Pre Linguistic Skills : Everything you need to know

Pre Linguistic Skills : Everything you need to know

Pre linguistic skills, also known as pre speech skills or pre language skills, form the foundation of language development. These essential skills emerge before a child begins to speak and are vital for effective communication. This blog post will guide you through everything you need to know about pre linguistic skills, including their types, red flags, and pre-linguistic skills activities to promote development.

What are pre linguistic skills ?

Prelinguistic skills are non-verbal communication behaviors that develop before spoken language. These include gestures, imitation, facial expressions, joint attention, and turn-taking. They are crucial pre speech skills that lay the groundwork for later language use and social communication.

These pre linguistic skills are especially important in early intervention and prelinguistic skills speech therapy, helping children with speech delays or developmental disorders communicate more effectively.

Core Pre Linguistic Skills

1. Eye contact : One of the first pre-linguistic skills to develop, eye contact begins around 6–8 weeks. It helps babies recognize faces and voices and is essential for bonding and communication.

2. Responding : Babies start responding to facial expressions and voices by smiling at you or cooing. Laughing and squeals emerge around 3 – 4 months of age. This indicates that babies begin to understand their reactions means something.

3. Purposeful noises : Babies begin to make purposeful noises around 4 months. They have established the understanding that if they make a particular sound, their caregiver will smile at them and this is a critical pre speech skill.

4. Turn taking : This develops when the parents make a sound or smile at the child. Then they wait for the child to respond. Eventually, the parent and the babies start to take turns with actions and sounds.

5. Imitation : Babies start to imitate sounds or actions around 6 months of age. For example, you may say ‘ma ma’. The baby also repeats ‘ma ma’. They also start copying your actions like clapping.

6. Joint attention : Joint attention means interacting with the same object. It means the child first looks at the object, then at the caregiver and again at the object. For example, both of you are looking at the teddy bear. It's a key indicator in prelinguistic skills speech therapy. The child first looks at the teddy bear. He/she will then look at the caregiver and back at the teddy. It is the unsaid version of ‘do you see what I see’. It emerges around 9 months of age.

Red flags in development of  pre linguistic skills –

The following points indicate that there are difficulties in the child development of pre linguistic skills –

• Fleeting eye contact.

• Social smile is absent.

• Does not use different sounds to indicate hunger, happiness, sadness.

• Does not babble.

• Copying of facial expressions is absent.

• Using voice or sounds to get attention is absent.

• Does not enjoy others participating in their play.

These signs may suggest challenges in pre language skills development and should be addressed with professional guidance.

Problems because of pre linguistic difficulties

A child may have the following problems due to pre–linguistic skills difficulties –

• Comprehension of language (receptive language).

• Use of expressive language.

• They may show behavioral problems such as temper tantrums.

• Social skills are also affected.

• There is a delay in use of words to communicate.

• Attention and concentration are affected.

• It also affects play skills.

Activities to improve pre – linguistic skills

Engaging children in fun, sensory-rich pre-linguistic skills activities can support development. The following activities can help in the childrens language development of pre – linguistic skills –

• To improve eye contact: Games such as peek a boo can be played with children. You can simply cover your eyes and then open them again while making sounds. You can also hide objects the child is familiar with. This can include his toys or bottles. You can also play with balloons to improve eye contact. You can throw an inflated balloon up and then catch it. This will improve the child’s eye contact. You can also use bubbles for eye contact improvement.

• To enhance imitation skills: Action songs can be done with the babies. Action songs also promote listening skills and help them follow instructions. Sing songs to the babies to encourage imitation. Clapping games can be played with them. They should also be encouraged to copy the actions of daily chores. A few examples are switching off the light. You can also encourage them to keep the toy back in the basket.

• To work on turn taking: many pre-linguistic skills activities can be done. You can play pass the ball, taking turns. You can also do block building to promote turn taking. Another activity involves talking to the child and waiting for them to respond. This also helps in enhancing turn taking. To know more about turn taking, click here

• Talk to your baby as you feed or bathe your baby: Use simple language while talking to the baby.

• Indulge in stop and pause to improve the baby’s joint attention: This involves pausing before giving an item or resuming an action so the child will look at you. Other activities include mirror activities and face – to – face games. These games include peek a boo or tickling. You can also play bouncing on the knees. You can also bring a preferred object in front of the child. Gradually move it to encourage child to shift his gaze to keep looking at the object.

Talk to your child during daily routines like feeding or bathing using simple, repetitive language to strengthen pre speech skills.

Why is intervention needed if pre-linguistic skills are delayed ?

If prelinguistic skills are delayed, early speech therapy can be very effective. A speech-language pathologist can help:

• Help the child develop play skills

• Aid in the development of social skills

• Develop the ability to understand language

• Enhance turn taking skills

• Improve joint attention

• Help improve imitation skills

• Improve their ability to express themselves

Building strong pre linguistic skills early paves the way for effective communication. With timely intervention and structured pre-linguistic skills activities, your child can develop the foundation they need for lifelong language success. Learn more about activities to improve attention skills in children. Video below!

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