Speech, Language and Communication

Communication and language skills are vital for your child’s development. These skills will affect their future life chances and relationships. It can also impact your child’s ability to learn, make friends and develop ideas and opinions.

The differences between speech, language and communication

Speech, language and communication can be easily confused. Here are the differences between them:

Speech is how you say it. It is how clearly you speak, using the right sounds and putting them in the right order so that others can understand you clearly.

Language is what you say. It is how we use words and sentences to understand and express.

Communication is the message you are trying to get across. You can communicate without words by using gestures, expressions and moving your body.

• Attention and Listening SkillsThe most important skills needed for communication are attention and listening skills. All other communication skills are based upon the ability to pay attention and listen.

• Playing and Social SkillsPlay is your child's way of exploring and learning about the world. This includes their learning of new words. Play and interaction are important skills for your child to develop to enhance their learning.

• Understanding LanguageUnderstanding spoken language helps children follow instructions, answer questions, understand stories and identify objects and pictures. A child's understanding of language is usually ahead of their ability to use language.

• Using LanguageUse of language is also known as 'expressive language'. It is how your child is learning to say new words and put them together into sentences. Use of language also includes non-verbal communication like gestures.

• Speech SoundsSpeech sounds are the individual sounds we use to make words. The sounds we make when we speak are made from the voice box (larynx), mouth muscles, jaw, lips, teeth, and tongue. In English we have 46 sounds for 26 letters of the alphabet.