The Importance of Oral Language

Put yourself in the place of an infant.  Everything is provided for them by an adult.  The child’s sole responsibility is to grow, and one aspect of this growth is learning how to communicate with words.

At first, the infant uses cries to express needs, and parents distinguish different cries: hunger, hurt, sleepiness, the need for attention, fear.  As the infant grows and specific sounds become distinguishable from others, vocabulary starts to emerge.  As the words are associated with specific objects, actions, or emotions, the child begins to distinguish meanings.  This process of acquiring and comprehending words allows the child to acclimate to and understand the world and their place in it.

In order for new vocabulary to be impressed permanently in the mind of the child, the child must hear words contextually over and over.  This repetition causes synapses in the brain to occur.  The more frequently a child hears a word, the more synapses take place,  and therefore a stronger impression is made - allowing the brain to keep that word in the memory. 

When a child first learns the word ball, they may apply that to all things that act like the ball they are most familiar with.  Through communication with words and associated objects and actions, a child comes to distinguish the wiffle ball from the basketball, soccer ball, baseball, bouncy ball, beach ball, golf ball and even oddly shaped football.

The same holds true of all aspects of language: words, sentence structures, speaking styles, accents, body language, intonation.  The depth a child is given in oral language affects their overall language skills.

There are no words that are too difficult for a child to learn if they are exposed to it.  I remember I was working with a 5 year old girl.  She was stitching with her right hand, which was usual because she is right-handed.  At some point, she switched to stitching with her left hand.  I asked her if that was comfortable for her, and she said yes: she could stitch with her right and her left hands comfortably, but she could only write with her right hand comfortably.  I told her she was ambidextrous when she was sewing.  Naturally, she asked what ambidextrous meant and I explained the word, adding that my mom was ambidextrous when she would bat during our summer baseball games.  Later that day, the girl got in line with her friends who were headed to recess.  She turned to one of them and explained that she is ambidextrous when she sews, and proceeded to explain herself.

Words are made of syllables which in turn are made of phonemes.  The length of a word does not make it any less knowable for a child.  What does affect the comprehension is simply the repetitious use of the word.  A child does not need simple words; a child needs precise words with clear explanations used correctly within their environment.

Knowing that a child can hear, learn, understand, and regurgitate a word like ambidextrous is a source of joy.  All words are adoptable in a child’s vocabulary.  This, in turn, furthers the child’s ability to make precise distinctions and clearly communicate their ideas, needs, wants, and emotions.

I remember another young girl of 4 or 5 who was in the habit of stomping her feet to express that she wanted something strongly and immediately.  She expected to be answered without delay.  Although she was validly communicating through body language, it seemed that if she continued to use this language rather than words, she may get to a point where she could unwittingly cause bodily harm in a fit of desire.  I told her that I could tell she wanted something, and that I was happy to listen to her, but she needed to use words instead of her feet.  She looked at me rather surprised.  Perhaps she thought I would guess her desire and give in, but it was important for her to understand whether she was asking for a need or a want, what that specific want was, and why she wanted it.  She took a deep breath and explained that she wanted to go to the playground because she wanted to run around in the sun.  I agreed that it was a lovely day and playing on the playground would be a refreshing activity, but she could not go unaccompanied.  When we were done in the classroom and everyone was ready, we could go out to playground.  She nodded, smiled, and said, “Ok,” then asked if she could paint a picture.  She never stomped again to get my attention.

It is important for a child to navigate their environment through verbal communication. A child learns through observation of and conversation with adults how effective verbal communication can be.   Give the gift of clear communication to your child through conversation and experiences!