Insights | Communication and Language

Communication is the basis of human interaction and it is one of the most important skills we can develop in life. It refers to the act of transferring information from one person to another and starts from the moment we are born, when we begin to interact with those around us through facial expressions and cries. Language is a vital tool for communication and is a significant part of everyday life. It is not only a means of communicating thoughts and ideas, but it helps us to build social skills and friendships, confidence and self-esteem, as well as cultural ties. ‘Communication and language’ is a fundamental building block for the development of every child. It forms the last of the three prime areas of learning in this Insight series and consists of three aspects: Listening and Attention, Understanding, and Speaking. Listening and Attention This first aspect considers a child’s ability to focus their attention and listen in a range of situations, for example being able to listen to stories and respond appropriately or being able to give attention to what others say while engaged in another activity. It is a developmental stage vital to the whole process of acquiring language that must be practised, and it is therefore essential that children are provided with many opportunities to develop this, such as through spending time with adults or being involved in early turn-taking and play experiences. Understanding Understanding language is very closely linked to listening and attention as children need to be able to listen and attend before they can understand. A young child will then gradually develop the ability to understand words in context, beginning with single words and building on this to develop a sense of more complex sentences and questions. These skills are essential for reading comprehension and for making sense of information in all other areas of learning. Speaking A child’s spoken language development is supported by attention, listening and understanding skills. It is only once children understand vocabulary, concepts and sentence structures that they can begin to use these elements in their expressive language. Speaking includes a child’s ability to use words, sentences and stories to be able to express their own feelings, needs, wants, and thoughts based on their own ideas and experiences. The store of words that children build up will help them to be effective and skillful communicators. Children require lots of opportunities to talk before they will be ready to communicate through writing.   Stages of communication and language development The first five years of a child’s life are the most significant when it comes to the ability to communicate effectively as it is at this time that a child’s brain develops more rapidly than at any other time in life. These five years can be separated into three different periods to provide a better understanding of communication development at this stage. • The first period starts at birth, long before an infant can speak and when babies start to build relationships and recognise voices of familiar people around them. They will communicate through turning when they are spoken to, reaching out, crying, and through facial expressions such as smiles. • During the second period, from six to eighteen months, infants begin to intentionally communicate, even if they can’t necessarily verbalise their needs. • During the third period, eighteen months through to five years, children start using more language in order to learn and communicate. It is vital that during this time, young babies and children are given many opportunities to interact with responsive adults in order to ensure that communication and language development is supported as much as possible. Adults around a child are therefore the most important resource to support communication and language development and their essential role is to respond to a child’s attempts to communicate, as well as act as positive role models.   Strategies to support communication and language development

1. Face your child when you are communicating with them and get down on their level. As well as enabling you to gain their full attention, this promotes many communication and language skills including eye contact and attention. They will also be able to see the way you move your lips and tongue whilst pronouncing words, which will help support the development of articulation and letter sounds. This is a very simple tool yet is often forgotten when calling across a room to speak to a child.
2. By speaking calmly and slowly, and by exaggerating some words, children will better make sense of what is being said and have time to process the words being spoken. This gives children the opportunity to explore language, investigate how words are formed and how sounds are used. It is also important to be patient and to listen carefully when children are talking so that they have plenty of time to respond and find their words.
3. Gestures and actions are a great way to communicate with young children and for children to express themselves. They are particularly useful for children with English as an additional language as they can give meaning to a word for a child. Gestures include waving, pointing, nodding and signing.
4. Repetition is important, not only in stories and songs, but for repeating and confirming children’s own attempts at speech. By repeating and adding to the child’s spoken language you will encourage your child to continue in their attempts to speak.

As well as the above strategies, reading regular stories, singing songs, and playing describing and guessing games all help to support language development. Storytelling, singing, rhyming and games are part of every culture, and by singing and rhyming to children, parents and caregivers are not only keeping traditions alive, they are teaching children to articulate words, practise the pitch, volume and rhythm of their native language, and develop listening and concentration skills. Finally, and most importantly, remember to be a good role model! Your child learns how to communicate by watching you carefully and when you talk with your child (and others) in a respectful way, this gives a powerful message about positive communication.