What is the difference between receptive language and expressive language?

Receptive Language

We use our receptive language skills to understand words and sentences and various concepts. We need strong receptive language skills to understand what other people are communicating.

Some signs a child may be struggling with receptive language skills are difficulty with:

• Identifying or pointing to a variety of nouns and verbs when named

• Understanding instructions or following directions

• Understanding yes/no questions

• Answering WH questions, such as, “Who is that?” and your child answers “Disneyland” because the picture is taken at Disneyland

• Following stories and conversations

Expressive Language

We use our expressive language to share our wants, thoughts and ideas. We need strong expressive language skills to verbalize what we are thinking and to recall words we already know to formulate them into sentences.

Some indicators that your child may be struggling with expressive language skills are difficulty with:

• Using a variety of nouns and verbs when speaking

• Creating sentences that increase in length and complexity over time

• Formulating sentences in the correct order and with the correct grammatical elements

• Sharing a story with salient details and accurate sequencing

• Being able to alleviate a communication breakdown by explaining something in a different way