Language 

​Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing

Receptive language is Listening and Reading.  Expressive Language is Speaking and Writing.  Interconnected and dynamic, these main parts of language are made up of the following components:

• Phonology (sound system of a language)
• Morphology  (structure of words)
• Syntax (combining words to form sentences)
• Semantics  (content of language)
• Pragmatics (language use and social aspects of communication)
• Prelinguistic communication (e.g., joint attention, intentionality, communicative signaling)
• Paralinguistic communication (e.g., gestures, signs, body language)
• Literacy (reading, writing, spelling)​

​Language is made up of socially shared rules that include the following:

• What words mean (e.g., "blue" can refer to a color or an emotional state)
• How to make new words (e.g., clear, clearly, unclear)
• How to put words together (e.g., "The dog barked at the bicycle"  rather than "Dog bark bicycle at" )
• What word combinations are best in what situations ("Would you please move your car?" could quickly change to "Get your car out of my spot, please!" if the first request did not produce results)

When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she might have a language disorder.  Language and speech disorders can exist together or by themselves. The problem can be mild or severe.  In any case, a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist  certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the first step to improving language and speech problems.