Language
Language:
- Language covers a wide variety of concepts. Below are some of the areas that it can be broken down into:
- Semantics (vocabulary): Refers to the acquisition of words and their meaning. Vocabulary can be either receptive – what you understand, or expressive – what you are able to use. Some instructional areas include: using or understanding verbs, adjectives, prepositions, categorization, definition, words with multiple meanings, analogies, figurative language and implied meanings.
- Syntax: Refers to the order and combination of words to form sentences. Children with syntactical problems often lack the length or syntactic complexity of their same aged peers. Children may have difficulty understanding sentences and questions, passive sentence construction, and negation.
- Morphology: Refers to the structure of words and how word forms are constructed. Morphology is the study and use of morphemes, which are the smallest units of language that have meaning. A free morpheme can stand alone and have meaning (i.e. car, teach, tall). A bound morpheme is attached to a free morpheme and cannot stand alone (i.e. cars, teacher, tallest).
- Pragmatics: Refers to actually using language to communicate. Students might need direct instruction on listening, question comprehension, problem solving, conversational skills, taking turns and exchanging information, understanding expected/unexpected behaviors, interacting with peers, etc.
- Phonology: Refers to the study of speech structure within a language, including the patterns of basic speech units and the accepted rules of pronunciation. The smallest units of a sound that make up a language are known as phonemes. For example, the word "cat" has 3 phonemes /k/, /a/, /t/. The word "that" has 3 phonemes /th/, /a/, /t/.
Language Developmental Milestones
- There are developmental milestones related to your child's language skills. Below are several links to provide you with information on language milestones.
Below are some links to work on vocabulary skills with your child!