Have you ever tried to learn a new language? Maybe in school or before heading on vacation. I myself have tried to learn to speak Spanish so that I can better communicate with some of the families I work with when there isn’t a translator available. I always get excited when I learn a few new words or a phrase. I can’t wait to put it into practice when I speak with a parent. But oftentimes upon my arrival, the parents are speaking to me fluently in their native tongue and I struggle to keep up! Sometimes, I can pick up a few keywords here and there. However, as a whole, it’s difficult to understand what is being said. This is similar to a young child’s experience with trying to learn English for the first time. It’s a new language to them. They understand some keywords as their vocabulary expands, but with all of the communicating going on around them, it can be difficult for children to follow and comprehend what is being said.

Today, we are going to talk about two ways we can simplify language for children that will promote better language learning: Changing Our Current Language Models and Providing New Child Models.

Changing Our Current Language Models

As I shared earlier, when we are trying to speak with someone in a language we’re less familiar with as they speak fluently, it can often be discouraging. This is similar to your child’s experience when we give them too many models or directions at once. This is a common pattern I see with many families I work with.

Example 1:

Parent: “Johnny, let’s clean up!”
Parent: “Clean up the toys.”
Parent: “Not that one.”
Parent: “No, the one on the couch.”
Parent: “No, the red one, Johnny.”
Parent: “Johnny, over here!”

In this example, the parent is providing what I’d call rapid fire directions. For a young child, this can be a lot to take in. Some of the directions also contradict themselves to a child. They are asked to clean up, followed by “not that one” or “no”, when they are trying to clean up like you asked. Then, they are given location words that they may not totally understand, such as “on the couch” or “over here”. The child is likely given far too many directions at once. We need to work on simplifying these directions down to one or two directions at most.

Example 2:

Parent: “Johnny, look at Mom putting the red truck in the box. Why don't you show Mom how you can put the red truck in the box?”

In this example, the parent is giving a single direction, right? However, it is far too complex. The direction has many elements: two people (Johnny & Mom), multiple actions (putting & showing), multiple items (truck & box) and an adjective (red) all in one instruction. For a young child who is developing language, this is a very complex direction that we need to simplify down using less components.

Providing New Child Models

In the same way that you are unable to understand a full conversation that is going on in French or German when speaking with someone of another language, your child is also unable to understand the full conversation. With that said, we need to provide models and use language that they can understand and begin to use in their daily repertoire. These new language models are going to be simple one or two-step directions as well as 2-3 word phrases using keywords. Some examples of this would be:

Example 1: Say “Go up” instead of “Alright Johnny, it’s time for bed. Let’s go upstairs.” 

Example 2: Say “In the basket” instead of “Johnny, take all of your toys and put them in the basket.”

Example 3: Say “Pick up the ball and put it in the basket” instead of “Johnny, go and get the red ball over by the door, and bring it to Mom so we can put it in the basket before lunch.”

While your child will eventually be able to understand these complex adult language models, they currently need to be learning the important core vocabulary first. These words are the function words–or the meat and potatoes—of our day to day language. 

It’s helpful to remind yourself that your child is still developing core speech and language skills. With that said, the language we use needs to be at a level that can meet them where they are at! This helps us to maximize the growth of their language going forward. By keeping it simple and choosing the important words, you will be giving your child everything they need during this incredible time of development! Keep at it! You can also learn more about applying core speech and language skills through our book Mondy’s Mission: Under The Sea by clicking HERE.

- Austin Collignon, M.S. CCC-SLP