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 spoken language comprehension 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 talking!

TAlking

components of talking

Talking is a complex cognitive-linguistic skill that involves the use of language at the sound, word, and sentence level.

Phonology/Sounds: To clearly express ourselves orally, we must accurately produce the individual sounds of our language. Further, we must be able to effortlessly blend these sounds together to produce words and sentences.

Morphology/Word Parts: As very young children, we learn how to build words by listening. We use suffixes like the plural marker “-s” and the past tense marker “-ed.” As we get older, our command of word parts grows, and we use longer words with more sophisticated prefixes and suffixes.

Semantics/Vocabulary: A robust vocabulary is necessary for expressing ourselves effectively. The use of figurative language also help us communicate our thoughts and ideas to others. Importantly, we must be able to quickly and accurately retrieve the exact word or expression we want to use in a specific moment.

Syntax/Sentences: Stringing words together in the correct order, using appropriate verb tenses, and producing complex sentence structures are all crucial syntactic skills. We must choose prepositions (e.g., in, on, above), correct pronouns (e.g., he, she, they), and specific conjunctions (e.g., but, because, and) effortlessly to communicate our intentions in real time.

Pragmatics/Social Language: As communication partners, we need to understand conversational turns, stay on topic, transition to new topics, and adjust our word choice depending on our listener.

other important components of talking

Voice/Resonance: Vocal quality and pitch significantly impact our ability to speak and be understood by others. Qualities like hoarseness, nasality, and high or low pitch can impact how well someone understands what we say.

Speech Fluency: The fluency of our speech, or how smoothly and effortlessly we can produce sounds, words and sentences, is an important component of oral expression.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Difficulty with oral language production disrupts basic communication and learning. It can be frustrating for speaker and listener alike.  Below are some signs and symptoms that may be cause for concern.

0 - 3

In the first year of life, babies develop important “prelinguistic,” or “pre-talking,” skills. After the newborn stage, your baby will start cooing. Between 4-6 months of age, babies babble single consonant and vowel combinations, and then more complex babbling as it develops into “jargon,” a type of nonsense language. Nonverbal communication skills, such as joint attention, eye contact, a desire to play, and purposeful gestures all occur with the verbal practice.

Between 12-18 months, words emerge. By 18-24 months, their vocabulary will be expanding rapidly, so that by 24 months, babies are saying at least 50 words and stringing two words together. Between 24-36 months, your child’s language should continue to blossom as they use more and more words, and produce longer sentences with increasing intelligibility. If your child’s speech and language development is not progressing on this trajectory, they may be experiencing an expressive language delay or a speech-sound disorder.

PRESCHOOL

Children are typically good oral communicators in preschool. If your child is not understood by others most of the time, does not have a varied vocabulary, or produces many grammatical errors, it might be related to a speech and/or language weakness.

Preschoolers use their speech and language purposefully and socially. In the preschool years, you’ll want to hear your child’s sentence length and complexity increase as they develop narrative skills and retell short stories.

In the later preschool years, phonological awareness skills emerge. Children learn to rhyme, blend sounds and segment words into syllables and sounds.  At this stage of development children also show interest in print and letters. These are important oral language skills that precede and are essential to reading and spelling development. Struggling to develop these skills can be a sign of language weakness.

ELEMENTARY

In the elementary years, speech should be close to error free. Signs of a speech-sound disorder include distorting the “r” or “s” sound, substituting one sound for another, and omitting sounds from words. Other signs that a child might need speech therapy include a hoarse or breathy voice, flat or monotone intonation, or disfluent speech, which can include repeating words and struggling “to get words out.”

At this stage of development, new vocabulary is mapped easily, accurately, and used correctly.  Use of the word “thing,” rather than a specific term, can be a sign of word retrieval difficulty.  It can also result in formulation issues that result in false starts, use of fillers (ummm), and delays in talking. There is increased use of abstract vocabulary, figures of speech, multiple meaning words, and curriculum-related vocabulary. Trouble with any of these skills can be a sign of a language weakness.

If you notice that your child has difficulty formulating lengthy complex sentences, you’ll want to check in with a speech-language pathologist. You’ll also want to ensure that your child is increasing their use of more advanced morphology (e.g., monster/monstrous, school/scholastic).

A few common signs of oral expression weakness in the elementary years include difficulty retelling stories and paraphrasing. Children should be able to use oral language to demonstrate their learning, discuss books, explain videos, give accurate and complete directions, and  summarize events.

Elementary-age children are socially adept with language functions and able to be polite, persuasive, and seek clarification. They use age appropriate academic discourse-level skills. They also have the ability to make relevant contributions to classroom discussion and repair conversational breakdowns. Finally, they know what to say and what not to say, as well as when to talk and when not to talk. If your child struggles with any of these skills, they might have difficulties with social language, or “pragmatics.”

middle and high school - even college

In the upper-school years, your child should be able to effortlessly manage the social and academic language demands of their day.

Signs of oral expression weakness include difficulty using disciplinary and academic vocabulary in classroom discussions, expressing relevant ideas clearly and concisely, conveying the appropriate amount of information, and finding the exact word or words they want to use in a given moment.

Other signs that your child might have speech or language difficulties include persistent speech-sound errors, speaking too fast and jumbling words together, or trouble communicating with friends or in a social group setting.

MANAGEMENT