Child Language Development
Approximate Age | Expressive Language | Auditory Comprehension |
2 to 4 months | Verbal play through cooing, gooing and laughing. Vowel sounds heard such as ooohh, eee, and ahhh. | Turns head toward sounds and can begin to discriminate one sound from another. |
4 to 8 months | Babbling begins. Some Consonant sounds can be heard. | Anticipates an event (e.g. peek-a-boo) and follows a line of regard (e.g. visually follows toy moving across floor) as well as joint attention (i.e. is capable of visually attending to object with caregiver). |
8 to 12 months | Syllable variation (e.g. badugatadudah). First word approximations (e.g. dada for daddy). Non-verbal communication. Jargon (i.e. unintelligible speech) is present. | Relates words with physical objects (e.g. understands that the word “ball” actually means the object ball). Responds to simple phrases such as “no”. |
1 to 2 years | 10-15 words at 18 months, 40-50 words at 24 months. Uses mostly nouns and pronoun me/mine. Jargon (i.e. unintelligible speech) still present. | Increased attention to toys. Changes behavior in response to comments made to him/her. Knows a few simple commands with gestures needed at times. Understands simple questions. Points to simple pictures. |
2 to 3 years | 150 words at age 2; 300-400 at age 3 years. Uses two-three word phrases frequently. Asks simple questions. Fluency can be poor. Jargon (unintelligible speech) mostly gone. Vowel sounds intact. | Comprehension shows rapid increase. Responds to more 2 step commands with prepositions (e.g. Pick up the ball and put it on the table). |
3 to 4 years | Uses 600-1000 words and 3-4 word sentences. Pronouns and adjectives are used as well as some adverbs, prepositions, past tense and plurals. Answers what, where and when questions. | Understands 1500 words. Recognizes gender differences, plurals, pronouns, adjectives, and colors. |
4 to 5 years | Vocabulary increases to 1000-1600 words and 4-6 word sentences. 3-4 syllable words are being used. Articles appear. Uses more adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions. Fluency improving. | Comprehends 1500-2000 words. Understands if, because, why and when. Follows complex directions. |
5 to 6 years | Vocabulary of 1500-2100 words. Uses complete 5-6 word sentences. Fluent speech. Many multi-syllabic words are used. | Understands 2500-2800 words. Understands more complicated sentences. |
*It is important to note that this information depicts a general range of development, and should only be used as a guide. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s speech development, we recommend that you contact a pediatrician or speech-language pathologist.
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