2 - 3 YEARS

A child can usually...

RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE

  • Following more complex two part commands, for example, "touch your nose and give me the apple"

  • Understand simple 'wh' questions, including "what," "where" and "who"

  • Points to a large number of noun and verb vocabulary images

  • Understands adjectives such as same/different, big/little, wet/dry and open/close

  • Understands spatial language concepts such as in/out, top/bottom, up/down, on/off and over/under

  • Understands quantity language concepts such as more/less, one/many, empty/full, lots/none

  • Sorts items into groups when requested, such as 'food' and 'clothes'

  • Understands functions of objects, such as the car drives

  • Recognises colours and understands genders

Boy and sister
Kids Play

EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE

  • Produces two-four word sentences

  • Answers yes/no questions

  • Uses various words for names, actions, locations and descriptions

  • Asks many 'wh' questions, including "what," "where," and "who"

  • Names a large number of pictures and actions

  • Refers to things in the past using '-ed' past tense, for example, "she swimmed"

  • Produces present tense '-ing' when required, for example, "walking"

  • Produces words such as "the," "is" and "a"

  • Engages in conversation, but may not be able to stay on topic or turn-take effectively

  • Speech is 75-100% intelligible by strangers