Expansion is something I can personally relate to these days (about 9 weeks left to go till we meet baby #3!) So this week I want to discuss how we can expand and build language as a strategy!

To expand, an adult repeats back what the child has said and either adds something new, or corrects syntax or grammatical structure. (Fickenscher, S., & Gaffney, E. (2016). Auditory verbal strategies to build listening and spoken language skills. Retrieved from http://www.auditory-verbal-mentoring.com/contact/contact.php) *can also be retrieved from this website using the navigation at the top of the page*

When we expand a child’s utterance, we (the adult) takes part of the child’s utterance and improves it syntactically and/or semantically (Cole, 2011). When the expanded utterance contains part of the child’s original utterance, it encourages the child to continue to talk, rather than ending the conversation. The expanded utterance provides a model for the child (McLean, 1999).

Starting with a simple expansion, we can add or modify a grammatical detail for a single target. For example, changing a plural to a singular (or vice versa) or adjusting a verb ending. As expansions become more complex, more than one target can be modified or new information can be added to the child’s core utterance. The core of the expansion being (part of) the child’s original utterance causes the child to have a deeper interest in the expansion (Proctor-Williams, Fey & Loeb, 2001) which leads to increases in utterance length and grammatical development (Cole & Flexer, 2007).

Expansions create a contrast between the child’s original utterance with the target form of the sound, word or phrase. The contrast is not so great that the child cannot analyze the differences or comprehend because it contains part of their own utterance. Therefore, the child is more likely to notice the target!

Here is what an expansion might sound/look like:

Child: What dat noise?

Adult: That noise is the washing machine. (use acoustic highlighting on the improved “that” and expand by adding the clause)

Child: He dribing (driving) dere (there)

Adult: Yes. You are right. He is driving the submarine

Child: He dribing da red submarine

*you can see how, over time, they get the hang of expansions and start to add some of their own!

This is one way we add links in the chain to improve and increase utterances!

You can click here to download the individual handout for Expansion or you can download the entire Strategy resource here!