Developing Children’s Speech and Language

What is Speech and Language?

Speech and language are some of the main tools that humans use to communicate with each other. They are forms of verbal communication, meaning that they use the voice rather than movement or other non-verbal cues. Speech is a way in which we express language: it is sometimes referred to in a more colloquial way as ‘talking’. In technical terms, speech involves coordinating the muscles in the tongue, jaw, lips and vocal tract to create sounds. These sounds are then modified to create language. There are 7,100 unique languages spoken in the world today, with some more widely used than others and some being more difficult to learn than others.

Language is effectively a set of shared rules that individuals can use to communicate with each other freely. The focus of this piece will be on spoken language, which is expressed verbally, but language can also be expressed in writing or by making gestures with the hands, mouth or face.

Developing speech and language skills begins from the moment a child is born: A newborn baby will hear the sounds their parents or caregivers make when they speak to them, and coo in response. They will be able to vocalise in a way that is considered a rudimentary form of communication (through crying, laughing, gurgling or fussing) But how and when should greater control of speech and language develop? What are the main milestones in child development? And why is speech and language development so important anyway? Here’s everything you need to know:

Why is Speech and Language Development Important?

Imagine a world where you can’t speak: where you can’t communicate with others or understand what they are saying to you. Speech, language and communication skills are crucial to young children’s overall development because, without them, that’s the world your child would be living in. Language is considered to be one of the fundamental building blocks of a child’s development. Without speech and language, children would find it difficult to express their ideas and interact with others.

Most infants will begin to demonstrate the development of speech sounds when they begin to babble at around seven months old. In infants that are born deaf, they will not vocalise in this way at this stage. However, if deaf children are exposed to sign language in the same way that hearing children are exposed to speech at any early age then they will begin to babble with their hands in the same way that hearing children babble with their speech. This demonstrates that it is exposure to the right stimulus at an early age that is integral to the development of speech and language, with the ability to learn speech and language skills declining as the child ages.

How Does Speech Develop in Children?

The development of speech and language skills is considered to be a lifelong learning process, with many of us learning new rules in our native tongue or mastering new languages well into adulthood. Like learning any new skill, children develop speech and language skills over time. But it is no coincidence that children and young people can pick up new languages faster than their adult counterparts. This is because the first 3 years of life, when the brain is growing and maturing, is the most intensive and significant period for developing speech and language skills. The more that a child is exposed to language and the wider outside world at this stage, the better their language skills will develop. Studies have shown that the period between newborn and three years old is the most critical time in a child’s life for absorbing language, and that if a child existed in a vacuum at this stage (i.e., had no exposure to language skills or language learning) then they would find it considerably more difficult to learn the language skills they needed.

Speech develops in children through exposure to the speech of others: specifically, their parents or primary caregivers.  There is a wide range of ‘normal’ development when it comes to speech, and children will all learn at their own pace. But babies need to learn how language sounds before being able to learn how to speak, so speech develops in children as a direct result of exposure to the speech of others. From the moment they are born you should begin talking to your child, and they will learn from the tone and rhythm of your voice, even when they are unable to distinguish the words. Speech develops over time, but exposing your child to language and talking to them as often as possible is the best thing you can do to aid this development.

Milestones in Language Development

Wondering whether your child is reaching their speech and language developmental milestones? This is usually checked by your Health Visitor when they visit your child in your home. The most significant of these, in terms of language development, are the two and three-year checks. You can expect your Health Visitor to visit when your baby is between 10-21 days old, between 6-10 weeks old, at three months, two years and three years old. However, don’t forget that if you have concerns you can contact them at any point between their scheduled visits.

Language development milestones you should be looking out for in your child include:

• From birth, your child should coo, make noise when they’re spoken to, and be able to express basic vocalisation (including laughing when they’re happy or crying when they’re not).
• From 6 to 11 months your baby should be able to understand that they need to stop an action when you tell them ‘no’, start babbling (terms such as baba, mama, and dada are common), and repeat the sounds and noises that you make. Often children will say their first words at this point.
• From 12 to 17 months language skills will begin to develop and the child will have a vocabulary of four to six words. They will also be able to communicate by pointing at things they want and answering questions in a non-verbal way.
• From 18 to 23 months, language skills will develop at a much faster rate and the child will have a vocabulary of around 50 words, although their pronunciation of these words may be unclear. The child should be able to make animal sounds, know the names of the foods they eat most frequently, and use simple two-word phrases to communicate (‘more milk’ or ‘no bed’ are good examples of this).
• From two to three years old your child’s speech will start to become more accurate. As a caregiver, you will have a clear understanding of their meaning, but strangers not familiar with their linguistic patterns may struggle to understand them. At this point, children will begin to ask simple questions, use pronouns and descriptive words, and introduce short three-word sentences. They should start to know when to use plurals (socks rather than sock) and be able to understand spatial concepts, such as the plate is on the table, the ball is in the box etc.
• From three to four years old, children should be able to identify colours, group objects into broad categories (food, toy, clothing) and be able to describe the objects they use most frequently. Strangers should be able to understand their language now, as they will be mastering the more difficult sounds slowly (they may not fully master these for a couple of years). They should be able to express ideas and feelings verbally, answer simple questions, and repeat sentences: this is a great time to introduce simple silly rhyming poems for your child to repeat.
• From four to five years old your child should be able to understand more complex questions, including why questions, and spatial concepts (what is behind the door, for example). They will enjoy talking, and describing their actions as they do them. They will also be able to sort and list objects into categories.
• At five years old your child will be ready for school and should be able to understand and explain time concepts (i.e, we go to school after breakfast, we clean our teeth before bed). They will be able to listen to and follow instructions with up to three different directions and communicate in sentences of up to eight words in length. They will enjoy engaging in conversation and can use their imagination to create stories.

