Language development is something that some children struggle with while others have absolutely no problems. It is almost always the responsibility of the adult to stimulate language development because some help can easily do wonders. Fortunately, there are so many strategies you can use to stimulate the child. S R Buzzi shares 3 that are much more effective than you would imagine.
Information Talk
This is a basic strategy that is also known under the name “Parallel Talk”. It is exactly what parents often do when they describe exactly what children see or do. Basically, InfoTalk is all about acting like a broadcaster. You watch what the child is doing and you describe it. Never expect responses or ask questions. What you want to do is talk in order to inform what is happening. Just talk as you give the child information about what is seen and what is done. Put an emphasis on nouns and verbs.
As an example, when the child colors a book, you can tell him/her things like “you colored the dress red” as you point towards the dress. Then, you can point towards a dress to make the connection even stronger.
Echo Talk
Also known as Repetition, Echo Talk is very simple. It imitates exactly what the children say or do. The emphasis is put on correcting articulation instead of structure. For instance, if the child says a sentence with the word “Dowa” in it, you repeat the entire sentence and you put an emphasis as you say “Dora”. This is a great strategy that even instructors do.
Imitation-Expansion Modeling
This is when we imitate what children say or do but in an adult way. You can add a couple of words, of course. What you basically do is echo words and you complete them. The focus is to basically listen to what a child tries to say. Remember that children do love to hear what they said when it is repeated.
For instance, when the child simply says “up” you can say something like “you now want to go up”. Alternatively, you can ask if the child wants you to go up. If the child says something like “yours” you say “you mean: it is yours”.
Developmental Differences
The last thing we should understand is that language development is never the same among humans. The only difference is the pace at which children reach language development milestones. These will vary so much among the children. Everything is highly personal. You should never rush children or become anxious. When you believe that there are delays that are way too strong, specialists are going to help you. There are numerous tests that can be done and that will help you see if there are some language difficulties that the child has.
Always take your time and be sure that you give your child the necessary time to develop language at his/her own pace. Use strategies like the ones mentioned above to give them some help and look for others if they do not work.
