Language development is truly remarkable! From the way your child interacts with you to how they discover and learn about the world around them, your child’s communication journey is unique.
Your child has their own interests, personality and experiences that guide the words, phrases and conversations they share. Their first words or gestalts may be about their favourite toy, a person, a TV show or an experience. As parents, you have a front seat in understanding and supporting their journey.
This post delves into some speech therapy jargon you may hear and the 2 main types of language development.
Mixed Definitions: Speech vs. Language
First, let’s begin with the difference between the terms ‘speech’ and ‘language.’ These words are often used interchangeably and even though they are interconnected, speech therapists/speech pathologists will look at these areas separately.
- Speech
Refers to the way we say the sounds in words so we can be understood by others.
It takes time for your child to develop their speech sounds. It’s common for your child to not say every sound clearly when they start talking.
- Language
Refers to the words and/or gestalts we use and how we use them to share our thoughts, opinions and experiences, advocate for our wants and needs, and build connections with others. It includes the meaning, grammar and how we organise words in sentences, stories and conversations.
Let’s delve deeper into language
Have you heard speech therapists talk about ‘receptive’ and ‘expressive’ language? These terms are often thrown around and here’s what we mean when we say them:
- Receptive Language
Refers to the understanding of language and its meaning from what you hear, read, see and feel
- Expressive Language
Refers to the way we use language to express our wants and share our thoughts through spoken and/or non-spoken ways of communication
Why do we communicate?
It’s important to remember that we often communicate for a reason. Understanding the purpose or reason behind what’s said and/or shown helps us with developing a shared meaning and understanding. After all, communication means to share, understand and exchange information.
Take a moment to think of all the things you listened to and talked about today. How many times did you ask someone for a snack or ask to go to the toilet? Chances are, not that many. However, you may have asked about someone’s day, shared information about your day, asked or answered questions, shared a joke and/or enjoyment, or maybe had a disagreement or argument with someone.
These reasons are often referred to as communication intents, communication functions or communication purposes. All of these different communication intents are equally important. They open up opportunities for communication, such as developing conversations, increasing independence, allowing relationships and friendships to flourish, and advocating for your own needs.
Here are some reasons why we communicate. Can you think of some others?
Two types of language development
Alright, now we’ve gone through some of the nitty gritty, let’s move on to language development itself. There are two ways to process language: analytic language processing (ALP) and gestalt language processing (GLP). Both types of language development are natural and lead to original, flexible language but each language journey starts differently.
Analytic Language Development
You may be more familiar with analytic language development because it is commonly seen on language milestones and developmental charts. It has been seen as the ‘typical’ language acquisition journey for many years, however, it is not the only natural type of language development.
Children who are analytic language processors tune into the meaning of words and learn language word by word. So, their building blocks are single words. They are referred to as “word babies” in Prizant and Wetherby’s research.
Their language development starts with single words.
Gestalt Language Processing
The second path to original, self-generated language is gestalt language development. This is where children process and learn language in whole ‘chunks’ or scripts that have a larger meaning. These whole chunks are known as ‘language gestalts’ or more commonly referred to as ‘delayed echolalia’. They may be phrases, complete sentences, words, songs, or stories. They could be from the people around them or from movies, TV shows, YouTube, and songs.
Gestalt language processors focus on the meaning tied to the intonation and social interaction of language rather than the individual words. Their language gestalts are usually linked to a particular context. They are referred to as “intonation babies” in Prizant and Wetherby’s research.
Their language starts with whole language gestalts and they follow the 6 Stages of the Natural Language Acquisition framework developed by Marge Blanc.
While these are 2 ways to process and develop language, researchers (Barry Prizant and Ann Peters) suggest that analytic language processing and gestalt language processing are on two ends of a continuum. This suggests that some children and adults process and learn language in a combined way.
It really shows how unique each child’s language journey is.
So, where do we start?
Our first step as parents, carers, speech therapists, teachers and other professionals is to understand, as best as we can, your child’s communication. This is a team effort where we are all doing the detective work to understand your child better. Start by:
- – Following your child’s lead
- – Listening to them
- – Observing what they’re doing
- – Thinking about your child’s sensory and emotional needs
- – Reducing questions
- – Acknowledging your child’s communication
- – Talking with teachers, family, and other professionals involved in your child’s life to understand where their language (in particular gestalt language) may originate from
In this post, we explained some speech therapy jargon and delved into the two types of language development.
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