Cognitive · Expressive Language Disorder

What is it?

Expressive language disorder means a child has difficulty conveying information in speech, writing, or communication. Expressive language disorder means a child has difficulty with verbal and written expression. They have difficulties with the grammatical aspect of language and produce significantly less complexity than their age peers.

What causes it?

Expressive language disorder can be a developmental (from birth) or acquired impairment. An acquired impairment occurs after a period of normal development. Language impairment may also be associated with other developmental disabilities.

Incidence

There is evidence of a genetic link across generations. Approximately 1 in 10 children will show signs of expressive language impairment or difficulty.

Medical Considerations

Language difficulties are frequently diagnosed and treated by speech pathologists. Recommendations may be available for classroom interventions. It may also be necessary to have a hearing assessment and evaluation of cognitive functioning.

Characteristics

Children reach language milestones at different times, but most catch up to their peers. Children who continue to have difficulty with verbal expression may be diagnosed with expressive language disorder or another language impairment.

Such children may exhibit problems with:

• tense or
• sentence structure
• vocabulary development
• word recall
• using non-specific vocabulary eg. ‘this’ or ‘thing’
• repeating a speaker’s words
• problems recounting logically

In some cases, expressive language problems are related to Down Syndrome, autism or hearing loss. This difficulty may also be in conjunction with receptive language problems.

Support

Group and individual sessions with a speech pathologist may be recommended. Assistance from the school’s Learning Support Team and SLSOs in the classroom may be beneficial.

Further Information

Listen And Learn Centre

Lesson Preparation & Materials

• Divide reading/writing activities into steps and have students focus on one at a time. Give fewer questions on assignments and worksheets and stress quality of work over quantity.
• Special devices – Allow students to use a variety of tools for easier manipulation of information and enhancement of written output. Allow students to use computer software programs to produce professional looking products.
• Provide choices when students are required to show knowledge (eg. students doing a project). Make instruction and activities multimodal with as much variety as possible.
• Have a tape recorder handy for students to record thoughts and ideas for later writing.
• Reduce the amount and complexity of materials.
• Provide materials prior to the lesson so that student can preview at home or with an SLSO.
• Use visuals to support text.

Teaching Strategies

• Ask for examples, not definitions, when eliciting students’ knowledge of concepts during classroom discussions.
• Provide a model for planning and organising activities involving language.
• Provide a structured outline so student can ascertain most important concepts.
• Use mnemonic devices.
• Teach the vocabulary of instruction – verbs pertaining to your subject area – draw, underline, analyse etc.
• Vary the complexity of information. Students who are competent in practical language use may struggle in the complexity of expressing their knowledge in the classroom.
• Do not assume understanding of spoken directions.
• Vary the rate of presentation to allow for language processing.
• Alternate highly verbal activities with nonverbal activities throughout the day.
• Make priorities for performance explicit so students know where to devote their effort and energy.
• Use Assistive Technology for literacy support eg text-to-speech, language prediction.

Feedback & Assessment

• Use true/false, multiple-choice, and matching formats for answering questions in class or on tests. Use multiple formats for presenting and requiring responses.
• Collect annotated work samples over time.
• Provided exemplars of student work for reference.
• Special provisions may include a reader, writer or extra time.
• Students with language problems often can learn and express their knowledge through other modalities.
• Use differential grading, only grading for specified elements (not total product) or grade by steps or stages.
• Substitute project-type activities (e.g. models, scrapbooks, demonstrations, book illustrations, photography, pantomime, and mobiles) for written reports.

Classroom Management

• Use small group instruction and individual conferences as a supplement to group lecture.
• Maintain clearly defined expectations so students are certain of what is expected of them. Look for language based triggers for inappropriate behaviour.
• Use collaborative activities on longer projects in which students can assume a specific role within the team based on their strengths.
• Set priorities for performance and grading for students who have trouble determining the relative importance of what they hear or read. Many students can learn to produce effectively when task demands are limited, but crumble when faced with multiple, simultaneous demands on language skills.
• Provide advanced warning before calling on students or give them upcoming questions to prepare in advance. Allow extra time to respond to questions. Time for thought has been shown to improve the ability to respond, the complexity of responses, and the quality of responses for students with and without language difficulties.
• Adjust the amount of information that students must produce at one time to enhance their ability to produce quality work. Managing large volumes of verbal information may easily overwhelm students with weak language skills.

Peers & SLSOs

• Use teamwork with a range of responsibilities to suit the student’s strengths.
• Assign designated peers as note takers or editing partners.

Have I...

• Provided audio recordings and technological supports?

• Issued handouts of summaries and lesson notes?

• Established a peer mentoring program or provided SLSO assistance?

• Included collaborative activities?

• Provided explicit group roles for peer tasks?