Language & Language difficulties
What is Language ?
Language is a system we use to communicate. It refers to what words we use and how we use them.
To understand language it can be easier to separate it into some areas:
1. Form of Language = Phonology (sound patterns), morphology (ways that words are formed and their structure), syntax (the way words fit together to create sentences and utterances)
2. Content of Language = Semantics (the relationship of words and their meanings to each other )
3. Function of Language in communication = Pragmatics (how context affects meaning of language)
Language can be signed, spoken or written (it can be produced through communication devices).
What is receptive language?
This involves understanding what someone else is saying. This could be understanding an instruction or following directions or following along to a story.
What can a receptive language difficulty look like ?
difficulty and confusion following directions that have more than one step
lack of interest in other people talking
responding to a question or comment with an unrelated word or phrase
only remembering the last part of an instruction
taking words or phrases very literally and out of context
prefers to get instructions in written form instead of verbal
What is expressive language?
This can involve saying what’s on your mind, responding to a question, sharing a feeling.
What can an expressive language difficulty look like ?
responding with vague/non-specific words like ‘that thing’ ‘that bit’ ‘stuff’ ‘yoke’
speaking in shorter sentences or leaving out joining words like ‘to’ ‘the’ ‘and’ ‘because’
making mistakes with grammar eg: verbs and tenses
having a smaller vocabulary than expected for your age
jumbling up words that make a sentence unclear
knowing what you want to say but can’t quite get the exact word to come out
frustration when trying to explain yourself