Language Difficulties

Communication and language These are critical factors for the acquisition of literacy. In Communication, meaning must firstly be constructed then transferred from one person to another person who receives and interprets the meaning of the message. By the time a child gets to school a delay will have put his progress behind other children in access to both social and educational opportunities for leaning. The ability to understand and use language underpins access to all areas of the curriculum (Hayden and Jordan 2004: 1).

Behaviours Problems in the areas of language and speaking can lead to reading and writing difficulties. Behaviours often displayed in children with speech and language difficulties. Attention and listening difficulties Being the last to complete work Immature vocabulary development Inconsistent skill levels

Type Expressive Language Formulating ideas to communicate, then retrieving appropriate words, constructing sentences, using conversational skills and remembering what has been said Receptive Language Focusing on someone speaking and gaining meaning from attending

Expressive Language Problems displayed in children with expressive language difficulties: Abnormal Speech: too soft, loud, fast or slow Missing or inventing words Using gesture to communicate instead of words Confusing sounds within words and word order in sentences Muddling up pronouns Unable to retrieve words from memory Lack of awareness of rules of two way conversation

Receptive Language Some behaviours observed in varying degrees. Can’t remember word meanings, or understand how sentence structure and grammar works Short auditory memory Misunderstanding common language, inappropriate eye contact, not knowing when speech is directed at them may appear deaf if overloaded with unprocessed information-tune out May laugh cry sulk or show aggression, ignore directions if can’t interpret language

Irlen-Dyslexia Dyslexia is a difference from ‘normal’ in visual perception impacting on reading. Irlen is the sensitivity to light aspect related to this. Some children have excellent development of oral language but find print hard to decipher. Words can appear blurry, spiral like, washed out or see-saw movement between lines of text overlapping each other. Sometimes coloured glasses help by blocking out certain light spectrums.

Causes Hereditary factor Trauma or injury Socio-economic group or culture- ‘Differences in children’s abilities that they bring to school are often shaped by their home and pre-school experience’(Lynch 2008: 153) Boys are more consistently delayed in language development (female corpus collosum is 20% larger than in makes)