Supporting children with receptive language difficulties
- If a child's language 'reception' or 'comprehension' appears to be delayed or disordered in any way, when compared to other children their age, they are likely to have difficulties in understanding words, sentence structures or concepts.
- A child may be speaking normally, but only seems to understand part of what you say.
- It may be that a child responds only to one or two key words in what you have said - bringing you a pencil when you have asked them to bring you the box with the pencils in.
- Perhaps a child does not understand abstract concepts, such as 'big' or 'more'. Abstract words refer to things that you cannot actually point to.
- A child may not understand how the words within a sentence affect the meaning - what a question word means, such as 'why' or 'when', or that 'bus stop' has a different meaning to 'stop bus'.
- Noticing that a child has receptive language difficulties can be hard to do - the child may be making use of all the other clues in the surroundings and in your non-verbal signals. So you may think that they can understand everything when in fact they cannot follow the words when they are used on their own.
What you can do
- Make sure that the child's hearing has been checked.
- If you are concerned, try giving simple instructions that are out of context, such as 'Please get you coat' when it is not home time. This will help you to assess whether the child can understand your words.
- Provide plenty of opportunities for the child to experience concrete examples of concepts, such as 'empty', 'lots' and 'long'. This will enable them to make links in their thinking and learn to generalise the word to new situations.
- Time can be a particularly hard concept for a child with receptive language difficulties. Use visual clues such as timetables, and concrete examples from their own experiences, such as 'When you have had your drink, then you can play outside.'
- Keep your language simple and clear, emphasising key words and showing the child what to do as you tell them.
- Try not to overload the child with language. They can become quickly frustrated and may 'switch off' from what you are saying.
When to seek help
- If you suspect that a child's comprehension is delayed, set up a play session to gather more information. For example, 'Pass me the little one', 'Show me your nose' and 'Where are you shoes?'
- Try teaching any words that the child cannot understand by using them in different situations.
- If you have tried these methods and a three-year-old child still cannot point to several body parts, point to a named picture or pass you a 'big' or 'little' object, then seek help from a speech and language therapist. Referrals can be made through a health visitor, school doctor or GP.
From "Supporting speech and language difficulties", Dr Hannah Mortimer, Nursery Education, November 2003.
