Vocabulary Development (School Age Children) · Vocabulary Vocabulary is the bank of words children can understand and / or use meaningfully. This includes nouns, verbs, adjectives,

Information for patients

For more information about our Trust and the services we provide please visit our website: www.nlg.nhs.uk

Vocabulary Development (School Age Children) Name: _______________________________ Who to contact and how: _______________________________ Notes: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital Scartho Road Grimsby DN33 2BA

03033 306999 www.nlg.nhs.uk

Scunthorpe General Hospital Cliff Gardens Scunthorpe DN15 7BH


Goole & District Hospital Woodland Avenue Goole DN14 6RX




Introduction The Communication Pyramid shows the different elements that make up speech, language and communication.

Children need to be able to understand language and words before they can use them in their talking.

Progress Checker You can check your child’s progress on Speech, Language and Communication.

http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/progress-checker

Vocabulary Vocabulary is the bank of words children can understand and / or use meaningfully. This includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, basic concepts, prepositions etc.

Semantics Semantics refers to the meaning of words and relationships between words (e.g. opposites, categories). The meaning of individual words can change depending on the context e.g. ‘wave’ (in the sea) and ‘wave’ (your hand).



Vocabulary Learning is Affected by Many Factors:

• Listening skills

• Auditory memory

• Life experience

• Expressive language / speech difficulties

• Word retrieval abilities (this is where the child has the word in their memory store but has difficulty accessing it when they need to use it)

• Literacy development

What You May See In the classroom, the child may:

• Have difficulty naming familiar items

• Talk about a limited range of subjects

• Talk hesitantly with mispronunciations, repetitions or inappropriate choice of words

• Over-use non-specific words e.g. ‘it, there, that, thingy, whatsit’

• Use a lot of gesture and pointing

• Have difficulty learning and remembering new vocabulary

• Appear to talk fluently but without clearly expressing their meaning (‘talk around the houses’)

Useful Strategies:

• Identify and prioritise key vocabulary items for topics across the curriculum

• Introduce new vocabulary explicitly, using a multi-sensory approach including visual materials / objects, symbols, real experience

• Recap key vocabulary and ideas at the end of lessons

• Revise new vocabulary at regular intervals

• Display key vocabulary within the classroom using charts, labelled pictures, words and symbols

• Encourage the child to use description, gesturing, signing when they cannot recall a word (what it looks like, its function, what sound it begins with etc.)



Targeted Activities: Make Mind Maps or Word Webs

Teach vocabulary explicitly (example: ‘tiger’):

• A simple definition (e.g. a large stripy cat)

• Categories and category names (e.g. a mammal or big cat)

• Associations (e.g. associated with jungle, cats, hunting)

• Description (e.g. stripy, four legs, runs fast, hunts prey)

• Similarities and differences (runs fast like a cheetah)

• Odd one out (e.g. tiger, lion, cheetah, zebra)

• Phonological features (long or short word, number of syllables, the starting sound, rhymes with etc.) (e.g. 2 syllables and begins with ‘t’)

Memory Games – games such as “I went shopping and I bought…” require children to name and recall items in categories. Use pictures to help.

Question Bingo – give the child a set of pictures. Ask questions and see if the child can find the correct one. For example: “What has pages?” (a book).

Noun-Verb – ask the child to say an action word for a noun, e.g. “Spoon” = “eat.”

Play Word Associations Games e.g. cat – dog – puppy – baby – nappy.

snow

white crunchy soft

melts

cold winter

snowballs snowman

flake



Further Advice and Information for Parents and Teac hers https://www.nlg.nhs.uk/services/childrens-speech-language/

www.talkingpoint.org.uk

www.ican.org.uk

https://www.nlg.nhs.uk/services/childrens-speech-language/

https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

Contact Details for Further Information Children’s Speech and Language Therapy – Tel: 03033 303758

Any Comments, Compliments, Concerns or Complaints If you have any other concerns please talk to your nurse, therapist or doctor. Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) are available on 03033 306518 (Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Goole). You can also contact [email protected]

As a Trust we value equality of access to our information and services, therefore alternative formats available on request at [email protected]

Date of Issue: October, 2019

Review Period: October, 2022

Author: Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Depa rtment

IFP-1130

© NLGFT 2019

Documents

Vocabulary Development (School Age Children) · Vocabulary Vocabulary is the bank of words children can understand and / or use meaningfully. This includes nouns, verbs, adjectives,