Track your child’s language skills into the teen years

We used to think that once a child learned to pronounce all of the sounds of our language; learned language structures like plurals and verb tense; and could ask questions and speak complex sentences, speech and language learning was complete. Now we know this is not true. That is just the beginning. Language learning is ongoing throughout life.

As a child ages, language moves from the representational (i.e., the literal) to the figurative (i.e., non-literal), when it includes more metaphors, idioms, and inferences, for example. Language use becomes more sophisticated. The competent language user is adept in many complex areas, such as argument and persuasion.

The complexity of written material (e.g., fiction books, textbooks, papers, etc.) follows this same progression. As a child moves through school, books move from the literal to the non-literal. Just like context determines what words you use and how you communicate (i.e., you don’t speak to your best friend the same way you speak with your professor), reading more advanced and different types (or genres) of text requires sophisticated skills and understanding.

It is around 3rd or 4th grade when we talk about the school curriculum moving from an emphasis on “learning to read” to one of “reading to learn”. After having spent the early years learning how to read; now the students are expected to know how to read and to use those skills to extract more complicated information from texts. Their language development and reading skills play an important part in this learning.

The following table highlights some of the oral language and literacy skills that emerge as we age. You can use this list to help you identify the skills that your child has achieved as well as the ones that have not yet developed. If you have concerns, you can take this information and share it with a professional such as your child’s teacher, a speech-language pathologist, or a medical practitioner. The two of you can begin a conversation as to how best to help your child develop the needed skills in order to ensure success.

Adapted from: Paul, Rhea. (2001). Language disorders from infancy through adolescence. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

Additional information for developmental milestones of phonological awareness skills is available over at Reading Rockets.