A three-year-old with language delay is increasing mean length of utterances. The teacher joins the child during block play to promote language growth. Which scenario would most increase the child's number of words when playing together?

A three-year-old with language delay is increasing mean length of utterances. The teacher joins the child during block play to promote language growth. Which scenario would most increase the child's number of words when playing together?

• A. When the child picks up a car and says 'C' for 'car,' the teacher responds, 'Vroom, vroom.'
• B. When the child picks up a car and says 'C' for 'car,' the teacher responds, 'Car.'
• C. When the teacher hands the child a car and the child says 'C' for 'car,' the teacher responds, 'Red car.'
• D. When the teacher hands the child a car and says 'Car,' the child responds, 'Car.'

Answer: (C)

Expanding a child’s utterances during shared play promotes growth in expressive language. When the child attempts to label the car with a simplified sound or letter, answering with a fuller two-word phrase like “Red car” provides an additional content word and a complete noun phrase. This gives the child a clear model of a longer, more descriptive utterance and encourages imitation or further expansion in future turns. By pairing the object with a color descriptor, the teacher also broadens the child’s vocabulary and syntactic options in a meaningful context. Other responses tend to echo a single word or focus on sounds without expanding the label, which offers less opportunity to grow the number of words the child uses.

Expanding a child’s utterances during shared play promotes growth in expressive language. When the child attempts to label the car with a simplified sound or letter, answering with a fuller two-word phrase like “Red car” provides an additional content word and a complete noun phrase. This gives the child a clear model of a longer, more descriptive utterance and encourages imitation or further expansion in future turns. By pairing the object with a color descriptor, the teacher also broadens the child’s vocabulary and syntactic options in a meaningful context. Other responses tend to echo a single word or focus on sounds without expanding the label, which offers less opportunity to grow the number of words the child uses.