During this foundational period, infants engage in essential early communication behaviors. While their communication is limited to basic vocalizations and expressions, these interactions are crucial for forming the basis of language skills.
- Smiles when spoken to
- Recognizes voices
- Localizes sound by turning head
- Listens to speech
- Repeats the same sounds
- Frequently coos, gurgles, and makes pleasure sounds
- Uses a different cry to express different needs
- Uses the phonemes /b/, /p/, and /m/ in babbling
In this phase, infants demonstrate significant advancements in their ability to understand and respond to language. The first steps towards intentional communication take shape as they employ gestures, imitate speech, and gradually build a basic vocabulary.
- Understands simple commands
- Understands and responds to own name
- Recognizes words for common items (e.g., cup, shoe, juice)
- Listens when spoken to and imitates speech sounds
- Begins to change babbling to jargon
- Uses speech sounds rather than only crying to get attention
- Uses nouns almost exclusively
- Has an expressive vocabulary of 1 to 3 words
As toddlers enter this stage, their language development moves from simple responses to more deliberate communication. These months mark the transition from mere vocalization to more meaningful attempts at communication, but their speech might still be challenging to understand.
- Follows simple commands
- Receptively identifies 1 to 3 body parts
- Has an expressive vocabulary of 3 to 20 or more words (mostly nouns)
- Uses adult-like intonation patterns
- Uses echolalia and jargon
- Omits some initial consonants and almost all final consonants
- Makes requests for more desired items.
- Produces mostly unintelligible speech
Toddlers continue to refine their language skills, moving towards a more recognizable form of communication. They become more adept at answering questions and engaging in basic conversations, even though their speech might still be somewhat unintelligible to those unfamiliar with their speech patterns.
- Has a receptive vocabulary of 300 or more words
- Has an expressive vocabulary of 50 to 100 or more words
- Uses words more frequently than jargon
- accurately names a few familiar objects.
- Starts to combine nouns and verbs
- Begins to use pronouns
- Answers, "What's that" questions
- Is approximately 25-50% intelligible to strangers
During this period, toddlers experience a substantial leap in their language abilities. Their speech gains complexity as they incorporate various grammatical elements and verb tenses, leading to clearer communication. Although some aspects of pronunciation might still be developing, their speech becomes notably more intelligible.
- Has a receptive vocabulary of 500 - 900 or more words
- Points to pictures in a book when named
- Follows two step commands and answers simple questions
- Enjoys listening to short stories, songs, and rhymes
- Has an expressive vocabulary of 50-250 or more words
- Asks one to two word question
- Requests items by name
- Uses 3 or 4 word phrases
- Verbalizes toilet needs
- Uses some prepositions, articles, present progressive verbs, regular plurals, contractions, and irregular past tense forms, regular past tense verbs, possessive morphemes, pronouns and auxiliary ‘is’
- Uses approximately all the speech sounds and speech is 50-75% intelligible
At this stage, children's language skills become increasingly sophisticated. Their sentence structures become more complex, and they can answer questions that require deeper understanding. These years lay the foundation for more advanced language skills as they approach school age.
- Has a receptive vocabulary of 1,200 to 2000 or more
- Identifies objects by name and understands object functions
- Asks and answers simple questions
- Follows 2 and 3 part commands
- Is conscious of past and future
- Has 800 to 1500 or more expressive vocabulary
- Uses language to express emotions
- Uses 4 to 5 word sentences, uses nouns and verbs most frequently
- Approximately uses is, are, and am in sentences
- Uses some contractions, irregular plurals, future tense verbs, and conjunctions consistently uses regular plurals, possessives, and simple past tense verbs engages in long conversation
- Masters 50% of consonants and blends speech is 80% intelligible
At this stage, children's language skills become increasingly sophisticated. Their sentence structures become more complex, and they can answer questions that require deeper understanding. These years lay the foundation for more advanced language skills as they approach school age.
- Has a receptive vocabulary of 2800 or more words
- Continues understanding of special concepts
- Has an expressive vocabulary of 900 to 2000 or more words
- Uses grammatically correct sentences 4 to 8 words
- Answers complex 2 part questions
- Answers questions about function
- Talks about experiences at school, at friend's house, etc...
- Pays attention to a story and answers simple questions about it
- Uses some irregular plurals, possessive pronouns, future tense, reflexive pronouns, and comparative morphemes in sentences
- Produces consonants with 90% accuracy and speech is usually intelligible to strangers
As children approach school age, their language development prepares them for more structured communication. Their ability to interact with both peers and adults in a meaningful way paves the way for more academic and social communication.
- Follows instructions given to a group
- Follows 3-part commands
- Asks how questions
- Answers verbally to hi and how are you?
- Uses conjunctions , past tense and future tense appropriately
- Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 13,000 words
- Names days of the week, opposites, 6 basic colors and 3 basic shapes
- Counts to 30 by rote, Sings entire songs and recites nursery rhymes
- Uses sentences with details and appropriate grammar in most cases
- Accurately relays a story
- Communicates easily with adults and other children
In the final stretch before entering primary school, children's language skills continue to mature. They also develop a deeper understanding of time and can express themselves using more advanced sentence structures. These skills are crucial as they transition to formal education settings.
- Names some letters, numbers, and currencies
- Sequences numbers
- Understands left and right
- Uses increasingly more complex descriptions
- Engages in conversations
- Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 20,000 words
- Uses a sentence length of approximately 6 words
- Understands most concepts of time
- Recites the alphabet and counts to 100 by rote
- Uses most morphologic markers appropriately
- Uses passive voice appropriately.
