Some Hallmark Gains in Language Content during the Preschool Years:

1. Vocabulary growth (refinement of pre-existed words/concepts)

• At this stage, preschoolers start to refine representations of concepts within their mental dictionary (aka vocabulary) by encoding the word’s meaning according to context, similar sounds, and the word’s function to create full sentences. Such hallmark is known as slow mapping which enables the child to include new words within their groups of meaning (e.g., leash and collar are related to the word group “dog”). That results in the expansion of vocabulary inflecting for longer utterances.

2. Expansion of language using new terms and figurative language

• Once preschoolers have mastered this comprehensive understanding of various concepts pertaining to a specific word, they can expand their vocabulary by using kinship terms (e.g., uncle and aunt), deixis (e.g., here or there), asking and answering wh- questions (e.g., where, how, when), temporal terms (e.g., first, then, finally), locational prepositions (e.g., under, between, out, close to), and opposites (e.g., happy & sad). Additionally, figurative languages like similes, metaphors, and idioms may arise and start to be used even though not fully understood by the children from this age group.  

Some Hallmark Gains in Language Form During the Preschool Years:

1. Morphosyntactic growth

• Preschoolers begin to use new morphemes at the ends of words such as:

  • • Uncontractible (cannot shorten) auxiliary verbs (e.g., She was playing)

    • Contractible (can shorten) copulas (e.g., He's handsome)

    • Contractible (can shorten) auxiliaries (e.g., They're running)

    • Irregular third person (e.g., He does)

• Preschoolers begin to add the following kinds of words into their sentences:

  • • Negative (e.g., don't)

    • Irregular verbs (e.g., does)

    • Personal pronouns (e.g., my)

    • Comparatives with -er (e.g., cooler)

2. Preschoolers begin using embedded clauses (e.g., "I told Erik who told the teacher what happened on the playground")

Some Hallmark Gains in Language Use During the Preschool Years: 

Children are continuing to develop their social communication at this age.  This includes the child’s communicative functions, conversational skills, and extralinguistic cues. 

1. Preschool-age children use social communication skills to work cohesively with their peers on tasks, games, and activities. During this time, children will be able to share their feelings, initiate play with their peers, and use verbal language to solve problems. 

2. Preschoolers begin to understand that others have different feelings, or might be feeling the same in similar situations. This allows children to understand that there are more perspectives than their own. Social communication can increase during this stage to express those feelings. 

3. Children begin to use language for jokes and teasing! (ASHA)

Some Hallmark Gains in Cognition During the Preschool Years:

As preschoolers begin to grow, their cognitive development increases to shape who they are and how they think. This time when they are growing leads to different gains that affect their mind and the beginning of their intelligence.

1. Problem Solving Skills

• Preschoolers start to develop problem-solving skills despite it being a very slow process. They may not have a logical solution to problem solving but that is because they think differently from an adult.

  • They develop animism. This means that they understand some things have a consciousness and are alive, and other things do not. They may apply animism to inanimate objects (i.e., stuffed animals having thoughts and feelings).

  • They develop egocentrism. This means that they view everything from their perspective and may not understand the perspective of someone else. They believe that everyone sees the world the way that they do.

2. Language Development

   • Preschoolers start to develop a growing vocabulary. At this stage, they start to use symbolism in their thinking skills. They learn that words have meaning and attach that knowledge to think abstractly and broaden their horizons of language.

     • They use self-talk. This is critical for practicing communication verbally. They can say out loud to themselves the process of what they are doing. and even repeat what they have heard their parents say to them.

     • They begin to use tenses in pronouns in their conversations to differentiate between time and refer to other people.

     • From ages 3-6, the amount of words, and length of sentences begins to increase. Their sentences become more grammatically complex and eventually they can engage in a fixed conversation.