Language comprises a vast range of the components of communication. The use (expression) and understanding (comprehension) of language develops through exposure and practise. Speech Pathologists can assess the development of language by looking at how many words a child has (vocabulary), how they put those words together, and how they change the words for different tenses and contexts (morphology). Additionally, a speech pathologist can look at how a child understands different concepts (eg sequence, location, time, quantity, size), how they ask and answer questions and how many words they use together in one sentence.

 

Below are some tables (coming soon!) that demonstrate typical norms for the development of language in children. It is important to remember that not all children come from the same linguistic background and exposure to language and as such there are likely to be some variations in each child’s language development.