Methods for helping speech and language in children

The role of the parent or caregiver is vital in the development of speech and language. You can encourage your baby to develop their speech and language skills by:

• Talking to them from the day they are born. You should also make faces and noises at them whilst making eye contact. All of this frames what linguistic interactions look like. If you’re not sure what to say, try narrating your day as you’re doing activities: it doesn’t really matter what you say as long as you’re talking!
• Sing to your baby, and play interactive games with a sing-song tone, such as peekaboo.
• Introduce picture books. You can either read the words or talk about the pictures.
• As your child begins to develop their own language skills, use short and simple sentences. Talk clearly in a way that they will be able to understand, but use sentences that are 1-2 words longer than the sentences your child is able to use. This provides a framework for their next developmental milestone that they can mimic.
• Listen to your child when they talk and let them lead conversations, giving them plenty of opportunities to have conversations with you.
• Avoid having the TV on for background noise, as this will make it more difficult for your child to hear and understand your conversations.
• Don’t criticise your child when they’re developing their speech. If they mispronounce a word, simply repeat the word back to them with the correct pronunciation, whilst praising them for introducing a tricky new word.

What to do if you are worried about speech and language

All children will develop speech and language skills at slightly different rates; however, they should follow a natural progression or timetable for mastering the skills of their native language. If you feel your child is missing some of the steps in this natural progression, or you are concerned about the speed with which they are acquiring speech and language skills then you should discuss this with their doctor.

There are two types of disorders that children with delayed speech and language can experience: a speech disorder or a language disorder. It should be fairly straightforward to work out which of these applies to a child under your care. If you feel your child has difficulty in sharing their thoughts or understanding what others say, then they may have a language disorder. This means that they are struggling to develop an appropriate mastery of language skills and the nuances of language, and this will affect their speech. If your child cannot produce the sounds required for speech correctly or is hesitant when speaking (stuttering or stammering will also fall into this category) then this is indicative of a speech disorder. Speech disorders make it more difficult to put sounds together or to form words in a meaningful and recognisable way. Speech and language disorders are not uncommon: Around 1.4 million children in the UK have long-term speech, language and communication needs.

When you first visit your doctor to discuss your child’s speech and language needs, they are likely to refer you to a speech-language pathologist. This is a trained medical professional whose job is to evaluate individuals with speech or language disorders and refer them to the best therapist or treatment plan for their needs. This initial appointment will usually comprise of an extensive conversation with the primary caregiver about what they perceive to be the child’s communication delays, and they are likely to ask questions about the child’s general development too. The appointment will then include an evaluation of the child’s spoken language skills, to give a benchmark level of development from which to work. What you may not expect is that the child will be offered a hearing test, but this is very common. That’s because the ability to hear is essential for proper speech and language development. Often hearing problems are the simple solution to the reason some children are not responding to sounds or are not developing their language skills appropriately, but when identified these can usually be rectified, meaning that language skills will quickly develop.

Once your evaluation is complete, your pathologist will recommend the most appropriate treatment plan for your child. This is likely to include one, or a combination of, the following elements:

• Activities you can do at home to stimulate your child’s development. This is likely to include play-based home learning, such as encouraging your child to sing with you, or playing simple role-play games with you whilst making eye contact and mimicking the rhythm of your own speech, which has been shown to increase verbal language skills in young children.
• Group or individual therapy with a speech or language therapist. This is often recommended when children need additional support with their speech or language development beyond that which could be provided by a caregiver in the home, although home learning will still form an important part of this process.
• Further evaluation by an audiologist (a healthcare professional trained to identify and measure hearing loss) may be recommended if hearing loss hasn’t been ruled out as the cause of the speech and language delay.
• Further evaluation by a developmental psychologist (a healthcare professional with special expertise in the psychological development of infants and children) may be recommended if the speech and language delay is suspected to be part of a wider developmental delay.