SPOKEN LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION and talking: An overview

Listening and talking are oral language skills—also described as “spoken language comprehension and expressive language” skills.

The ability to understand and use spoken language when communicating with others is a crucial life skill that impacts every day functioning.

Although listening and talking are unique skill sets, they are highly interrelated. Both involve the 5 language domains: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

It is also important to understand the relationship between oral language and written language.

Oral language skills serve as the foundation for written language skills.

Keep reading for more information on spoken language comprhension!

SPOKEN LANGUAGE comprehension

Spoken language comprehension happens invisibly between the ears in real time. For most people, it is effortless and more or less instantaneous—requiring the speed of an eye blink to interpret a question, consider it, and formulate a reply.

Listening skills are highly dependent on hearing acuity, attention, and memory. Other factors that impact listening comprehension are background knowledge, prior experience, and language processing speed.

COMPONENTS OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COMPrehension

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Spoken language comprehension is a complex cognitive-linguistic skill. Not only does it involve the skills mentioned above, but it also involves the understanding of language at the sound, word, and sentence level.

Phonology/Sounds: Listening involves hearing the individual sounds of our language.

Morphology/Word Parts: We must understand the morphemes, or meaningful chunks, that make up words. For example, we must understand how different suffixes change the meaning of a word.

Semantics/Vocabulary: Good spoken language comprehension involves strong word-knowledge. Word-knowledge includes a deep understanding of individual words and the connections between words. Understanding figurative language and words with multiple meanings is also a crucial component of strong comprehension.

Syntax/Sentences: We must be able to easily understand different types of sentences, both simple and complex. We must also have the ability to hold lengthy sentences in our memory long enough to process their meaning.

Pragmatics/Social Language: Pragmatic skills also play a critical role in spoken language comprehension. It is important to understand the various social norms expected of us as listeners.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

As spoken language demands increase, the system can become stressed beyond capacity. Below are some signs and symptoms that may be of concern.

0 - 3

When children do not respond to their names, follow simple directions, easily acquire new words, or show interest in stories, there may be listening comprehension issues to explore.

PRESCHOOL

Typical language learners are competent listeners by age three.

Does your child say “huh?” or “what?” often? If your child has spoken language comprehension weaknesses, they may struggle to follow directions of more than one step, understand an age-appropriate story, or engage in conversational routines with peers. They may also have a hard time with the sound-play of rhymes and emergent phonemic awareness skills, like deleting sounds or syllables from words and segmenting words into their individual sounds.

ELEMENTARY

Students access their education through listening.

In order to “keep up,” they must have a strong ability to learn, store, and make connections between new words. You might notice that your child has a hard time remembering unfamiliar words and that their understanding of vocabulary is “shallow.”

For children with spoken language comprehension weaknesses, it might be quite difficult to follow what a teacher is saying throughout the school day. This can make following directions and acquiring curricular content frustrating and sometimes impossible. It can impact their ability to answer questions and monitor understanding.

Other higher-level spoken language skills can also be hard for children with language impairments. Difficulty making connections between ideas and making inferences can make classroom discussions a daunting task. Understanding and recalling stories of increasing length and complexity can also prove to be a challenge.

You might also notice that your child cannot keep up with the pace of social exchanges, and they may be less effective in securing conversational turns and sustaining conversation.

MIDDLE and HIGH SCHOOL—EVEN COLLEGE

Sometimes, language challenges go undetected until middle, high school, or even college. Adolescents and adults with mild language weaknesses can be “over-looked” in the elementary years; however, even milder difficulties with language can have a significant impact on one’s learning and daily life.

Some signs of spoken language comprehension weakness include difficulty with note-taking, following lectures, or participating in group discussions.

Learning disciplinary vocabulary can also be a challenge, as single words are often packed with concepts (e.g., impressionism, socialism, photosynthesis). Figurative language, like metaphors and similes, can also prove difficult to understand.

As curricular concepts become more complex, so does the “language of learning.” Students are listening to unfamiliar, conceptually dense vocabulary in lengthy formal sentence structures with the expectation of comprehension for new content.

The social component of language can also be a challenge in the upper-school years. Social language requires agile listening as conversation moves at a fast rate among several people with sarcasm, register changes, idioms and figurative language in the mix.

MANAGEMENT

Spoken language comprehension is an invisible, fast and complex task. It is often the root cause of a cascade of oral and written language problems and academic difficulty. The good news is children can improve listening skills at all levels.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) know typical development and can differentially identify atypical performance. They understand both the internal and external factors involved in listening comprehension. Once the point of breakdown is identified, SLPs can design interventions and accommodations to improve everyday communication and ensure access to academic content.