Why are speech and language skills so important?


by Louise Burton – Speech and Language Therapist
Average Read Time:

 

In our first parent blog, I explained what we mean by the terms ‘speech’ and ‘language’. This week, I am going to talk about why these skills are so important. Many people believe that speech and language skills are just needed so that we can have a conversation with someone, when in fact they are needed for so much more. We use these skills throughout our daily lives and the development of a child’s speech and language skills is fundamental for their future success and wellbeing. Children need to develop their speech and language skills to support them in a number of different areas:

For learning:

Most teaching and learning for children takes place using spoken language, as adults communicate information and explanations verbally to support children’s learning. If children are having difficulty understanding what someone is saying to them, this will have a big impact on their ability to learn and make good progress. Children who have difficulty understanding language may struggle to follow instructions correctly to complete tasks and may have difficulty learning new words and concepts in order to fully understand what they are being taught.

For literacy skills:

As we saw in the last blog, literacy skills can be thought of as the cherry on top of the cake and children need to have a good foundation of speech and language skills in order to develop their literacy skills. If we think about reading, children need to be able to understand and learn words that they hear to then be able to understand them when they are written down. When thinking about writing, children need to be able to use words, phrases and sentences within their spoken language, before they will be able to write them down. If a child is having difficulty expressing themselves using their spoken language skills, these difficulties will transfer to their written work. Children with speech sound difficulties may have difficulty developing their ability to link sounds to letter shapes and may struggle to hear and produce the different sounds in words in order to write them correctly.

Within the classroom, a high proportion of teaching is completed through reading and writing, particularly as children become older. Children who have speech and language difficulties are at a huge disadvantage for developing their literacy skills, impacting on their ability to achieve their learning potential within school.

For behaviour:

If children are having difficulty understanding what other people are saying to them, and/or having difficulty expressing themselves successfully, this can be extremely frustrating and upsetting, and can lead to challenging behaviour. This could be unintentional, for example a child following an instruction in an incorrect way because they haven’t understood what you have said. Sometimes children can start to ‘zone out’ or stop listening to what an adult is saying because they know that they are not going to understand, and so they begin to ask themselves “what’s the point?” It is important to see behaviour as a form of communication, as it is likely to indicate that your child is having some difficulty.

For social skills:

We use our speech and language skills to build relationships and friendships with people, maintain those friendships and to manage conflicts when they arise. Children who are not skilled communicators can find it really difficult to make and maintain friendships; they may not understand information in a fast paced conversation in order to respond appropriately, or they may not be able to ‘read between the lines’ to understand what someone really means when they are talking. This includes being able to communicate successfully with a range of different people, for example understanding the different way we communicate when speaking to an important adult like our Head Teacher, rather than a friend. Relationships are a hugely important part of our lives and without strong relationships and friendships, children are at greater risk for poor self-esteem and mental health difficulties in later life.

For life:

We use our speech and language skills throughout our daily lives; to communicate with our family, friends and colleagues, to be able to read and write, to be able to make and maintain friends and communicate appropriately with a range of people that we encounter daily, to find a good job and to be successful and happy in life.

If you, like many other parents currently, are supporting your child’s learning at home, areas such as literacy, maths and science quickly spring to mind as important areas to support them with. Developing speech and language skills can be easily overlooked. It is important to take time to include activities for supporting these skills, particularly if you are concerned about your child’s speech and/or language skills, as they are so important for your child’s future success and wellbeing, and will in turn support them with literacy, maths, science, and all their learning.

You can find lots of games and activities on our Parent Portal that you can complete with your child, as well as advice on how to bring these strategies into everyday activities that you are already completing. Parents have a crucial role in supporting the development of speech and language skills so that your child can reach their best potential.