Higher-order language includes skills such as:
Being able to explain their thinking – as their cognitive skills develop, they will make decisions based on what they know about the world. For example, when building a tower, they stop and think before placing a heavy block at the top. They may decide the block is too heavy and choose another one. When asked why they didn’t put the first block on top, they can explain it’s too heavy and the tower will fall – this is them using higher-order language.
They’re also starting to make meaning of situations. They may see a child crying and tell an adult that the child is sad. They've used their knowledge of emotions and their developing vocabulary to understand the child is sad without having to ask them.
Being able to compare information – they can now compare lots of different types of information and use this in their speech. They understand differences and similarities and talk about them. It might be that you're in the park and there are two climbing frames. Your child can say something like, “They are both climbing frames, but one has a slide.” They can also look at themselves and others and compare how they look and say, “You looked like a baby when you were playing in the home corner.”
Understanding categories – your child can make links between categories of objects and also learning that things can be whole or in parts. They may ask for an orange at snack time and they say, “Please can I have half an orange?” When they are building, they may want to use different types of blocks and can explain that the bigger blocks are better for making larger creations.[1,2]
There are challenges of learning higher-order language; one is trying to interpret and make sense of what people say.
Your child is at the very start of their journey into working out whether people really mean what they say. For example, you might want your child to put their plate in the kitchen, and you light-heartedly say, “Is that plate going to stay there all day?” Your child has to work out if you are genuinely wondering whether the plate will be there all day, or if you are trying to say something else.[3]
This part of higher-order language will take quite a long time for your child to figure out. Even as adults we don’t always understand what someone is trying to say!
How can you help teach higher-order language at home?
It’s actually simple: the way to teach these skills is through talking!
Talk with your child about almost anything. Talking about how things were different when you grew up is a great topic for inspiring higher-order language skills. Your child will have the opportunity to compare information, think about categories, and possibly make meaning of what they hear.
When you are playing, use questions such as, ‘I wonder’ and ‘Do you think?’ By asking them to think they access their own information and begin to draw reasons and explain why.
Higher-order language can be encouraged when reading stories. Use the illustrations to talk through your thinking. You might look at an image of a girl in a park with a smiling face. You could suggest, “I think the girl looks happy because she is enjoying the fresh air.” Hearing your explanations for ideas encourages them to have a go.
References:
[1] Higher order language (2019). Victoria State Government. Available online at: Higher order language (education.vic.gov.au)
[2] Pahl. A. (2022). Developing Higher Order Language Skills for Preschoolers. Emerge Pediatric Therapy. Available online at: Developing Higher Order Language Skills for Preschoolers (emergepediatrictherapy.com)
[3] Saunders, K. (2016). Higher-level language skills. Available online at: Higher-level language skills by Kate Saunders - Sarah Buckley Therapies Ltd