Language comprehension

DLD is diagnosed in children and adolescents who present with persistent difficulty producing or understanding language for no apparent reason (Bishop et al. 2017). DLD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disabilities, yet fewer than 20% of Australians are aware of it (Kim et al. 2022).

DLD is often described as a hidden or invisible disability. It can be misinterpreted as poor attention, behavioural issues or low motivation. It is a language-based disorder that can significantly impact learning, reading, writing, social interactions and wellbeing.

DLD is a lifelong condition where a child has difficulties with understanding and/or using spoken and written language, without an obvious cause. It is not due to hearing loss, autism, intellectual disability or lack of exposure to language.

In a large Australian study, 6.4% of 10-year-olds met the criteria for DLD (Calder et al. 2022). That makes it:

• 5 times more common than autism
• 50 times more common than hearing impairment (McGregor 2020).

Some children may be identified early, but others are not recognised until later, sometimes when they have difficulties learning to read and write.

DLD often occurs alongside other difficulties, including:

• ADHD or executive functioning challenges
• speech sound disorders
• social and behavioural difficulties
• learning challenges in reading, spelling, writing or maths
• mental health concerns, such as anxiety or depression.

Research suggests that over half of students with DLD may also have dyslexia (Adlof and Hogan 2018), and children with language disorders are 4–12 times more likely to experience academic struggles than their peers.

Developmental language disorder in the classroom

DLD is a spectrum disorder, from mild to significant functional impacts. While everyone is different, students with DLD often:

• struggle to follow instructions or answer questions
• use shorter or less grammatically correct sentences
• have a limited vocabulary or find it hard to retrieve words
• find it challenging to understand implied meaning, jokes, or analogies
• struggle with conversations, storytelling, and organising their thoughts
• experience reading and writing difficulties—often one of the earliest indicators.

These difficulties may be mistaken for behavioural or attention issues. Teachers and parents are encouraged to discuss students with ongoing concerns with the school's speech language pathologist, as part of the inclusive education team.

Identifying developmental language disorder

Children begin learning language from birth. Most children start school using complex, grammatically correct sentences. But for some, language learning is harder.

Early signs of difficulties with language learning may include:

• not meeting developmental milestones
• difficulty understanding or expressing themselves
• challenges following classroom routines
• problems remembering what has been said.

Some students are not identified until they start to fall behind in reading and writing.

The inclusive education team, including speech language pathologists, gathers information about a student’s needs to support tailored learning. In Queensland state schools, a formal diagnosis is not required to receive support.

Infographic—reader profile

Reading comprehension and developmental language disorder

Learning to read is a complex and dynamic system with multiple points of vulnerability for children with DLD (Catts et al. 2016; Murphy et al. 2016). Children with persistent language difficulties are highly likely to experience reading comprehension difficulties in components of word reading, listening comprehension or both.

Reading and writing rely on a strong foundation in oral language. This is particularly important for students with DLD, who may struggle with:

• vocabulary development
• understanding and using complex sentences
• text structure knowledge
• monitoring and reflecting on their understanding
• inferencing.

All students benefit from explicit teaching of both word reading (decoding) and language comprehension.

Infographic—language disorders and reading comprehension

Infographic—language disorders and written expression

Learning to decode and spell with developmental language disorder

Some students with DLD will also experience difficulty with:

• word recognition (sometimes due to co-occurring dyslexia)
• spelling and morphology (understanding meaning parts of words).

All students, including those with DLD, benefit from:

• systematic synthetic phonics instruction
• explicit teaching of morphology
• targeted explicit vocabulary instruction.

Speech language pathologists use reader profiles to support the identification of specific student needs and to guide targeted interventions.

Infographic—the simple view of reading

Supporting students with developmental language disorder

DLD is a lifelong condition, and students may need long-term supports and adjustments. Every student’s needs are different and may change over time.

Reasonable adjustments

Reasonable adjustments allow students with language disorders to participate in learning alongside their peers. These should be related to an individual student’s profile of strengths and challenges, but might include:

• breaking instructions into smaller steps
• using visual supports or graphic organisers
• allowing extra time to process or respond
• repeating key concepts and instructions
• using familiar language when introducing new words.

Speech language pathologists support schools in planning and implementing adjustments.

Wellbeing and mental health

Students with DLD may experience frustration, anxiety or low self-esteem. They may struggle to express how they feel or follow social interactions. Supporting wellbeing is critical.

Protective factors include:

• positive relationships with teachers and peers
• opportunities to experience success in learning
• a strong voice in their educational decisions.

Tailored support builds both confidence and resilience.

Language disorders: Strategies

Investigation of the language skills that underpin the components of reading comprehension—word reading and listening comprehension—allows speech language pathologists to develop a reader profile. This profile of strengths and challenges in language and in reading comprehension informs evidence-based interventions, instructional strategies and differentiated curriculum delivery.

Research findings (Beck et al. 2013) point to the need to create classrooms that support and encourage sophisticated language usage through a rich oral language environment. There are a variety of approaches that may be implemented to support language development in the classroom. Some are briefly outlined in the following infographics.

Explicit vocabulary instruction

Read it Again—FoundationQ!

Tell it Again Q1!

Words are my superpower

Higher level language skills for reading comprehension

Shared book reading

Developmental language disorder: A call to action

The Reading Disorders – Language and Literacy team offers a confidential Reading and Writing Disorders Advisory Line (the Advisory Line) connecting school leaders, educators, parents and carers with expert advice, information and support. The Advisory Line draws on contemporary research and methodologies in the prevention, identification and intervention for children and adolescents with reading difficulties and disorders, with a focus on dyslexia and language disorders.

References

Adlof, SM and Hogan, TP 2018, 'Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorders', Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch, 49(4), pp. 762–73.

Beck, IL, McKeown, MG and Kucan, L 2013, Bringing words to life: robust vocabulary instruction 2nd Ed, The Guilford Press London.

Bishop, DVM, Snowling, MJ, Thompson, PA, Greenhalgh, T and the CATALISE-2 consortium 2017, 'Phase 2 of CATALISE: a multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study of problems with language development: Terminology', J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 58(10), pp. 1068–80.

Calder, SD, Brennan-Jones, CG, Robinson, M, Whitehouse, A and Hill, E 2022, 'The prevalence of and potential risk factors for Developmental Language Disorder at 10 years in the Raine Study', J Paediatr Child Health, 58(11), pp. 2044–50.

Catts, HW, Nielsen, DC, Bridges, MS and Liu, YS 2016, 'Early identification of reading comprehension difficulties', Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(5), pp. 451–65.

Kim, JH, Davies, B, and Xu Rattanasone, N 2022, 'Have You Heard of Developmental Language Disorder? An Online Survey', Communication Disorders Quarterly, 44(4), pp. 228–38.

McGregor, KK 2020, 'How We Fail Children With Developmental Language Disorder', Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(4), pp. 981–92.

Murphy, KA, Justice, LM, O'Connell, AA, Pentimonti, JM and Kaderavek, JN 2016, 'Understanding risk for reading difficulties in children with language impairment', Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing research, 59(6), pp. 1436–47.​​