my child has a language impairment!
Developmental Language Disorder is a commonly used term for students with disabilities who have a language impairment.
essential skills: words and phrases
Language is first acquired and mastered in chunks. The language learner has to first learn some single words and phrases. Initially, words and phrases act the same: they are learned as a single word.
The two primary skills mastered at this stage of language learning are:
Words and phrases convey meaning. Spoken language conveys meaning. The term ‘semantics’ refers to meaning. By learning to speak, children communicate meaning and can have an impact on the behavior of others.
Words and phrases can be manipulated, and their meaning can change. The same word can be used in different settings, not just one setting. One word can represent many examples of meaning (categories). Words and phrases can be combined, to enhance or change meaning.
Words and phrases convey meaning. Single words emerge in response to important objects or activities of the day. e.g. the child might learn to say ‘bottle’ (or just ‘ba’) to request their bottle. The might request ‘milk’ (or ‘ma’) or learn other food items or objects. As their language skills improve, they may master two-word phrases, such as ‘me do,’ ‘Daddy go,’ ‘mommy up,” “go outside” and others. Articulation is not secure at this stage. The two-word chunks just listed might be pronounced as “mee-doo”, “Da-ee-go”, or mom-ee-uh” or “go-ow-sigh” All of these initially act as a single word, not as a true phrase or sentence.
Words can be used in different settings and situations. Words and phrases can be used across settings and situations, not just in one setting or situation. “Mommy up” does not just apply in a familiar setting such as home. It can also be used outside, or at the grocery store, for example. “I want” is a useful chunk of language, especially when the child learns that they can add a noun- and get their parents to give them a variety of foods or objects, not just one type of food or one object. Finally, all of these chunks of language can be used at home— and outside the home. the words mean the same thing even if the setting or situation changes.
Words can represent categories. Finally, children at this stage of language learning have to generalize their use of words by recognizing categories of words. The word “ball” first starts out as a word that refers to the child’s preferred ball at home. Over time, the child has to learn that the word “ball” refers to all balls, not just the familiar ball they play with at home.
Words can be combined with each other. Words can be put together to make new meanings. at this stage, previously memorized words and phrases can be used to create new meaning. Even though the same words can function successfully in different settings, the words and phrases that children master at this early stage of learning are used in a scripted and inflexible manner. A longer phrase, such as “I want go home” is evidence that the child is learning to combine chunks of language (“I want” + “go home”). To negate the phrase, the child might say: “I want no go home.” Previously memorized words or chunks of language can be combined to create new meaning.
essential skills: Sentences and Grammar
Once children have mastered some words and phrases, have learned about categories, and have learned about combining words, they can progress to speaking in sentences. Sentence-level language flows naturally from the skills listed above. There are two skills to master here:
Phonological awareness and Articulation: Breaking words and phrases up into their component sounds
Morphemes and Syntax: Combining words and parts of words (morphemes) to create many new combinations of words and generate many more meanings. The use of morphemes, defined below, allows the language learner to create far more meaning than is possible with combining previously memorized words and phrases alone.
Phonological awareness.
As children master more and more words and phrases, they also learn that words and phrases are made up of component sounds. When they first started talking, the young language learner might say “Da-Ee-uh” or “Da-ee-up” for Daddy Up. With time, they learn to hear and pronounce the component sounds: “D” “a” “d” “ee” “ah” “p”. This development is critical, because phonological awareness leads to clear articulation- it allows the speaker to be understood by the listener.
Phonological awareness is also needed to progress to full sentences. Children need to identify the beginning sounds of words, the ending founds of words, and also the middle sounds of words. If they cannot master this phonological skill, they will struggle to know where one word ends and the next word starts in the word stream. When they can separate each of the words within a sentence, they can progress to producing their own sentences and they can develop their understanding of morphemes.
So, phonological awareness and articulation are important for the language learner to be understood by others. But secure phonological awareness is also the first step towards speaking in full sentences and using morphemes
Morphemes.
Morphemes are small words or parts of words that have little or no meaning on their own, but have a big impact on the words that they modify. Morphemes change the meaning of words in the sentence. Take a look at how the word ‘table’ changes in meaning, depending upon the morpheme that’s associated with it:
The table
A table
My table
Another table
The young learner has to be able to hear the morpheme (‘the,” “a,””my” and “another”) as separate from other words. Using ‘chunks’ of language in the form of phrases no longer works that well. Once children start to insert morphemes into their communication, they are learning to use prior words and phrases in new and more complex ways.
