The Difference Between Speech and Language
This video lesson is part of our Small Talk course, created by licensed speech-language pathologists and hosted by Expressable's Chief Clinical Officer Leanne Sherred, M.S., CCC-SLP. Small Talk teaches you simple strategies to help your newborn to 18-month-old learn to communicate. Featuring expert, research-backed tips and techniques, plus demonstrations from a real mom and her toddler.
Video transcript
Speech and language--I’ve already mentioned these words frequently and am bound to use them many more. So what do they actually mean, and what’s the difference?
In this lesson, we’re going to cover some basic definitions commonly used to describe a person’s communication. This’ll help you understand the different parts of communication, track how your child’s communication is progressing, and prepare you for the lessons ahead. Also, make sure to refer back to the list of definitions we’ve included in our resources section.
While speech and language may seem similar, and are often used interchangeably, they are actually two very different - but related - parts of communication development.
For children with communication challenges, some may struggle with both, others with one or the other. Knowing the difference can be key to your child’s success.
Let’s start with speech. Speech refers to the physical act of producing sounds and saying words. Much like I’m doing now. While it might feel very easy and natural to us, speaking actually requires the development of our oral-motor abilities. This refers to how we coordinate our facial muscles, like our lips, tongue, and jaw, with our breath and vocal cords to produce accurate sounds.
Language, on the other hand, refers to how we use this verbal and nonverbal communication to express our needs and understand the world around us. Verbal language is when we use sounds and words to communicate, whereas non-verbal language is how we communicate without words, such as our body language, the facial expressions we make, and the gestures we use.
So how does this apply to your baby?
Well, as babies get older, their physical growth is very obvious. You can clearly see it in the weight they gain and how much taller they get. Not to mention, how quickly they outgrow each clothing size!
Just as infants grow physically, so do their communication abilities.
The phrase “speech and language” collectively refers to the expected communication development that a young child goes through. The prerequisites of which begins happening as soon as your child is born and continues on into early adulthood.
There are 4 main areas of speech and language development that begin to occur in infancy. Let’s review them:
1. Response: Babies begin to respond to light, sounds, and touch in their first few days of life. As they get older, infants begin to respond to the people they are around. These back and forth exchanges - whether it’s eye contact or a giggle - are some of the first signs of communication!
2. Vocalizations: From the first few months onwards, your baby will begin to experiment with their voice, vocalize, and produce sounds. You first hear this in coos and babbles, and eventually consonants and vowels that make up our language.
3. Receptive language: Speech-language pathologists actually classify language into two broad categories: receptive and expressive language. Receptive language refers to the words that a child is able to understand. You may notice early signs of growing receptive language when you tell your baby it’s time to “eat,” and they quiet down. Or you say “bye-bye” and they wave back at you.
4. Expressive language: Expressive language is your child’s output of communication. As mentioned before, expressive language can be non-verbal, like pointing and gesturing, or verbal, such as using words to articulate their needs.
Within these 4 areas of development are even more specific skills that children progress through month by month, which we’ll cover in a bit.
You can think of speech and language development like a staircase.
When climbing stairs we don’t reach the second story in one jump. We take one step at a time until we reach the top.
The same is true for your child’s speech and language development. They have to climb up each “step” of development before they can become a strong verbal communicator. Your job is to be that supportive and sturdy hand guiding them up those steps and along their communication journey - and reaching out to steady them when they stumble.
As parents and caregivers, there’s nothing we long for more than to be able to communicate with our children. It's what connects us together. And the first time your child waves, babbles, or says the highly anticipated first word- it is such a special moment.
These first 18 months of your child’s life are a whirlwind of all kinds of milestones. Speaking of milestones, let’s explore what those are in our next lesson.
