Expressive Language

Children who are experiencing problems with expressive language may:

• Use short, limited utterances
• Have restricted and/or inappropriate vocabulary
• Experience word-finding difficulties
• Use immature or unusual grammatical structures
• Use confused word order
• Use non-verbal communication (e.g. pointing, gestures) instead of speech or to accompany speech
• Have difficulties sequencing ideas
• Have very concrete thinking and lack of flexibility and generalisation in learning
• May talk a lot but have limited ability to communicate ideas in depth

If a child is having difficulty with speech sounds this will be considered as a phonological problem.

There are a number of reasons why a child might be having difficulty with expressive language:

• Hearing difficulty
• Memory
• Sequencing
• A general learning need
• Lack of experience/opportunity
        www.literacytrust.org.uk/
        www.talkingpoint.org.uk  
• Specific language impairment
• English as an additional language