Speech and Language Development

2 - 2½ years

Articulation/Speech:

• Approximately 50 – 70% intelligible
• May omit final consonants; reduces consonant blends; substitutes one consonant for another
  

Receptive Language:

• Comprehends approximately 500 words
• Listens to a 5 to 10 minute story
• Carries out a series of two related commands
• Identifies actions in pictures
• Has concepts “one and “all”
  

Expressive Language:

• Uses approximately 50 – 200 intelligible words
• Names 6 objects by use
• Repeats two numbers correctly
• Answers “where” questions
• Answers “what” questions
• Answers “what do you hear with?” meaning that they understand the function of body parts?

Grammer and Syntax:

• Articles “a” and “the” appear in sentences
• Present progressive “ing” on verbs
• Regular plural forms emerging (cat+cats)
• Uses in/on correctly
• Irregular past tense emerging
• Uses some contractions in memorized form (don’t, can’t, it’s)
• Appropriate use of at least two pronouns
• Asks basic questions (“daddy gone?” “what’s this?”)
• Understands concept of first- and second- person pronouns (I, you)
• 25% of utterances are nouns, 25% are verbs
• Combines three to four words in subject + verb + object format
• Average response is 2 – 3 words
  

Play:

• Parallel play dominates
• Arranges doll furniture into meaningful groups and uses doll figures to act out simple themes (imaginative play)
• Aligns three or more cubes to make a train; pushes train
• Builds tower of six to seven blocks
• Imitates drawing a vertical line
• Sequences related actions in play such as preparing food for a doll, feeding it, wipes its mouth
  

Social Skills/Pragmatics:

• Engages in short dialogues
• Expresses emotion
• Uses attention-getting words, such as “hey”
• Clarifies and ask for clarification
• Begins to provide descriptive details