Speech / Language

Children 42-48 months generally are able to do the following:

Receptive Language:

• Responds to concrete and abstract questions, who, what, where, why, how, when
• Follows 2-3 step directions of increasing complexity
• Understands more difficult descriptive concepts (same/different, heavy,light)
• Makes inferences when asked a question such as: “why do you wear a coat?”
• Understands position words in pictures (above, under)
• Understands negatives in sentences (ex: “which cat is not sleeping?)
• Understands most pronouns

Expressive Language:

• Between 42-46 months children speak phrases and sentences of 3.75-4.5 words in length. From 47+ months children speak phrases and sentences of at least 4.5 in length 
• Coordinates simple sentences
• Uses locatives (e.g., up, down)
• Uses the word “and” as the main conjunction
• Answers questions logically
• Tells how an object is used
• Asks a variety of questions including frequent use of “why”
• Helps to tell a story or make up silly stories of their own

Speech Intelligibility:

• By 47 months, speaks so about 73% of communication is understood by unfamiliar listeners with a range of 54-80%
• Spanish-speaking students have mastered the following consonant sounds by age 3 years 11 months /p/, /t/, /m/, /k/, /j/ (as in “yo”), /l/, /ch/, /ñ/