Speech vs. Language - what is the difference?

The first thing you might be wondering is, is there a difference between speech and language, aren’t they just the same thing?!

Well, no they aren’t the same thing. Although we use the words interchangeably in day to day life, in the speech & language world we think about speech skills and language skills as two separate things. Perhaps I should start by defining these two concepts and then explain why the differences are important…

Speech vs. Language

Commonly we use the word 'speech' to describe anything that we say but this is not actually what it is! "Speech" only refers to the sounds we make.

Language is usually what mean when we say 'speech'! "Language" refers to the words we use and understand. It also refers to the order in which we use these words and the way we show things like plurals, tenses and pronouns.

Ok that’s pretty pedantic, why does the difference matter?!

The reason that we care about the difference is because it affects what we do. We choose different therapy approaches depending on what the underlying difficulties and strengths are. In the same way you wouldn't want an asthma inhaler if your problem is with your heart! We wouldn’t want to choose a speech intervention if the difficulty is with language!

For many children, the difficulty is with both speech (sounds) and language (words), but for some it's one or the other! Have a think about your little one. Does this make you think differently about their communication skills?