The language skills of six-year-olds continue to develop in terms of their sophistication.

In general, their pronunciation of words is clear, and they use complex grammatical forms accurately. Also, their vocabularies continue to increase rapidly. In first grade, children's language moves beyond communication to provide a groundwork for learning, including the development of independent reading skills. Language skills will interact with cognitive skills and lay the foundation for academic development.

Receptive Vocabulary (words recognized when heard or seen)

Continues to rapidly develop vocabulary, with an estimate of about 3,000 new words learned during the year. It is a process that continues as the child grows and matures. The typical child has the capacity to learn about 20 new words a day on average during elementary school. Develops the ability to think about language, known as "metalinguistic awareness." The child can talk about words, not just use them for communication. A major influence on language skills is school experience. Beginning to learn about reading will expand the child's learning of, and awareness about, words.

Learns vocabulary related to an expanding real-world knowledge that develops from experiences in school and the community. Ability to define words is limited to the concrete use of a word or its obvious function (e.g., when asked what "ball" means, says, "A baseball, a soccer ball. Or, you kick it.")

Language Comprehension (when several words are spoken at once)

Enjoys language play, including nursery rhymes, songs and word games where new nonsense words may be invented. Such play may include all aspects of language: sounds, meaning and forms. Increases skills for differentiating fact from fantasy.

Follows two- to three-step directions in their correct sequence. Begins to learn the rules for games and activities (e.g., board games, sports). Demonstrates understanding of verbal instructions by recalling them and by responding appropriately to what was said. Can reply to more complex yes/no questions. Improves in the ability to use indirect requests (e.g., says, "It is hot today" when a drink of lemonade is wanted). Has difficulty understanding some uses of "must" and "should" (e.g. "shouldn't you...?").

Speech Sound Perception

Breaking words into their phonological elements (i.e., sounds or syllables) can aid the learning of additional words. Words with more common sound patterns are learned more easily. Children often are taught to segment words into their sound parts; this skill also serves growing skills with reading and writing.

Demonstrates the ability to control and adjust speaking rate, voice pitch (i.e., high and low sounds) and volume appropriately.

Expressive/Productive Vocabulary (words used when speaking or writing)

Develops better sense of time (e.g., "before, "after) and distance (e.g., "close," "far") concepts. May have difficulty putting events into a chronological sequence. Should be able to say and understand words like "this," "that," "these" and "those," and use them appropriately. Often has trouble producing correct pronouns and gerunds (i.e., forms of English verbs when they are being used as nouns, such as "fishing"). Uses fewer unusual descriptions (e.g., calling snow, "white rain" when seeing it for the first time) because vocabulary has expanded. Interprets proverbs (e.g. "Look before you leap.") very literally.

Pronunciation

Can produce all sounds in the English language using speech that is understandable to listeners. Recognizes sound sequences that are not possible within English.

Grammatical Development

Speaks and expresses ideas using a range of complete sentences and most parts of speech correctly. In general, sentence length mirrors the child's age, so a child seven years of age produces sentences on average of seven words in length.

Grasps the idea of content words that label things, like "cat" or "dog," but not of function words like "the" or "was"; some children may skip function words altogether. May have learned about specific grammatical terms like "subject" and "verb" through formal education. Uses words like "now" and "then" (e.g., says, "Now I am going to play baseball. Then, I will ride my bike home.") but rarely more complex forms such as "however" or "perhaps." Learns rules for making words plural.

Sharing Personal Experiences

Communicates and repeats stories that have a series of events in a logical order. Can both ask and reply to "wh-" questions: who what, where, when, and why. Conveys stories using a chronological narrative format (e.g., says, "And then this happened, and then..."). Decontextualized language forms (i.e., referring to people, things, or events that are not immediately present) include not only narratives but explanations too (e.g., says, "This is how you play..."). Narrative forms and styles are culturally dependent; some children's narratives might be made up of only factual statements while other children may approach those facts by offering additional information. Sometimes, children are considered less knowledgeable or competent by the way in which they communicate stories. This evaluation depends on the listener's experience.

Conversational Skills

Initiates a conversation and can deliver directions to others. Takes turns when speaking. Can maintain the topic of the conversation and take turns speaking. Begins to use some elaboration when facing a conversational repair (i.e., when the listener indicates that the message is not understood).

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The language skills of seven-year-olds reflect the increasing impact of language and literacy instruction. The two areas interact in that literacy activities enhance children's recognition of language's dimensions, such as its sounds, patterns, meanings and uses. In turn, improving literacy skills (reading and writing) offer experiences that dramatically expand a child's experiences with words. The interaction of language, literacy and cognition form the basis for a child's academic development.

Receptive Vocabulary (words recognized when heard or seen)

Continues to rapidly develop vocabulary, with an estimate of about 3,000 new words learned during the year. As the child's literacy skills develop, experiences with new words will expand as well. The typical child has the capacity to learn about 20 new words a day on average, largely from reading independently each day.

Continues to develop the ability to think about language, known as "metalinguistic awareness." The child can talk about words, not just use them for communication. Developing knowledge about the language system shapes the child's further learning. A major influence on language skills is school experience. Learning to read, especially reading fluently, fuels future language learning and offers important exposure to new words.

