Expressive language: what it is, stages of development and possible problems

Communication involves receiving and sending messages. At the time of receiving them, it is necessary to understand them in order to be able to issue one in the form of a reply, that is, to express ourselves.

In this sense, we can speak of two types of language: the expressive, which is the one we use as transmitters to transmit a information to other people, and the comprehensive, which refers to the ability to understand what others tell us and to know it analyze.

Next we will see what expressive language is and how it develops during early childhood, and what it means to have speech problems.

• Related article: "The 12 types of language (and their characteristics)"

What is expressive language?

We speak of expressive language or the expressive aspect of language the ability of human beings to transmit information to another person. That is to say things orally, in writing or through gestures and facial expressions. It can be understood as the "output" of language, as opposed to comprehensive language which involves "input" and interpretation.

This ability is already manifesting in the little one since he is born. Throughout child development, expressive oral language begins when sounds are first made with the mouth. Although basic and seemingly meaningless, these babble constitute the first sample of use of expression of the small. It is their still unsophisticated and highly interpretive way of communicating their needs, desires, and feelings.

That he does not speak yet does not mean that he does not communicate, because communication begins at birth, including reflexive crying, looking away when she doesn't want more breastmilk, or throwing something when does not like.

• You may be interested: "The 6 stages of childhood (physical and mental development)"

expressive language development in childhood

Expressive language does not appear suddenly. Throughout the development of the infant, it goes through several phases in which her expressive capacity becomes more sophisticated to end up speaking in a similar way to how an adult does around 3-4 years.

1. first 9 months

During the first 9 months infants experiment with sounds and other forms of communication to express curiosity and interest in their environment, in addition to trying to influence him.

In this vital period of the child, the following behaviors can be seen:

• The baby cries to indicate hunger, pain or moodiness.
• wear smiles and other facial expressions to initiate social contact.
• Coos and makes physical movements to interact with familiar people.
• Babbles and experiments with sounds (eg. bilabials: p, b, m)
• Combine babble of different types.
• Begins to indicate objects and people in their environment with their fingers.

Useful interaction strategies of their caregivers:

• Take turns in simple interactions: coo after the baby cooes with a similar sound.
• Repeat the sounds the baby makes, encourage him to “talk” more.
• Create a language-rich environment: Communicate with the child throughout the day about what is going on.

2. From 7 to 18 months

Babies' language progresses from babbling to vocal expressions and first words. The little ones reduce their babbling while their vocabulary begins to increase exponentially. His first words tend to be two-syllable expressions, often diminutives of everyday objects, such as saying “bibi” for “bottle”.

In this period you can see the following behaviors in the child:

• Babbles using sounds from the mother tongue.
• Create long sentences by babbling.
• Non-verbal communication to express ideas: for example, waving bye-bye.
• She says his first words, mostly in children's slang: mama, papa, tata, bibe...
• Name some familiar objects in their environment.
• Use a single word to convey a message: for example, say “water” to mean that he wants to drink.

Some useful interaction strategies for caregivers at this stage are:

• Recognize and respond to the child's attempts to communicate.
• Expand what the child is saying: Water? Do you want to drink more water?
• Show appreciation when the child tries to use new words.
• Talk and read in front of the little one.
• Describe what is happening throughout the day: “we are going to sit down to eat”.

3. From 16 months to 24 months

Nearing the age of two, children continue to experiment with language and expand their vocabulary. As well it is at these ages that children begin to say two-word sentences to communicate meaning, such as "daddy went" or "I juice".

Among the behaviors that we can observe in this period we have:

• Use more words than gestures when speaking.
• Repeat words you hear.
• Telegraphic speech: "sleep baby", "bad daddy", "broken game".

Some interaction strategies for caregivers are:

• Continue talking with the little one about their day-to-day topics.
• Encourage the child to talk and expand on what he is saying.
• Recognize and expand what the child expresses: “yes, I see that daddy is gone”.

3. From 21 months to 36 months

The little ones are already able to communicate on current topics and begin to combine some words into short sentences to express more clearly what their needs and desires are, especially as they approach 3 years. In this period, the use of verb moods and tenses begins, although still in simple sentences. There is still a noticeable increase in vocabulary, combined with the use of articles, pronouns and adverbs.

Some behaviors that we can observe in this stage are:

• Says three-word sentences: “I want to eat an apple.”
• Use of pronouns and prepositions: "He took the ball from me", "in the chair".
• Makes conjugation errors of irregular verbs (“done”, “said”, “has”). This is an indication that you understand complex rules of grammar.
• Use more and more adjectives: “pink doll”.

Some interaction recommendations for adult caregivers:

• Model correct speech, but without correcting the child when she is speaking.

• Use simple phrases when talking to the little one.

• Let the children play and experiment with the language by singing or making rhymes.

• Related article: "Developmental Psychology: main theories and authors"

expressive language problems

Although this is not always the case, children who have difficulties with expressive language often have difficulties with understanding as well. Many of the symptoms associated with disorders of expression and comprehension are similar, such as attention deficits. In the particular case of expressive problems we have some symptoms such as the use of very childish slang for their age (for example, "bibi", "aga"), use of sentences with few words and simple verbs, sentences with incorrect word order, as well as severe difficulty mastering literacy and expression written.

Expressive language problems limit people's ability to communicate their thoughts and ideas. If there is no receptive or comprehensive language problem but there is an expressive type, the patient understands what is said to him, but struggles to verbalize, write down, and physically express his thoughts and ideas.

Among other problems, children with an expressive language disorder may manifest the following problems.

• Difficulty putting words together when speaking.
• Difficulty finding the right words when speaking.
• Have vocabulary below the level of their peers.
• Using the tenses incorrectly.

In these little ones we can also observe behaviors such as the following:

• Answer direct questions with one- or two-word answers.
• They seldom elaborate an idea or provide a detailed description of their experiences.
• His choice of vocabulary is limited and unsophisticated.
• His written expression is tedious and result in a very poorly developed text.
• His body language does not correspond to what he feels in a given situation.

Children with expression problems can be helped if various strategies are applied to them. In the classroom context, it can be useful to promote the active participation of this type of student in class discussions and in pencil and paper activities.. In addition, visual aids can be included to increase the use of vocabulary, such as drawing an image or gesture and the written word below. Visual graphic organizers are also a useful tool in developing expressive language production.

At home, various tools can also be used to help the little ones. Parents are advised to use who, what, when, why, where, and how questions when talking with their child, and avoid yes and no questions.. These questions can be used as sentence expanders to improve written expression.

Each child is unique and may show different signs of language development problems. These symptoms and signs should be evaluated to find out whether or not there is an expressive language problem. It is best to go to a licensed professional who can really determine whether or not she has these little problems. Among the professionals who can treat this learning problem we find speech and language therapists such as speech therapists, child psychologists and reinforcement teachers.

Given the limitations of not being able to express oneself well, it is very important that if we suspect that our child or student may present this type of problem, they are helped, a diagnostic protocol is initiated and reinforced as far as possible and necessary. As always, early detection and intervention is the best prevention strategy. The sooner you act, the less severe the learning problems will be and the more easily you can improve your situation.