Morphemes can consist of a single letter, a two- or three- letter word, or longer words. As an example, the letter “s” is a morpheme when it’s added to a word and when it signals more than one table (“tables” is not the same thing as “table”). When we add apostrophe s (‘s), we can signal possession (Robert’s table). Here are some of the common morphemes that change the meaning of words (nouns and verbs) that they are standing next to:
in
on
a
the
under
over
-ing
-s (plural)
-’s (possessive)
-ed (past tense)
-un (opposite)
-dis
The only way to master morphemes is to be able to distinguish the morpheme from the word (noun or verb) that’s next to it. this is a phonological skill. When children start to master morphemes, they are also learning to distinguish the individual sounds (begining, end, middle sounds) of the words and phrases that they are using. A child is using morphemes when they learn that they can say: “Want go Home” and “no want go home.” the word “no”, when added at the right place in the sentence, changes the meaning of the sentence. In order to understand the full range of morphemes, children and youth have to be able to
Differentiate the beginning sound, ending sound, and middle sounds of words
Differentiate the ending sound of one word, and the beginning of the next word within a phrase or sentence
Differentiate the noun or verb from the morpheme that is standing next to it.
Be able to produce all of those sounds in their speech (articulation)
That’s a lot of sound awareness!
Syntax.
In addition to learning about morphemes, children have to master rules of syntax. Syntax refers to word order. Meaning is not only modified using morphemes. Meaning also depends upon word order or syntax.
A simple example of changing word order is when a child breaks down the phrase “I want go home” and says: “I no want go home.” The word “no” is the morpheme, but it’s location is critical. The word “no” has to be placed in front of “want” (or potentially in front of ‘go home’) in order to make a meaningful sentence. It can’t be placed elsewhere in the sentence.
Children recognize correct and incorrect word order very quickly. They know that you can’t say “No I want go home”, for example. The morpheme has to be attached to the word “want” or to the words “go home” in order to function as intended. The word ‘no’ can’t be added at the end or at the beginning, for example. A better example is when children learn about the position of words and the prepositions associated with words— the positions and prepositions are critical for meaning. The following sentences illustrate this point:
Juan gives the ball to Madeline
Madeline gives the ball to Juan
Very often, the subject goes first, the verb goes second and the object goes last. “Juan gives the ball to Madeline” is a classic example. If the word order is changed, the meaning also changes. “Madeline gives the ball to Juan” does not mean the same thing. Notice the three morphemes: “s,” “the,” and “to,” which are critical to meaning here, in addition to word order. If you say: “Juan gives some balls to Madeline” you have also changed the meaning of the sentences. The morphemes “s,” and “some” change the meaning of the sentence entirely
Sentences and grammar
The rules of morphemes and syntax are often referred to as ‘grammar.’
Summary:
Children with Developmental Language disorder struggle with one or both of the following:
Single words and phrases. Children master a many words and phrases by the time they are three years old. By the age of three years, they are also producing some sentences.
Modifiers (morphemes) and word order (syntax). Together, Morphology and Syntax make up what we call “grammar.” Children master the full complexity of grammar by the time they are six years old and have started grade one.
essential skills: what it looks like words, phrases, or sentences are missing or under-developed
Children with Developmental Language Disorder struggle to master the rules of language as shown above. They may struggle to produce spoken words to their associated objects and phrases, might struggle to understand categories of words, or (more commonly) struggle to use morphemes and syntax to create meaningful sentences using the nous and verbs that they have mastered. it takes knowledge of language development and teh age of the child before you will know if the child is speaking at the level expected for age, or is not yet mastering the essential skills of language at age-level.
Sound complicated? Sometimes. But, language impairment is not always that hard to identify. Here are some simple steps you can take to figure out if a child has a language impairment:
Narrative task. It is not difficult to identify children with Developmental Language Disorder. One convenient way to look at language skills in general is to obtain naturally-occurring language samples. See if you can catch something that the child says during conversations with adults or peers. Or, ask them to look at a picture book with you. You can prompt the child by asking simple questions.
Once the child is talking, write out or audio=-record what they are saying. after wards, listen closely to what they said. when you get the chance to listen more than once, you’ll quickly be able to figure out if the child is ‘speaking right’ or ‘speaking wrong.’ if the child is still very young, you might not be sure if ‘speaking wrong’ might be OK for the child if they are still very young.
Start out by paying attention to the child’s understanding of nouns and verbs. Labeling objects is probably the most straightfoward task. You can say: “point to the…” and see if the child can point to a named object or can identify an action. Then, add some morphemes. You can ask: “What is happening?” or “What is going to happen next?” Start with the relatively simpler questions, such as those that start with “who,” “what" and “where.” Then, you can try to ask harder questions, such as “why” and “how.”
What is—
Who— Is this?
Who is —-running, flying, falling
Where is— the man, the dog, the grandmother, the bottle
What is— going to happen next?
What is— the girl thinking?
How — will she clean up the kitchen?
Why— is he sad/ happy?
Your goal is to get an overall sense of their level of language. The information you gather will help you decide what ‘next steps’ the child might be ready to master. Are they able to understand
Words, phrases, or sentences? If they are shy about speaking or not speaking, can they respond successfully by pointing, or by choosing the right option when given some choices?
When they speak, do they speak in single words, phrases, or full sentences?
Can they produce (articulate) the sounds of English clearly?
Do the sentences make sense?
When you get a language sample, consider audio-recording the sample, and then write it out verbatim. By taking the time to do this, you’ll have a good idea about what kinds of language-learning difficulties your child or student may have.