What is receptive language?

Sometimes when we are thinking about toddlers learning to talk, we forget that at the same time they are learning to understand. In fact, babies and toddlers (and adults!) understand much more than they say. Receptive language skills refer to the things a person understands.

But what do toddlers understand and how can we tell? Let’s talk about understanding single words, then let’s talk about directions.

What words does my child understand?

Babies start understanding words as early as 3-6 months. The first words that they seem to understand will be the ones that they hear the most and that are the most meaningful to them. You may realize that your young baby seems to understand their own name and the names of caregivers. They will show you that they understand a word at a young age by becoming excited or maybe looking at the thing you are talking about. 

When trying to figure out what a toddler understands, it is tempting to play teacher and quiz the child by asking them to label things (what’s that?). If we ask them to label something and they don’t do it, this doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know the word, just that they don’t say it yet. Instead, we want to see if they can show us that they understand. You can try asking your toddler to perform by pointing in a picture (Point to the ball. Point to your foot.) The trouble with this is that kids don’t get why they are doing it and often become bored (let’s face it, toddlers rarely do exactly what we want anyway!) You may have the best luck having your child grab something from another room during a game (let’s play ball! Go get your ball), show you during a fun game (oh no, your baby’s nose is dirty! Wash her nose), or when somebody actually needs something (we are leaving, go get your shoes). 

Kids will start by understanding the names of people and objects because they are the easiest. But they soon will start to learn easy action words (eat, drink, wash, go) and other helping words (put it in.) They will start showing you that they know the names of a few objects around 12 months and by 18 months can show you many objects.

What directions does my child understand?

When you are at the pediatrician with your child, you will likely be asked a question like, “can your child follow directions?” and you will likely think, well, SOMETIMES and then experience that familiar parental guilt that comes with not totally knowing something the doctor asks you (we’ve all been there.) That is because some directions are harder than others. It’s not a fair question! Let’s break down some things that go into how difficult a direction is.

1. Directions can be harder depending on how many words are in the direction.

2. Directions can also get harder depending on if the direction is routine (like you say it all the time) or novel (this is the first time they hear it).

3. Directions can be harder or easier depending on how much help the parent gives.

The more words/ ideas there are in a direction, the harder it is for your child to understand. Think about the direction Get your ball. Your child has to understand the word ball. But what if you wanted them to get a specific ball (Get the blue ball that is under your bed)? Now they have to understand many more words in order to follow your direction. In general, it is recommended to make directions as complicated as your child can understand. This will help their language continue to grow.

Kids are most successful following directions that they hear all the time. They usually become pretty good at guessing what is going to be asked of them because they get asked the same things all the time. Everyday directions like come here, sit down, say goodbye, give it to me are much easier than new directions like shuffle your feet, give the dog an apple, tickle your ear. Typically, routine everyday directions are always asked in a particular situation. You might always tell your child, throw your diaper away after a change while handing them the diaper. In this case, it is more the situation itself that the child responds to as opposed to the actual words. A way to test this is to ask your child to throw something else away (throw away this pencil). Then you will know if they follow the direction because it is routine, or if they actually understand it. It is important to make sure that your child gets exposed to novel directions to help them continue to grow their understanding.

Sometimes kids become very good detectives and figure out what we want because of our gestures or tone. If you say, get the remote and give it to Daddy while pointing at the remote and then to Daddy, the toddler is going to be much more likely to do this than if you said the same direction without pointing at the same time. It is important to use the least amount of pointing as you can so that you can help your child’s understanding grow. If you aren’t sure if your child will understand, try it first without pointing. If they don’t seem to understand, do it again with the pointing added back in.

What should my child be understanding?

Now that you know about the different types of directions, you are probably wondering what is normal for kids to understand. Kids can follow some routine directions by 15 months. By 18 months, we want the child to be able to get familiar stuff for you from another room and follow some novel directions with help. By 24 months, they can often follow simple new directions without help. By 3 years old, they are champions of understanding and can understand long directions with multiple parts (but whether or not they actually do it is another story!)

What does it mean if my child doesn’t understand things?

If a child doesn’t understand words/ directions as much as you want for their age, it is time to ask for a little extra help (either by talking to your doctor or contacting your state/county’s Early Intervention service.) The first thing your doctor may do is to ask for a hearing test. Even if a child passes the newborn hospital hearing screening, they may have ear infections or other ear issues that you didn’t know about that have made it harder for them to hear. It is important to rule out any hearing difficulties. In addition, the child and their family would likely benefit from some extra help from a speech-language pathologist. A speech-language pathologist will be able to look at your child’s specific situation in depth and help you make a plan to help them catch up with their understanding. Having a strong receptive language base is needed for a child to continue to progress with their talking. 

There are many answers to the question why doesn’t my child understand? Some answers include hearing loss, a receptive/expressive language disorder, or maybe the language disorder is part of a larger diagnosis like autism spectrum disorder. A professional will be able to look at your specific situation and help you answer that question.

As stated above, be mindful and watchful for what your child can understand throughout their day, and practice giving directions at about the level they have been successful at. 

Key Take Aways:

• Receptive language refers to the things someone can understand. We can all understand more than we can say.

• Kids will start by understanding the names of people and objects because they are the easiest.

• Children start following the simplest directions around 15 months old.

• If you are concerned about your child's understanding your child may benefit from seeing an audiologist and/or a speech language pathologist. Your pediatrician should be able to connect you with both.

Written By: Stephanie Burgener-Vader, MA, CCC-SLP

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