Blog: Modelling Language to Support Vocabulary Development

About the Author

Laura McCandless is a Speech and Language Therapist working for SpeechWise Therapy.  Laura has been a speech and language therapist for over 10 years working in both SEN settings and mainstream schools.   

She is passionate about training and working with staff and families in order for them to provide the best support for children.

Modelling language is often one of the top tips given to practitioners when being advised on how they can help children’s speech and language therapy development.

“There is strong evidence that teaching and modelling vocabulary to children in the early years can have a positive effect on their oral language skills”. 

(Source: Approaches for supporting communication and language development Teaching and Modelling Language, EEF evidence store.)

But what does modelling language mean and what vocabulary should we be modelling to our children?

What is important to know when modelling language and vocabulary.

Follow their lead:

First it is important to model language that the child is interested in – during interactions with a child you need to follow their lead.  A helpful way to remember this is to stop, listen, respond (source: Elklan).  Children are more likely to absorb what you are saying if it is about something they are interested in.  Children learn words by associating what they hear with the object/situation they see in the moment e.g. if they are looking out the window at a bird in a tree you are best modelling ‘bird’ and ‘tree’ instead of commenting on what is on the table in front of them.

• Only model if it feels natural to do so and don’t ask them to repeat or correct their error.  It is important a child enjoys the interaction so they will come back for more.
• Don’t be afraid of quiet moments – It can feel so tempting to fill silence with a question (it is natural to do so) but it is important to embrace silence as it gives the child time to absorb what you have said and plan their answer. Wait a whole 10 seconds after you have spoken before talking again to give them chance to respond.

Prioritise comments over questions:

• Commenting on what a child is doing is much more beneficial for them then asking too many questions (remember to teach and don’t test).  Describe what a child is doing or looking at using short, simple sentences. 
• ‘The hand rule’ (Elklan): highlights the desirable ratio of questions to comments – one question (thumb) to every four comments (fingers).

• Commenting also involves repetitions and expansions:
  • Repetition also known as ‘Recasting’ – is a strategy where you repeat back what the child says but correct any errors that they made.  It is essential to do this in a way that does not interrupt the flow of the conversation and does not make the child feel like they have got something wrong.
  • Expansion – this is where you repeat what the child says but add 1 or 2 words.  This way they are hearing new words linked to what they are interested in.

What else can be done to support vocabulary development?

Explicit instruction of vocabulary

“There is some evidence that it can be effective to combine explicit instruction with these implicit teaching strategies” 

(Source: Approaches for supporting communication and language development Teaching and Modelling Language, EEF evidence store.)

• Modelling is an example of an ‘implicit teaching strategy’ and should happen throughout the day.  
• ‘Explicit instruction’ involves targeting specific vocabulary and needs to be planned into activities throughout the day.  You need to take time to explain what the word means, break the sound down (clap the syllables) etc.  It is great to use a variety of multi-sensory activities.

Think of ‘5 a day’ (Elklan) young children should learn 8 words a day (Bishop, 1997) So if 3 are learnt at home, this leaves 5 to learn in their setting – their ‘5 a day’

Reference and further reading:

For more information on the Elklan strategies talked about above see their website:www.elklan.co.uk

Bishop (1997) Uncommon Understanding. Development and Disorders of Language Comprehension in Children.

Early Years Evidence Store.  Approaches for supporting communication and language development.  1. Teaching and Modelling Vocabulary.  https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/early-years-evidence-store/communication-and-language?approach=teaching-and-modelling-vocabulary

Early Years Evidence Store.  Approaches for supporting communication and language development.  2. Teaching and Modelling Language. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/early-years-evidence-store/communication-and-language?approach=teaching-modelling-language