What is Receptive language?
Receptive language is the ability to understand and process the spoken, written, or signed language we receive. This foundational skill is crucial for effective communication and learning. For children and adults who struggle with receptive language difficulties, speech therapy can offer significant benefits ². This article explores techniques that can help develop receptive language skills and explains the assistance a Speech Pathologist can provide when receptive language development could be affected by a disorder.
Understanding Receptive Language
Language has two components: expressive and receptive. Expressive language is the language a person produces or says, and receptive language is what a person understands. The term “receptive language” refers to processing the five domains of language ³:
- Morphology: Understanding how small changes in words change their meaning.
- Phonology: Distinguishing between different speech sounds; phonological awareness.
- Pragmatics: Recognising the meanings and feelings that written and spoken words express.
- Semantics: Comprehending vocabulary.
- Syntax: Following the order of words in spoken or written communication.
Receptive language is at work in processing a wide variety of spoken and written communication as well as behaviour. It relies on an understanding of concepts related to shape, size, sequence, and location.
Examples of Receptive Language Use:
- Following a routine for performing actions
- Listening and understanding when someone speaks
- Deciphering what behaviours, words, or sounds mean
- Reading and comprehending written materials and signs
- Identifying pictures and objects
What Is Receptive Language Disorder?
A receptive language disorder can make it difficult to understand what others are saying or doing. This can impact a person’s learning opportunities and social connections. A receptive language disorder may develop in early childhood but may not be detected until a person reaches their teen or adult years. The exact cause of these difficulties is often unknown. It can be associated with diagnoses such as autism or intellectual disability, as well as environmental factors such as lack of exposure to speech ¹. A Receptive Language Disorder may be a part of broader Developmental Language Disorder.
Identifying Receptive Language Disorder
The signs and impacts of a receptive language disorder are different for everyone. Depending on a child or person’s age, there are common signs that we associate receptive language difficulties with.
In Children ¹:
- Pre-kindergarten: Difficulty following one or two step instructions, identifying objects, remembering names, taking turns, and identifying colours, numbers, and letters.
- Primary school: Trouble answering wh- questions (e.g. who, what, where), learning and retaining new vocabulary, completing tasks, and responding to people in conversations.
- High school: Challenges with asking questions or participating in class discussions, following the larger context of written and spoken communication, comprehending the meaning of statements, understanding jokes, and participating in extracurricular activities and clubs.
In Adults ⁴:
Problems with social interaction: such as following conversations, answering questions about recent conversations, understanding the language used by others, responding to questions, completing word-finding problems, interacting with others, and participating in social events.
How to assist the development of receptive language
There are many strategies that can make understanding spoken and written communication easier for those diagnosed with receptive language disorder.
For Children ²
- Be positive and compassionate.
- Use short and simple instructions.
- Check in with their understanding by asking them to repeat instructions.
- Remove or reduce distractions (e.g. move to a quiet space).
- Encourage them to ask others to repeat themselves if necessary.
- For older children, supplement verbal language with written language (e.g. writing down what you say).
For Adults ⁴
- Communicate with both spoken and written words when necessary.
- Allow additional time for them to respond.
- Send the individual an agenda for activities such as meetings, helping the person with receptive language disorder prepare mentally for discussion topics.
- Provide advance notice of speaking expectations, allowing the individual to prepare remarks and anticipate questions.
How speech therapy provides treatment for receptive language disorder
Speech therapy focuses on improving various aspects of communication, including receptive language skills. Here are several ways in which speech therapy can help:
The first step in speech therapy is a comprehensive assessment by a Speech Pathologist. This evaluation identifies specific receptive language difficulties and helps in creating a tailored intervention plan. Standardised tests, observations, and parent or teacher reports are often used to assess receptive language abilities.
When evaluating people, speech therapists perform various tests to rule out issues such as hearing and vision problems. For people who speak multiple languages, speech therapists evaluate receptive language in all those languages but focus on the primary language for testing.
Typical Tests for Diagnosing Receptive Language Disorder:
- Language comprehension tests: To compare comprehension abilities to the expected skill level for someone that age.
- Games: To see how an individual (child or adult!) follows the rules of a new game.
- Observational tests: To see how the individual interacts with others in different settings.
Testing by other health professionals that support speech pathologists assessment:
- Hearing tests: To determine whether hearing problems are impacting the individual’s ability to process verbal communication. This is completed by an Audiologist.
- Vision tests: To establish whether issues with sight are causing the communication problems. This is completed by an Optometrist.
- Psychological tests: To uncover potential cognitive issues.
Based on the assessment, a Speech Pathologist will develop individualised speech therapy plans that target specific areas of need. These plans often include a combination of direct therapy sessions, home practice activities, and strategies for use in everyday situations.
A strong vocabulary is essential for understanding spoken and written language. Speech Pathologists use various techniques to expand vocabulary, such as:
- Semantic mapping: Creating visual maps that show relationships between words.
- Categorisation tasks: Grouping words into categories to enhance understanding of word meanings and relationships.
- Contextual learning: Teaching new words in the context of stories or real-life situations to make learning more meaningful.
Listening is a critical component of receptive language. Speech therapy activities that enhance listening skills include:
- Auditory discrimination: Differentiating between similar-sounding words.
- Following multi-step directions: Practising instructions that require multiple actions.
- Story comprehension: Listening to stories and answering questions to improve understanding and retention.
Speech therapist teach strategies to improve comprehension, such as:
- Active listening: Encouraging children to ask questions and seek clarification.
- Summarisation: Teaching how to summarise information to enhance understanding.
- Visualisation: Using mental imagery to comprehend and remember spoken or written material.
Visual aids can be powerful tools in speech therapy. These may include:
- Pictures and symbols: Supporting understanding of spoken words with visual representations.
- Graphic organisers: Helping organise information visually to aid comprehension.
- Sign language: Providing an additional mode of communication that can support spoken language understanding.
Effective speech therapy often involves collaboration with parents and teachers. Speech Pathologists provide strategies and activities that can be integrated into daily routines and classroom settings to reinforce receptive language skills outside of therapy sessions.
Individuals with receptive language difficulties, whether children or adults, can benefit significantly from speech therapy. Speech therapy helps by providing tailored strategies and interventions to improve comprehension skills, such as vocabulary building, listening skills enhancement, and the use of visual aids. Early identification and intervention are crucial, and signs of receptive language disorder can vary with age, impacting learning and social interactions. Speech Pathologists here in Talkshop Speech Pathology conduct comprehensive assessments to diagnose the disorder and create individualised therapy plans, often involving collaboration with parents and teachers to reinforce skills in daily routines and educational settings.
