Language:  Language is a code that we learn to use in order to communicate ideas and express our wants and needs.  Reading, writing, speaking, and some gesture systems are all forms of language. 

Receptive vocabulary refers to all the words a person understands.

Expressive vocabulary refers to all of the words a person uses when speaking.

Not understanding words or using words incorrectly is very common among children with language problems.

Syntax refers to the way words are arranged in a sentence to convey meaning.

Semantics refers to the meaning of words and how they are used.

Morphology is the study of how words are formed by putting together morphemes.  A morpheme is a word or part of a word that contains meaning (that indicates singularity, and plurality in nouns, tense in verbs, degree in adjectives, negation, possession, and other parts of speech one word can assume.  Ex: -s, -ed, -ness, -un, -‘s, -er, -ing, -ful).

More language information:

Basic Concepts

WH Questions

Categories/Associations

Sequencing

Pragmatics

(Super Duper Publications, Inc.)

Basic Concepts:

·          Basic concepts (Ex. colors, numbers, location words, descriptive words) are the building blocks that children need to follow directions, engage in classroom routines, and provide descriptions.  They are fundamental for performing every day tasks, such as reading, writing, speaking, and arithmetic.  The knowledge of these concepts is directly related to early childhood academic achievement.

·          Children understand concepts receptively (know what they mean) before they start to use them expressively (when speaking).

·          Some examples of concepts include paired opposites such as: near/far, in/out, big/little, narrow/wide, and under/over.

·          Other types of concepts important for a child to understand include quality (short, big, nice), quantity (many, a lot), spatial (in, on, under), and time (before, after, late, early). 

(Super Duper Publications, Inc.)

 

WH Questions:

·          Children follow a developmental sequence while learning to process and answer “WH” questions.  “What” is the earliest question form mastered, followed by “Who” and “Where,” and finally by “When” and “Why.”

·          Children often have difficulty understanding the meaning of “WH” questions.  For example, they may answer “When” questions incorrectly because they don’t understand the meaning of the “When” concept.
Ex: The teacher asks, “When do you take a bath?” and the student answers, “In the bathtub.”

·          Cues (hints) often help children answer “WH” questions.  These cues can include visual cues, gestural cues, and multiple choice cues.

·          Remember, sometimes a child needs extra time to respond to a question.  He/she may know the answer, but has difficulty processing the actual

(Super Duper Publications, Inc.)

 

Categories/Associations:

·          The brain stores new words, experiences, and other information in categories.  For example, if you ask someone to tell you about the beach, he/she will begin to recall words like ocean, sand, waves, towel, and bathing suit.  He/she may also remember a specific trip to the beach.  All this information is organized in categories.

·          A child with a language impairment may have difficulty organizing information into categories.  The problem may occur because they have difficulty making associations between words as well as retrieving these words from memory.

 (Super Duper Publications, Inc.)

Sequencing:

Sequencing is the process of putting events, ideas, or objects in logical order.

Having this skill allows children to see the relationships between cause/effect and actions/consequences.

Beginning readers need this skill in order to recognize small differences in the letter order of words.

Encourage children to orally tell the story as the put pictures in order. (You can do this at home with comic strips…creating your own story)  Use the words “First, Next, Last” to reinforce sequencing.

The importance of understanding a beginning, middle, and an ending is essential when writing and telling stories.

(Super Duper Publications, Inc.)

Pragmatics:

·          Pragmatics refers to how language is used in social situations.

·          A few examples of appropriate use of language socially include maintaining proper eye contact with speaker/listener, taking conversational turns, staying on topic, understanding body language, using polite words, i.e. “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.”

·          Learning and practicing good social skills benefits not only the individual child, but our entire society!

(Super Duper Publications, Inc.)