Continues to learn and understand the meaning of different types of words by using context clues. Is also able to now use word analysis skills (e.g., if you know the word "happy," you can understand the word "happiness"). Realizes that verbs can be changed into nouns by adding "-er" or another word (e.g., "teach" to "teacher," "fish" to "fisherman"). Recognizes also that adverbs come from adjectives when the letters "-ly" are added (e.g., "quick" becomes "quickly"). Begins to understand that words can have multiple meanings (e.g., "country" can be a nation or someplace away from the city). Defining words also improves to include more conceptual descriptions of words and their meanings (e.g., a "bank" is a building where money is kept). As a result, the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge is enhanced.

Language Comprehension (when several words are spoken at once)

Builds on expanded word definition skills to understand other forms of language, like metaphor (e.g., "sharp as a tack"). Begins to also use puns (i.e., use of words that sound alike but have different meanings, like "hare" and "hair") and riddles, especially those that draw on words with several possible meanings (e.g., "What dog keeps time best? A watch dog!"). Has a limited sense of verbal irony (i.e., the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning) or sarcasm.

Follows more complex three- to four-step spoken directions in their appropriate order or sequence. Can learn and apply the rules for games and activities (e.g., card games, sports). Understands words that indicate direction for location (e.g., "under," "on"), space (e.g., "left," "right") or time (e.g., "before," "after"). Can answer questions about a story that is read aloud.

Speech Sound Perception

Segmenting words into their component sounds and letters aids the learning of additional words and can also be used to teach some basic reading skills. Continues to control and adjust speaking rate, voice pitch (i.e., high and low sounds) and volume appropriately.

Expressive/Productive Vocabulary (words used when speaking or writing)

Has limited understanding of and ability to use embedded phrases (e.g., the phrase "that my brother read" in the sentence, "The book that my brother read was very exciting."). Begins to learn about different stress patterns for words (e.g., when "conduct" is a noun, the first syllable is stressed; when "conduct" is a verb, the second syllable is stressed).

Pronunciation

Can produce all sounds and sound blends in the English language using speech that is understandable, even to unfamiliar listeners.

Grammatical Development

Uses complex sentence structures in communication. Can use the passive voice in English (e.g., "The bat was broken by the pitch" rather than, "The pitch broke the bat."). In general, sentence length still mirrors a child's age, so a child eight years old will produce on average sentences of eight words in length.

Few errors in grammatical use. Understands opposite analogies (e.g., girl/boy, short/long, beginning/end, same/different). Begins to comprehend the use of the word "because" and the relationship it conveys. Learns irregular plurals and plural nouns that end with "-s."

Sharing Personal Experiences

Can explain main elements of a story and make some predictions about what might happen next. Can use a classic narrative style in relating a story, one that builds to a specific or central point and then is evaluated and resolved. Uses beginning and ending markers (e.g., "Once upon a time..." or "...happily ever after.") in stories told, along with other types of words: conjunctions (e.g., "and"), locatives (e.g., "under," "on") and comparatives (e.g., "bigger"). Narrative forms and styles are culturally dependent; some children's narratives might be made up of only factual statements while other children may approach those facts by offering additional information. Sometimes, children are considered less knowledgeable or competent by the way in which they communicate stories. This evaluation depends on the listeners experience.

Conversational Skills

Begins and ends conversations appropriately. Is able to clarify an idea that is expressed or a word that is used. Takes turns when speaking. Maintains the topic of conversation and uses appropriate eye contact while communicating. Shows improved conversational skills by using language for multiple purposes including for information, entertainment and persuasion. Can offer directions that include three to four steps. Recognizes when he is confused during a conversation and can ask the speaker to clarify the intended message. Changes communication style for adults and peers.

Age 6: At six years of age a child will have mastered the consonant sounds of f, v, sh, zh, th and
will be comfortable with number concepts up to seven. All of his speech should be intelligible and socially useful. A seven year old should be able to tell an ordered, connected story about a picture, a place or an experience and see and describe the relationships between the objects and occurrences. By the age of seven a child should have mastery over the consonant sounds of t s-z, r, ch, wh, and the soft g. He should be comfortable with handling opposite analogies such as girl and boy, man and woman, sweet and sour, etc. and understands terms such as alike, different, beginning and end. A child of seven should be able to tell you the time of day to the quarter hour using a clock with hands and he should be able to read simple texts and write the alphabet and many useful words. By the age of eight, a child can relate more elaborate and involved accounts of events that occurred in the past. He can form complex and compound sentences much more easily and exhibit few if any lapses in grammar (such as choice of tense, pronouns and plurals). He should have full mastery of the entire range of speech sounds, including vowels, diphthongs and consonant blends. He should be able to read age appropriate texts with ease and begin to demonstrate competence with writing simple compositions. Most children this age will have acquired the various social amenities in common usage, such as 'please' and 'thank you' and will know when and where to use them. His control of pitch, rate of speed and volume should be well developed and he should have established a habitual knowledge of when and where to vary them. Eight year olds can carry on meaningful conversations with adult speakers and follow fairly complex instructions with little or no repetition. Participating in your child's language development will help him to grow at a rate appropriate to his age.