4.1 Language and Speech Development

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How well do you remember information? Maybe you are very good at remembering lots of experiences you had, or perhaps you tend to occasionally forget things. If you think back even further, can you remember your first birthday party? How about your third? 

If you cannot remember these very early events, there is a good reason. When you were very young, the part of your brain that helps form and recall memories was still developing. As it developed, many of your childhood memories were lost to childhood amnesia.

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Warm Up- Why Can’t You Remember Being a Baby?

Unit Main Ideas

​ 1) How does speech and language develop throughout toddlerhood, and how can parents support this development?

2) How does effective discipline help behavioral and emotional growth in toddlers?

3) What is the connection between play and learning in toddlers?

4) What is the relationship between nutrition and growth in toddlerhood?

Vocabulary and Objectives- Lesson 4.1
Communication and Language Development

Vocabulary

hearing aid, language, language delay, speech delay, speech therapy, vocalization

Objectives

• identify the difference between speech and language

• identify various speech and language milestones

• evaluate strategies parents can employ to support their child's speech and language development

Language Development

1. At a young age, your brain is learning to understand language and speech which does not leave space to remember early memories. However, once you get to childhood around the age of 7 or 8, you know how to speak and recognize language. This allows your brain to hold on to new information and memories.

2. Even though a toddler may not remember some events as they get older, their brain stores speech and language skills they learn during this stage. In this lesson, you will examine how language develops, learn about the differences between speech and language, and learn how caregivers can monitor their child's language and speech development.

Language vs.
Speech

​Language vs. Speech

​Language can be written, spoken, or expressed through movement.

Language vs.
Speech

•In simple words, one can say, speech begins in the mouth, and language begins in the brain.

•Language generally develops first. Infants
become familiar with a parent's voice. By six months old, they also recognize most sounds in their environments.

•By the time they become toddlers, children have discovered the connection between the sounds they make and getting the desired results. From here, they start to form their
speech skills.

​LANGUAGE

Multiple Choice

What is language?

• Language is a cognitive expression of communication.

• Language is a type of food.
• Language is a physical object.
• Language is verbal expression of words.

Developing Language

•Speech and language share characteristics but are distinct. Speech is the act of producing sounds, while language also includes gesture-based communication. Language, unlike speech, can be expressed without sound.

•When toddlers use actions, such as handing their caregiver
something, pointing or gesturing, they are using language. Toddlers might point at a cup to show they are thirsty, for example. This gesture, which a caregiver can easily understand, is an example of a child using nonverbal language to express a desire without speech.

•It may also be that they are excited about something and want others to be excited with them.

Why do Babies (Toddlers) Hand You Things?

Just like adults, toddlers can express themselves using their hands or face. These non-verbal cues are vital for their communication.




A caregiver may read these cues as emotional outbursts, but the toddler does this to show their parent or caregiver how they feel. A large smile or open arms can show happiness and love. Body language can reflect emotion.

Multiple Choice

How do toddlers often use nonverbal communication?

• By gesturing for things

• By making sounds

• By exploring what is around them

Language Milestones

• By the time they turn 1 year old, most toddlers can use their hands to direct attention to something they want by pointing to it.

• Between 12 and 17 months, a child should be able to express emotion through their gestures and mannerisms. Examples include clapping when excited or shaking their head no or yes.

• Between two to three years old, toddlers can speak in simple sentences, though the meaning may not always be understood. Gestures can still help them communicate.

• As their language skills continue to grow, between three and four year old toddlers can group objects together through movement or simple speech and start to express their feelings using words.

Language Delays

Speech Development Warning Signs

• Similar to language delays, a speech delay can signal a developmental problem in toddlers and children. It occurs when a child does not form clear sounds or words until later in their development or at the expected rate. 

• Causes of Speech Delay- not being exposed to speech and sounds; oral or hearing impairment ; frequent ear infections; and being born prematurely. 

• Stuttering -is a neurological disorder that can begin in childhood and develop in adulthood. It can take many forms, including stammering, repetition of a specific word, or elongating a vowel or syllable. Facial and body movements can also accompany these vocal tics.

• Warning signs with speech -include apraxia, or difficulty pronouncing syllables, and aphasia, which is when a child struggles to speak, usually due to brain damage or a seizure disorder

Speech Delay Treatment

Word Cloud

Who should the caretaker contact if a child is not meeting a language/speech milestone?

Hearing

Hearing issues can negatively impact a toddler's speech and
language development.

Hearing issues may result from something physical, such as a
blockage or an ear infection. Ear infections are common for
toddlers and can usually be treated with medication.

Toddlers who have frequent ear infections in infancy should be monitored closely by a physician or audiologist for signs of hearing loss. Symptoms of hearing loss may include:
• Not developing clear vocalization by twelve months of age;
• Not speaking five or more words by eighteen months; and
• Not responding to commands, questions, sounds, or reading.

• If there is a serious hearing problem, there may a need for the assistance of hearing aids. Hearing aids are small
devices placed in the ear to amplify sounds.

Hearing is vital to speech and language development, so parents always need to be concerned with their child's hearing.

Strategies to Support Speech and Language Development

Parents and caregivers want to find ways to increase their child's speech and language development. While there are professionals to help the child, there are many helpful things that caregivers can do at home. These include: 

• Speaking with the child frequently; 

• Reading aloud to the child; 

• Listening to music and allowing the child to hear sounds and noises; and 

• Modeling, or showing the child how to speak and use their language, can lead to imitation of that speech or language. 

• Playing games and encouraging the use of imagination through make-believe and pretending can also be effective

• A child also learns through object substitution, when an object is used to represent another object in the world.

Poll

Which language development strategy is your favorite to do with a baby?

• Reading to them

• Talking to them

• Listening to music and SINGING with them especially.

• Use objects when talking about them

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of strategy that parents to increase and support their toddler's language development?

• Punishment

• Make-believe play

• Isolation

More to Explore

Early Intervention (pa.gov) - PA’s Early Intervention Program

Looking
Ahead…

• In this lesson, you learned:

• That children develop speech and language skills at different speeds and times in their development;

• Warning signs for speech and language delay; and

• Strategies to use to support speech and language development.

• In an upcoming lesson, you will learn about strategies for supporting behavioral and emotional development in toddlers and children. 

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