Helpful tips in supporting the five stages of Language and Communication development in children.

Language and communication is vital in a child’s healthy development. There are 5 stages of language, with each stage acting as a building block.

Social Communication is paramount in developing communication, building secure relationships from birth and supporting children’s confidence and self esteem. With social bonds secure, Listening and Attentions skills can be developed, enabling the child to concentrate for a period of time and correctly hear sounds. Once this skill is perfected children will be able to gain an understanding of words, following requests and linking words to objects or actions. With a clear understanding of basic language, babble and sounds can be refined into words, and words built into sentences.

Children aged up to 3 years old can sometimes be difficult to understand, this is where the final building block emerges. Speech sound development refers to pronunciation of words, with many children missing sounds in a word such as “nana” for “banana” or replacing sounds such as “boon” for “spoon.” By 3 and a half years old children generally have refined speech sound development and can be understood by strangers, yet this stage of development varies.

Practitioners and parents can support all stages of language development through carefully selected activities. Here are some ideas to help support each stage of language development;

Social Communication

Turn taking is vital in developing social communication, children must learn about taking turns to develop conversation skills. At a young age babies can develop this skill whilst babbling in response to hearing an adult’s voice. This can then be extended into play opportunities as the child grows. Blowing bubbles is a great way to teach children about turn taking. Adults should blow some bubbles and wait for the child to request more, through eye contact, using gestures or words. This teaches the child to give responses through communication.

Singing songs together also helps build social communication. Babies and small children can be cradled or sat on your knee, using face to face to develop strong bonds. Older children should be given the opportunity to access plenty of eye contact with an adult, this helps the child to know that the adult is interested in what they have to say and available for the child to interact with.

Listening and Attention

Listening and Attention skills can be developed through sound activities. Young children can be encouraged through a “ready, steady, go” game, using a range of resources such as blocks, balloons, balls. The object of the game is getting the child to listen and wait. The child should hold the toy ready to let it go, the adult then says “ready…steady….”, then pause and let them wait for the adult to say “GO.” This encourages the child’s attention skills through anticipation.

As children get older try group activities especially ones using musical instruments. Children can take it in turns to hide a set of bells behind their back, with a child in the middle having to guess who has the bells by listening to where the sound is coming from. A child’s attention varies but activities should last no longer than two minutes per year of the child’s age; for example a 2 year old can only give full attention for around 4 minutes, whereas a 5 year old could last up to 10 minutes.

Understanding

Developing understanding in children can be supported through lots of narrative play. In young children adults should use play opportunities to label objects, actions or feelings. This will help children to attach words to their play and routine. Instructions should be kept simple and short for children that are developing their understanding. Games such as “Simon says” help children to follow instructions in play, also developing their expressive language. “Feely bag” games can further develop understanding through talking about the use of objects and where they are used.

Building Language

Strategies such as slowing down speech and adding a word can help children to build vocabulary. Young children will first use single words to communicate with others, moving on to two word utterances. During this period it is important for the adult to model language, speaking clearly and finding opportunities to label objects. Picture books are a great way to teach children single words. Reading stories can be adjusted according to the development of a child. Stories should match a child’s ability; for example a child with only single words should not be encouraged to listen to long sentences in a story, instead just key points such as “dog” or “big cake.”

 

Speech Sounds

Lack of refined speech sounds can be caused by many factors such as ear infections; however sometimes children can just replace or miss sounds out of a word. Rhyming games can help children to head the difference between sounds, adults can support children in making up silly rhymes such as “the frog goes for a jog”. Clapping out syllables, for example “di-no-saur”, can also help a child to hear and repeat the whole word. Using mirrors to looks at the way our mouths move when saying tricky words can support a child in strengthening mouth muscles.