EARLY YEARS LANGUAGEÂ DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES
Listed below are some key language development milestones
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For more in-depth information head to Speech Pathology Australia's communication milestones information page
EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE- TALKING
At 12 Months:
Start to use sounds, gestures and a few words to communicate
Continue to babble and copy sounds and noises
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At 18 Months:
Says 6-20 single words, some easier to understand than others, but becoming more consistent
Name a few body parts
Use objects in pretend play (e.g. hold a toy phone up to their ear and say "hello")
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At 2 Years:
Say more than 50 single words
Put 2 words together
Say 'no' when they don't want something
Use their tone of voice to ask a question (e.g. "dolly go?")
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At 3 Years:
Say 4-5 words in a sentence
Ask question using 'what', 'where' and 'who'
Talk about something in the past
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At 4 Years:
Use words such as 'and', 'but' and 'because', to make longer sentences
ask lots of questions
count to five and name a few colours
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At 5 Years:
Use well formed sentences to be understood by most people
Tell simple, short stories, with a beginning middle and end
Use past and future tense correctly (e.g. "went", "will go")
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RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE- UNDERSTANDING
At 12 Months:
Understand about 10 words
Respond to tehir name
Recognise greetings and gestures, such as 'hi' and 'bye-bye'
Make eye contact
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At 18 Monhs:
Understand up to 50 words
Follow simple instructions (e.g. 'throw the ball')
Point to some pictures in a book or objects in their environment when named
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At 2 Years:
Follow simple 2-part instructions (e.g. 'give me the ball and the car')
Respond to simple wh-questions, such as 'what' and 'where'
Understand when an object is 'on' or 'in' something
Point to several body parts
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At 3 Years:
Follow more complex two-part instructions (e.g. "give me the teddy and throw the ball')
Understand the concept of 'same ' and 'different'
Sort items into groups (e.g. toys vs food)
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At 4 Years:
Answer most questions about daily tasks
Understand some numbers
Show an awareness that some words start or finish with the same sound
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At 5 Years:
Follow three part instructions (e.g. 'put on your shoes, get you bag and line up outside')
Understand time related words (e.g. 'before', 'after', 'now' and 'later')
Understand instructions without stopping to listen
Begin to recognise some letters, sounds and numbers
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