Developing Language Skills

As an adult, I have noticed that many children are unable to express themselves clearly or coherently, sometimes not even being able to string a complete sentence together. Responses to questions are often one-word answers or phrased in fractured phrases.

This affects both oral and composition tests, as well as answering skills for Science open-ended sections.

I believe this growing national issue is caused by the decline of something very practical: Verbal usage.

Learning Through Play

I remember during my early childhood days in the 80s and early 90s, I would go to a neighbour’s house to play almost every day. We would re-enact scenes from the cartoons which the action figures and play sets were based on, or sometimes we would make up our own storylines.

That was how we played, and I remember that that was how many children played. Unknowingly, we were using language to play out conversations that we heard around us, be it on the television or from adults conversing.

Through daily play, we were practising how to express ourselves in complete sentences and how to respond logically.

The Art of Negotiation

The playground was another place where language was developed naturally.

In this setting, we learned to negotiate and practised framing cause and effect. For example, “Can I play on the slide?” or “You can’t have that because…”

With so many children playing together, there was no way to play cohesively without learning to express one’s own needs and to develop enough empathy to understand that others have needs as well; and both was necessary for everyone to have a good time.

The Modern Hindrances to Language Development

Today, toy stores are beginning to flounder with the lack of sales of dolls and action figures and most playgrounds remain empty throughout the day in many neighbourhoods. Children have just found another way to entertain themselves: Mobile gaming.

While mobile gaming itself is not an evil, and some have argued for their benefits to the development of certain skills, a child that would rather spend hours a day on screen time than practising to speak will not develop well linguistically.

Text messaging is another culprit. As adults, we of course know how text shortcuts like “ur”, “thx” and “tomolo” are actually spelt.

However, as children who are learning a language, accuracy is of utmost importance.

Another facet of text messaging, spellcheckers, take the responsibility of learning to spell away from the user and places it misguidedly on the device. Use spellcheckers as a tool of convenience, but don’t depend on them.

As generations of tech-dependent children grow up, they become tech-dependent adults who need to use apps like Grammarly, that continue to perpetuate bad habits, instead of addressing them.

Lastly, the home environment makes a huge difference in language development.

The hard and inescapable fact is that children emulate their parents; be it mannerisms, speech patterns or language structure. If you’re speaking Singlish at home, there’s a limit to what the school or tuition centre can do to help your child who is learning from you, every day.

I had the benefit of having a father who grew up with the linguistic standards of colonial England. The flip-side is that my Mandarin was extremely poor.

Addressing the Issue

So what could you do to help your child’s language development?

While we can’t force children to roleplay with toys or go to the playground, we can create a natural and conducive environment for our children to grow in their language skills.

1. When at home with your child, make an effort to speak as close to the standard form of the language as possible.
2. Encourage your child not to use spellcheckers on their phones. To be fair, you could do so too. Make an agreement to help correct each other’s spelling and grammar.
3. Set aside time to verbally communicate with your child. Slowly, provide a safe place for them to express themselves without judgement. If you have to correct them, just address one thing each conversation.

Change takes time. If your child is already older, go slow. Before any action can be taken, you need their buy in first. If your child is still young, then it’s a perfect time to start. Language is a skill – practice makes permanent.

Looking for tuition for your child? Let us know how Mister Meister can help by filling up this form. 

Photo source: pngtree.com