Oral language and vocabulary development

Oral Language and vocabulary development

Children need to have language skills before learning how to read so they can describe things and share their knowledge and ideas.  Most early vocabulary is learned through conversations with people that children have regular contact with. It is through repeated exposure to vocabulary that children build a bank of words and learn how to use them in context. Children will have a better chance of recognising words visually if they have heard or used them orally.

 Ideas to promote language and vocabulary development

• Having conversations with your child about anything and everything is the best way to develop their language skills.

• Reading stories will broaden your child’s vocabulary and turning story time into a conversation is a great way to boost early literacy skills.

• Provide regular opportunities to talk to other adults and children - currently, that may include video calls to friends and family.  

• Ask your child open-ended questions like “what do you think will happen next?” or “I wonder….”

• Have your child retell a story by acting it out, drawing or with puppets.

• Encourage your child to make up his or her own story.

• Sing songs, nursery rhymes and read poems.  Rhymes are fantastic vocabulary boosters. They often feature a pleasing rhythmic pattern and simple repetitive phrases that babies and young children find easy to remember and repeat.

• Read different types of story - non-fiction books, comics, recipes all offer different types of language and vocabulary to explore.

• Re-read the same story too – Having books read a few times helps children understand and notice new things. When you read a story to a child over-and-over, he/she will figure out what an unfamiliar word means by the other words that he/she hears. Repeated reading gives the child opportunities to notice the same sound patterns.

• Talk with children about what you are doing or provide a narrative for what they are doing – for example, ‘I see that you are taking the green car and zooming it along the track.’

• Encourage pretend play and role play.  When children participate in dramatic types of play, they copy and practice the words they have heard others saying which helps to develop vocabulary and language skills.

• After reading, talk about what your child liked or disliked about the story and why.