What’s the Difference Between Speech and Language?

Childhood is a remarkable time of growth and development, especially when it comes to communication. Two crucial aspects that develop during this time are speech and language skills. While often used interchangeably, speech and language are distinct yet interrelated skills that make up a child's ability to express themselves.

As an SLP, especially at evaluations when I ask parents what their concerns are, they often have difficulty distinguishing and expressing the differences in their concerns in relation to their child’s language development, and speech development. Early language delays and disorders are often referred to as a “speech delay,” which further confuses parents. Keep reading to find out the differences between speech and language skills, how they are connected, and what are speech and language delays and disorders.

Defining Child Speech and Language Development

Child speech and language development are important milestones in a child's early years, laying the foundation for their ability to communicate and interact effectively with others.

child working on speech sound — Speech refers to the production of speech sounds.

Speech Development:

Speech development refers to the acquisition of the physical skills necessary to produce sounds, and connect them together to produce words. For example, being able to say different sounds such as /p, b, s, k, r/, and so on, in order to say words and sentences clearly. It involves the development of the fine motor skills needed to control their “articulators,” which includes the tongue, lips, teeth, vocal folds, jaw, hard palate, and soft palate, and the gradual refinement of these movements. As children grow, they learn to coordinate these articulators to create the sounds that form words and sentences, which allows them to communicate. This is learned first through babbling and vocal play and their ability to hear and imitate others. Different sounds are expected to develop at certain ages, so while a child may not be able to say certain sounds, it is possible that it is developmentally appropriate for their age (see articulation norms chart below).

children communicating with each other — Language refers to the understand and use of words to communicate for a variety of functions.

Language Development:

Child language development encompasses the acquisition of the complex system of symbols, rules, and structures that make up language. This includes growing their vocabulary, understanding grammar and syntax, and developing an understanding of semantics (word meaning) and pragmatics (how language is used in social contexts). This includes the development of receptive language (what one understands), expressive language (how one uses words to communicate), and pragmatic language (how one understands and uses language in varying social contexts). Language skills enable children to convey their thoughts, emotions, and needs to others and to understand the thoughts and messages of those around them. For young children, this means the development of their ability to understand words and directions, and their ability to use words to communicate for a variety of functions (e.g. labeling, requesting, responding).

Key Differences in Child Speech and Language Development

Physical vs. Cognitive Milestones: Child speech development is characterized by physical milestones. It involves the gradual improvement of fine motor skills required for articulation and sound production. Child language development, on the other hand, is a cognitive milestone, encompassing the comprehension of linguistic rules and the ability to use them to convey and interpret meaning.

Sounds vs. Concepts: Child speech development primarily focuses on the acquisition of individual sounds and the ability to combine them into recognizable patterns to create words. Children learn to mimic the speech sounds they hear in their environment. Child language development, however, involves the acquisition of words and phrases, and the understanding of abstract concepts behind linguistic units (e.g. word meaning, grammatical markers such as plural -s or possessive -s).

Articulation vs. Communication: Speech development enables children to articulate sounds, which is essential for clear speech production. It's about learning to physically form sounds. Child language development, on the other hand, focuses on fostering effective communication including using words to convey ideas or make requests, as well as the ability to understand others' messages.

You can see how these skills are intertwined, as communication skills can be negatively impacted by poor articulation. In early language development it can sometimes be difficult to determine if a child’s communication difficulties are due to a reduced expressive vocabulary (language), or if their speech production skills are delayed or disordered, making the production of words so unclear they are unintelligible or difficult to produce at all.

child moving articulators — Children learn to control their tongue, lips, teeth, and jaw to produce speech sounds. Errors with speech sounds can cause communication difficulties.

What is Typical Speech Development?

In the early stages of child speech development, there might be variability in pronunciation and articulation as children learn to master different sounds. Each sound is expected to develop by a certain age according to developmental norms. Additionally, children are expected to have varying degrees of intelligibility (i.e. how well you are able to understand what the child is saying despite errors in their speech) at certain ages. For example, 2 year olds are only expected to be about 50% intelligible to familiar listeners in a known context, and children are not expected to be 95-100% intelligible until 4 years of age for familiar listeners in a known context, and around 7 years of age for unfamiliar listeners in an unknown context.

At what age is each speech sound expected to develop?

This articulation norms chart shows at which age 90% of children have developed each speech sounds, within each age.

What is a Speech Sound Delay or Disorder?

When children have not developed the ability to say a sound by the expected age, or if their speech errors result in the child being less intelligible than is expected for their age, it is considered to be a speech sound disorder (e.g. articulation delay or disorder, phonological disorder, childhood apraxia of speech, dysarthria), which would be a diagnosed by a speech-language pathologist.

What is Typical Language Development?

In child language development, progress is marked by the acquisition of specific communication skills that follow developmental norms. Specific communication skills are expected to be met by certain ages (learn more about the difference between milestones and averages here). Over time, children acquire more complex sentence structures and vocabulary to communicate in more advanced ways. Children can be either analytical language processors (what is most commonly thought of with language acquisition skills, where skills develop from words, to phrases, to sentences), or gestalt language processors (less familiar language development pattern, where children say whole phrases or sentences before understanding the use of single words).

What is a Language Delay or Disorder?

When children have not yet developed communication skills expected by their age, it would be considered a language delay or disorder. This can include receptive, expressive, and pragmatic language skills, and is diagnosed by a speech-language pathologist. A language delay is typically diagnosed when language skills are developing in the expected order, though at a slower rate than their peers. A language disorder is typically diagnosed when language skills are scattered and not following the expected path of development. However, the words “delay” and “disorder” are often used interchangeably.

Why do the differences between speech and language matter?

Child speech and language development are extraordinary aspects of early childhood growth. While child speech development involves the physical ability to produce sounds, child language development encompasses the cognitive understanding of words and linguistic structures, and the ability to use words to communicate in a variety of ways. By recognizing the distinctions between speech and language, we can provide tailored support that encourages children to express themselves clearly.

What if I am concerned with my child’s speech and language development?

If you are concerned about your child’s speech and/or language development, reach out to your pediatrician for a referral to a speech-language pathologist. If you are concerned about your child’s speech and language development, it’s important to get an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist. Early intervention has been proven to have better outcomes than the outdated “wait and see” approach. Every state has a state-funded early intervention program, although these programs can be difficult to qualify for. Your child may also qualify for intervention through their school. If you are still concerned, you can reach out to a private practice or outpatient facility in your area.

For strategies you can start implementing today to help increase your child’s speech development, click here and here , or for language development, click here, here, and here.

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This website and information on this blog post is provided for educational purposes only. It is not meant as medical advice, intended to replace a speech-language assessment, therapy from a speech-language pathologist, or serve as medical care for a child. It is recommended that you discuss any concerns or questions you might have with your speech-language pathologist, pediatrician, and medical team, and develop an individualized team plan specifically for your child.