During a speech and language appointment they are likely going to ask about your child’s receptive and expressive language. When you are new to the world of speech it can be overwhelming having to learn about the new terminology. In this blog we explain the difference between receptive and expressive language. To break these down further we can explain the difference as:
Receptive language – refers to how your child understands language
Expressive language – refers to how your child uses words to express themselves
To illustrate this with an example, let’s say you’re offering your child a snack, either an apple or an orange:
Children that have developed receptive language may point at the apple as that’s what they’d prefer.
Children who have developed expressive language may say yes after you say the word apple because it is their favourite fruit, this could be shown by clapping their hands and saying ‘yummy’ towards the apple.
This is a good basis to gauge the type of language your child is developing and inform the type of activities you engage with. a child must first work on their understanding of words before they can begin to say them. So although a child might not be able to express their words yet they may likely understand them. We’ve found it good to practice the areas your child may be less confident about, for example doing more activities based around expressing themselves if they’re starting to understand the meaning of words.
We have added an array of activities on the Pippin app to help develop both areas of language development which will be beneficial for your child – download Pippin from the App Store or Google Play to get started!