Spoken language

Speech is made up of lots of different sounds which have different frequencies and loudness. Children develop speech through hundreds of hours of interaction with adults. In order to learn how to hear and process speech, children need to be able to hear speech through their residual hearing or hearing technology.

Your child’s audiologist or Teacher of the Deaf can help you learn which speech sounds your child can hear with and without hearing technology.

Studies show that, once a child begins to understand speech, they quickly develop their own spoken vocabulary.

Find out more about hearing in our resource ‘Understanding your child’s hearing tests’.

There are lots of ways you can help your child learn to listen and enjoy listening to you. For example, you can help your child tune into your voice by:

• singing
• changing the loudness or pitch of your voice
• using different voices when telling a story
• using visual cues and objects to show your child what you’re talking about.

Deaf children may take longer to process speech. Try to be patient, giving your child plenty of time to process what’s been said and respond.

All children hear and listen best in quiet environments. This is especially true for deaf babies and children who are new to listening and speech. They tune into language best when they can hear both the speech sounds and how the speaker uses intonation and pitch to share meaning.

Children with typical hearing will naturally learn to filter out sounds so that they can focus on speech. Deaf children who use hearing devices, such as hearing aids or implants, find it harder to focus on speech because hearing devices amplify all sounds, not just speech. You can help your child to focus on your voice by:

• being close to your child when you talk
• moving your child away from sources of background noise
• switching off appliances like TVs and radios
• using a radio aid when you’re out and about or in a busy environment.

Find out more about creating a good communication environment.

All children use a combination of vision and hearing to help them understand spoken language and communicate in everyday situations, especially in busy, noisy environments like playgrounds. By making spoken language visual, you can help your deaf child to understand or express themselves more easily.

• Make sure your child can see you when you speak.
• Move into your child’s eye line and get their attention before you speak.
• Use facial expressions to help your child understand your tone of voice.
• Use everyday gestures alongside words, such as waving to say hello or pointing at the object you’re talking about, to support understanding.
• Speak as you would normally. Speaking too slowly or loudly makes lip-reading much more difficult.
• Use sign language to support understanding of spoken language (also known as Sign Supported English or SSE).

We all use language to communicate with others. Pragmatics is one part of social communication skills and refers to how we use language socially, in diverse ways and in different situations. It includes:

• the words we say
• non-verbal communication (such as eye gaze and movement)
• other features like intonation and volume

Children learn best by observing and practising communication skills during daily routines. Deaf children learn pragmatic skills through rich social interactions and by seeing and hearing the social interactions of others.

Learn more about pragmatics.

There are lots of different approaches and programmes which aim to develop and improve spoken language for deaf children.

There is no one approach or intervention which will be right for all children. Many deaf children benefit from a range of approaches and programmes depending on their:

• age
• level and type of deafness
• language and communication needs
• family and community

It’s important to remember that we use communication flexibly depending on our environment, situation, and who we’re communicating with.

If you’re interested in trying a language programme to support your child’s speaking and listening, talk to your audiologist and Teacher of the Deaf or speech and language therapist if you have one. You can also speak to deaf adults or other parents of deaf children in your area, to find out what worked for them.

Don’t be afraid to change your approach as your child develops and grows.

If you’re worried about your child’s communication development, or your child’s communication difficulties are impacting their development, learning or mental health, speech and language therapy could help.

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) don’t just support children to speak. They can also support with all forms of language and communication, including signing or using tools such as a communication board, which may be useful for children with additional needs.

Find out more about speech and language therapy.

Deaf children in the UK might use many different spoken languages. In the UK, the most common are English, or English and Welsh, Polish, Romanian, Panjabi and Urdu. Deaf children in Scotland and Ireland may also speak Gaelic or come from families who speak Gaelic. Your child’s first language is usually the language that you and your family use at home in everyday conversation. There is no right or wrong first language for your child.

With the right support, lots of deaf children can learn more than one spoken language. For example, a deaf child might use Urdu at home and English at school.

Many deaf children also enjoy learning additional spoken languages at school, such as French or Spanish. Schools should make adaptations to support this, such as providing a live speaker to help deaf young people to lip-read during language examinations.