The Waiting Game: How Silence Fosters Language Growth in Children

Consider the myriad of directions a child receives in a single day:

"Grab your coat and bag! Don’t forget your water bottle.  It's time to head out."

"What do you want for dinner tonight?"

“After you turn in that paper, you can pick out a book and read it on the rug.” 

Adults regularly provide instructions (single and multistep) and pose questions to children. These range from open-ended inquiries like, "How was your day at school?" to closed-ended ones such as, "Spiderman or Batman shirt today?"

Now, visualize the circumstances in which these directions and questions arise. Are they amidst transitions from one activity to another? Is there auditory stimuli present that might interfere such as background music, tv, or even conversation? These environmental factors can contribute to a child's responsiveness.

One of my top recommendations for adults communicating with children is to allow them ample TIME to respond. Try silently counting to 10 in your head after giving a directive or asking a question.

Several years into my career as a school-based Speech Pathologist, a brilliant coworker challenged me to video record myself leading a classroom lesson to determine if I was giving adequate wait time for my students. My students greatly benefitted from wait time due to identified challenges with their receptive language (comprehension) and expressive language skills (output of a message, either verbally or nonverbally). Despite believing I had allotted sufficient time for responses during a group lesson, I fell short of the 10-second mark on many occasions. It took ongoing practice and effort to deliberately pause and count to 10 in my head after giving a direction or asking a question. With time, our entire classroom team learned to give our students ample wait time. Students gained independence as we waited for them to follow directions before we repeated the direction and/or provided additional support. We were blown away by the thoughtful, spontaneous responses our students began sharing once they were given that extra time. 

By giving children ample time to respond, they have the opportunity to process information, potentially execute an appropriate action, or formulate a more comprehensive response. 

By increasing wait time, we can

• Build confidence

• Improve focus and time on task

• Increase quality and quantity of response (Yes, studies show that responses tend to be greater in length when wait time increases.).
  

Whether you're a parent, caregiver, teacher, therapist, or other professional interacting with children, integrating the 10-second “waiting rule” can positively impact their language development journey.