Typical Language Development
Typical Language Development
Receptive Language (understanding)
Birth to 3 months
- startles to loud sounds
- appears to recognize familiar voices and is comforted
- smiles when spoken to
4 – 6 months
- turns head/eyes to locate source of sounds
- enjoys toys with lights/sounds
7 – 12 months
- enjoys peek-a-boo
- recognizes own name
- recognizes names for common items like "bottle, juice"
- is responding to some simple requests such as "wave bye-bye-bye, no, come here"
1 – 2 years
- identifies body parts by pointing
- follows simple commands and understands
- Simple questions "throw ball, where's shoes?"
- identifies objects/people in pictures/books
2 – 3 years
- follows 2 step commands "get the book and put on the chair"
- understands spatial concepts (in, out, of) and descriptive concepts (big, little)
3 – 4 years
- understands pronouns he/she, him/her
- identifies colors by pointing
- understands quantity concepts (one vs. more than one)
- answers simple "who questions 'where, what, who, when?
4 – 5 years
- listens to short stories and answers questions about it
Express language (talking/communicating)
Birth – 3 months
- smiles at familiar face
- makes cooing pleasure sounds
4 – 6 months
- begins to make "babble" sounds with p, b, m
- vocalizes when alone and when playing with caregiver
7 – 12 months
- uses vocalizations to get attention vs. crying
- babbles different syllable strings
- uses simple gestures to express wants (raises arms to be picked up)
- has a vocabulary of 1 or 2 words (bye-bye, mama, dada)
1 – 2 years
- gains new vocabulary every month
- uses pointer finger to express wants/needs
- asks questions "what's that?, where daddy?"
- puts two words together (my shoe)
2 – 3 years
- uses words for most all communication
- speech is understood by familiar listeners most of the time
- uses 2 – 4 word phrases to talk about events
3 – 4 years
- tells about activities at school
- speech is greater than 75% intelligible to all listeners
- uses many sentences containing 4 or more words in each
4 – 5 years
- uses descriptive concepts in conversation (the pink dress is my favorite)
- able to tell make-believe stories
- uses correct verb tenses
Typical Speech Sound Development
By age 2:
- H as in he
- M as in mama
- N as in no
- P as in up
- B as in be
- D as in do
By age 3:
- Zh as in measure
- Y as in yes
- W as in we
- Ng as in sing
- T as in to
- K as in car
- G as in go
By age 3 years 6 months:
- F as in if
By age 4:
- L as in lay
- Sh as in she
- Ch as in chew
By age 4 years 6 months:
- J as in jaw
- S as in so
- Z as in is
By age 5:
- R as in red
By age 6:
- V as in Vegemit
By age 8:
- Th as in this
By age 8 years 6 months:
- Th as in thing