5 Myths About Speech & Language Development

Things you've heard about your child's speech and language development that aren't true from a pediatric speech language pathologist.

Learning two languages simultaneously delays speech and language development.

The Truth: There is no research to indicate that duel language learning hinders speech and language development in any way. However, it may look that way if a bilingual child is only evaluated in one language! Suppose a child is saying 25 words in English and 25 words in Spanish. If this child is only evaluated in English, the evaluator may diagnose a delay or recommend therapy based on what they are seeing in one language, but they are missing half of the picture! This is why it is so important that bilingual children are evaluated in BOTH of the languages they are learning!

Showing your baby flashcards promotes language development.

The Truth: Showing your child flashcards isn’t necessarily going to hurt anything, but your time is better spent on other methods. Take the time you spent going through flashcards and get on the floor and play, read a book, or go for a walk with your child. The interaction with you and the opportunities that these activities provide for meaningful learning will teach vocabulary and language concepts much quicker than flashcards ever will!

Research has shown that young children learn from experiences and play. Flashcards provide a single picture from which we expect children to learn and master vocabulary words from, and also use these words functionally in daily life. Not only is that a big ask, but objects and concepts are not always so black and white. For example, the picture on the ‘dog’ flashcard only shows one kind of dog, but there are so so many different types of dogs in our environments - big dogs, small dogs, white dogs, black dogs, dogs with spots, dogs without spots - you get the idea. Seeing one dog does not mean a child will understand that dogs can look different from the dog they see on their flashcard so unless we have a flashcard for every dog out there, it’s not likely that a child will generalize the word enough to be able to use it independently.

Teaching a child sign language will discourage them from talking.

The Truth: The opposite is actually true! Not only does teaching your child baby sign language ENCOURAGE them to use verbal language, there are so many other benefits too! For more about the benefits of baby sign language, check out this post!

Want even more or curious about how to get started teaching your baby sign language? Check out my course, Little Signers, for step-by-step guidance to unlocking all the benefits of baby sign!

Younger siblings begin speaking later than first born children.

The Truth: You may have heard something along the lines of, “She’s not talking yet because her brother just talks for her.” However, research shows that second- and third-born children develop speech and language at similar rates as their older siblings. There is even some research that suggests that second born children demonstrate more advanced pronoun use and conversation skills!

Using ‘baby talk’ with your child can hinder their language development.

The Truth: ‘Baby talk’, also known as ‘parentease’, refers to the high pitched, sing-song voice parents naturally use when speaking to their babies. When using parentease, we tend to use a slower rate of speech, simpler vocabulary, and exaggerated facial expressions, all of which HELP babies to better attend to what we are saying!

However, be careful about using telegraphic speech or incorrect grammar (e.g. “doggie big” instead of “that’s a big doggie!”). This can hinder children’s learning of grammar and word meanings.

Sources:

Bornstein, M., Leach, D., and Haynes, O.M. (2004). Vocabulary competence in first- and second born siblings of the same chronological age. J. Child Lang. 31, 855–873.

Hoff, E. Language development, page 69. Cengage Learning, 2005.

Goodwyn, S.W., Acredolo, L.P. & Brown, C.A. Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24, 81–103 (2000).