Understanding language

Young children must learn to understand spoken language to develop their use of language. Often young children’s understanding of language is better than their spoken language. A good understanding of spoken language is crucial for a child’s communication development.

As children’s communication skills increase, their vocabulary comprehension develops rapidly and they can understand a wide range of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. They can also follow longer and more grammatically complex instructions, e.g. ‘Before you finish off your newspaper article about the science exhibition, you need to make sure your name is on the list for the school trip’.

Around the age of 7, children develop their inferential skills (their ability to ‘read between the lines’ and infer information that is implied but not explicitly stated). They use these inferential skills to make predictions, work out how people are feeling, and answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions.

Non-urgent advice: Talking tips and strategies

  • Do not talk too much about things that are not actually there (e.g. events from the past or the future). Instead, try to talk about things the child can see or experience
  • Use natural gestures and facial expression when you are talking and use pictures to support the child’s understanding (e.g. showing them a picture of the park when you are getting ready to go to the park).
  • If the child does not understand, try to repeat the sentence using different and simple words
  • Ensure you have your child’s attention before giving the instruction e.g. say his/her name first and wait for them to look.
  • Prevent the child from having to listen and write at the same time
  • Slow down your spoken delivery and use pauses.
  • Be prepared to repeat or rephrase messages.
  • Avoid using ambiguous language and non-literal language e.g. idioms.

General resources

Videos (coming soon)

  • What are Information Carrying Words (ICW)?
  • Levels of questions
  • Use of visuals

Resources by age

0-12 months

12-18 months

18 months to 2 years

2-2.5 years

2.3-3.5 years

3.5-4 Years

4-5 Years (Reception)

5-7 Years (year 1-2)

7-9 Years (year 3-4)

9-11 years (years 5-6)

11-14 Years (years 7-9)

14+ Years (year 10+)

Page last reviewed: 1 August, 2022