What’s the difference between speech and language?

Question

Patricia Welty · Accepted Answer

Speech refers to the physical production of sounds and words. It requires the coordination of several subsystems, including respiration (breathing), phonation (voicing), and articulation (using the jaw, teeth, lips, and tongue to make sounds). Children with speech delays or disorders may make speech sound errors, such as “wamp” for “lamp” or “gog” for “dog”.

Language can be thought of in terms of semantics (i.e., meaning), morphosyntax (i.e., word and sentence level grammar), and pragmatics (i.e., the ability to use language for a variety of functions.) Language refers to the ability to understand and express vocabulary, or meaning. We then manipulate and use words in different ways within sentences to reflect changes in meaning.

Finally, we use language with different functions (e.g., ask, answer, comment, negate) to share our thoughts and ideas with others. Children with language delays may not have many words to express their ideas, which can be frustrating, especially in the presence of other difficulties. They may speak in shorter, simpler sentences than is typical for their age or may have a hard time organizing and clearly expressing their ideas for others to understand.

Children may experience delays in speech, language, or both skill sets, but intervention will help to alleviate frustration and build communicative confidence so children fully participate in their relationships and activities.

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