An Analysis of Speech and Language Development in Children

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of speech and language development, examining the interplay between spoken and written language acquisition, and the crucial role of parental involvement in fostering early language skills. It explores how developmental delays and disabilities...Read More

Running head: SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Speech and Language Development
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Development of Written and Spoken Language:
Both written language development and spoken language development is associated
with the language development of the child. To develop proper written skills, it is important
to have proper knowledge of the language. Without proper knowledge of the language, it is
impossible to develop an appropriate written skill for the children (Berman, 2016). This same
thing is also true for developing the spoken language. Thus, in this aspect, for spoken and
written language developing, first, a proper understanding of the language is required. So, an
overall perspective development of language is required for the children. For the
development of the language among the children, their parents play an important role (Perera
et al., 2016). Here, all the parents can talk to their child and treat them as a talker. This is the
first step that must be taken for the development of the language. Provide an appropriate
response to the children is the second important perspective for the development of language.
How Developmental Delays or Disabilities can Affect Children’s Speech
and Language Development:
The developmental interruptions and the disabilities affect the development of speech
and the language of the children negatively as creates several barriers in the development
process. To develop the language and the speech of the children, the children must have the
proper ability to learn (Fitzpatrick et al., 2016). Here, the developmental delays directly affect
the ability to learn of a child and ultimately, the language and speech development of the
children got delayed. Also, the developmental delays among the children create difficulty
with the emotional and social skills, which again affects the language and speech
development of the children. Also, there are several types of disabilities that one can face.
Now, suppose if the child is blind, then it will definitely affect the learning process of the
child. In this scenario, the learning will become much harder for that child. Similarly, for the

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hearing disability, the child will not be able to communicate with the other peoples normally
(Hall, 2017). This will surely impact the speech development of the children while the
language development will be also affected. Dyslexia is another disability that can be seen
among the children. Dyslexia affects the language-based processing skills of the children
where it affects both the language development and speech development of the children.
Impact of Culture, Family Background, and Bilingual Language
Development:
Regarding the language and speech development of the children, culture, bilingual
language development and family background do have an important impact. Some
researchers have been found regarding the language development of the children that culture
can largely affect the development process. The culture influences the utilization of words
that are used for describing a concept. Depending on the culture, the same concept can be
described using one word while other cultures can take several amounts of words for
describing the concept. Also, culture influences how the instructions are conveyed to the
children. For example, in American culture for the learning purpose of the children, verbal
instructions are provided where many other cultures use non-verbal instruction.
The family background also impacts the developing of the language of the children. In
the family background, literacy of the parents highly affects the language development of the
children. If there is illiteracy in the family background of children, then there can be
difficulties in language development. Also, for the joint families, it has been seen that
language development among the children is higher compared with the extended families.
The bilingual language development can be a good advantage for the children to
understand the communicational needs, but it can create a problem for them at the early
stages (De Houwer, 2017). In this case, the child needs to work on different language at the

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same time, which can be confusing. Thus, it is quite obvious that the speech and language
development of the child would become slower.
Strategies for Enhancing Speech and Language Development:
Enhancement of speech and language development is important among the child so
that they can learn faster. For the enhancement of language and speech development of the
child, one of the important strategies that can be employed is reading more and more.
Reading will not only help children to enhance their speaking capability, but also it will help
them in the overall development of the language. Practising the reading more can help to
mitigate most common speech impairments.
Another strategy that can be considered for enhancement of speech and language is
letting the child lead. If the child gets the freedom to lead themselves, then they will be able
to build more self-confidence within them (McDaniel, 2017). This self-confidence will help
the child to enhance speech and language progress. Thus, this strategy must be considered for
improving speech and language progress skills.
The third strategy that can be utilized for the speech and language development of the
children is being a good model in front of them. The parents should be playing this model for
their children. The guardians or the parents must speak slowly and clearly towards their
children. This will be helpful for their understanding purpose. Also, if the child says
something wrong, rather than correcting him, parents can simply ask the student to repeat the
last. In this way, language and speech development of the children can be enhanced.
Unique needs of ESL and Speech Impairment Students:
The three strategies discussed above can be modified so that it becomes useful for
ESL students and the speech impairment students. One prior example of modifying the above
strategy is modifying the third strategy that is discussed above. In this context, the parents

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can be replaced with teachers who will be assisting the ESL and speech impairment students
(More et al., 2016). This modification in the above strategy will be surely helpful for the
children. For the ESL students, the teacher who will be assisting them must have appropriate
knowledge in English so that proper guidance can be conveyed to the students. For the speech
impairment issue, again, the teacher needs to play a significant role in helping the students to
pronounce the words correctly.

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References:
Berman, R. A. (2016). Linguistic literacy and later language development. In Written and
spoken language development across the lifespan (pp. 181-200). Springer, Cham.
De Houwer, A. (2017). Bilingual language acquisition. The handbook of child language, 219-
250.
Fitzpatrick, E. M., Hamel, C., Stevens, A., Pratt, M., Moher, D., Doucet, S. P., ... & Na, E.
(2016). Sign language and spoken language for children with hearing loss: A
systematic review. Pediatrics, 137(1), e20151974.
Hall, W. C. (2017). What you don’t know can hurt you: The risk of language deprivation by
impairing sign language development in deaf children. Maternal and child health
journal, 21(5), 961-965.
McDaniel, E. C. (2017). The Impact of Language Acquisition Through Motor Planning
(LAMP) on Speech and Language Development in Children with Developmental
Delays (DDs). Arkansas State University.
More, C. M., Spies, T. G., Morgan, J. J., & Baker, J. N. (2016). Incorporating English
language learner instruction within special education teacher preparation. Intervention
in School and Clinic, 51(4), 229-237.
Perera, J., Aparici, M., Rosado, E., & Salas, N. (2016). Introduction to Written and Spoken
Language Development Across the Lifespan. In Written and Spoken Language
Development across the Lifespan (pp. 1-13). Springer, Cham.