Listening Comprehension: Assessing and Improving Language Understanding
Listening comprehension is often the “poor cousin” of language assessment: less visible than expressive language, yet absolutely essential. A child who does not understand well will struggle across all areas of learning. This guide details the different levels of comprehension, the warning signs of difficulty, and effective intervention strategies.
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Instruction comprehension Inference exercises Story comprehension📋 In this article
Levels of comprehension
Listening comprehension is not a single skill but a set of hierarchical processes. Difficulties may appear at different levels, each with different implications for intervention.
Level 1: Lexical comprehension (words)
This is the most basic level: understanding individual words. Can the child point to an image corresponding to the word they hear? Do they know basic vocabulary? A deficit at this level impacts all subsequent levels.
Examples of difficulties: does not recognize named objects, limited vocabulary, confuses similar words.
Level 2: Morphosyntactic comprehension (sentences)
Understanding the structure of sentences: word order, grammatical inflections, and function words (articles, prepositions, pronouns). A sentence is not just a sequence of words but an organized structure.
Examples of difficulties: confuses “the cat is chasing the dog” and “the dog is chasing the cat,” does not understand passive sentences, relative clauses, or complex negations.
Level 3: Text comprehension (texts/stories)
Understanding a text or story as a whole: following the sequence of events, identifying characters and their relationships, understanding cause-and-effect links.
Examples of difficulties: loses track of the story, cannot summarize, confuses characters, does not understand why events occur.
Level 4: Inferential comprehension (implicit meaning)
Understanding what is not explicitly stated but must be inferred from context and general knowledge. This is the most advanced level of comprehension.
Examples of difficulties: takes everything literally, does not understand humor or irony, struggles to make logical inferences.
Development of comprehension
Comprehension develops before expression: a child always understands more than they can say. Here are the main milestones:
| Age | Comprehension skills |
|---|---|
| 8–12 months | Understands “no,” their name, some familiar words in context |
| 12–18 months | Understands 50–100 words, simple instructions (“give it to daddy”) |
| 18–24 months | Understands 200–300 words, two-step instructions, simple questions (where, what) |
| 2–3 years | Understands complex sentences, spatial concepts (on, under), “who” questions |
| 3–4 years | Understands simple stories, “why” and “how” questions, negation |
| 4–5 years | Understands longer stories, multiple instructions, simple humor |
| 5–6 years | Understands simple implicit meaning and common figurative expressions |
Signs of comprehension difficulties
🔍 Comprehension difficulties are often hidden
A child who does not understand well may compensate by relying on context, imitating others, or giving vague answers. Difficulties may go unnoticed until demands increase. Watch for the following signs:
At home
- Does not respond appropriately to questions
- Answers “yes” or “no” inconsistently
- Seems “daydreaming” or not listening
- Needs frequent repetition
- Follows instructions incompletely or incorrectly
- Watches others before acting
- Gives off-topic or irrelevant answers
- Performs better with gestures or visual supports
At school
- Does not follow group instructions
- Difficulty answering comprehension questions
- Gets lost in texts, cannot summarize
- Difficulties with math word problems
- Loses interest during long oral explanations
Causes of comprehension disorders
Comprehension difficulties may have various, sometimes combined, origins:
| Cause | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) | Difficulties affecting receptive language, often with expressive involvement as well |
| Limited vocabulary | Insufficient lexical knowledge: the child does not know enough words |
| Attention disorder | The child did not “capture” the information because attention was elsewhere |
| Working memory deficit | Information is lost before being processed, especially in long instructions |
| Hearing disorder | Information does not reach the child properly (hearing loss, auditory processing disorder) |
| Intellectual disability | Comprehension difficulties within a global developmental delay |
| ASD | Specific difficulties with implicit meaning, figurative language, and social context |
Assessment of comprehension
Comprehension assessment is carried out by a speech-language therapist as part of a language evaluation. It explores the different levels:
- Lexical comprehension: picture pointing, word definitions
- Morphosyntactic comprehension: following instructions, sentence comprehension
- Story comprehension: listening to stories and answering questions
- Inferential comprehension: deductions, implicit meaning
Standardized tests (EVALO, ELO, ECOSSE, etc.) help position the child relative to age norms and identify areas of difficulty.
Strategies to improve comprehension
📝 Simplify the message
Use short sentences, familiar vocabulary, and provide one piece of information at a time. Avoid complex constructions (passives, embedded clauses). Be clear and direct.
🖼️ Illustrate and contextualize
Support words with gestures, images, and demonstrations. Visual context helps with understanding verbal messages. Use visual aids whenever possible.
✅ Check understanding
Do not rely on a simple “yes.” Ask the child to rephrase in their own words, ask checking questions, and observe whether the action matches the instruction.
🔄 Repeat and rephrase
Repeat differently, use synonyms, and restate information in another way. Repeated information is more likely to be encoded.
🎯 Get attention before speaking
Make sure the child is available and attentive before giving important information. Say their name, establish eye contact, and reduce distractions.
📚 Enrich vocabulary
A child understands better when they know the words used. Regularly expose them to new vocabulary in varied contexts, explain unfamiliar words, and use picture books.
Environmental adaptations
For parents
- Speak facing the child so they can see your face
- Give instructions one at a time rather than in a sequence
- Use visual references for routines
- Read stories regularly and ask simple questions
- Avoid speaking while the TV or other noise is on
For teachers
- Strategic seating: close to the teacher, facing the board
- Written instructions in addition to oral ones
- Rephrase instructions individually if needed
- Check comprehension before the child starts
- Allow the child to ask for help without stigma
Our downloadable tools
📋 Instruction comprehension
Exercises with increasing complexity: simple, double, with negation, with order constraints. Designed to work on real-life comprehension.
Download🔍 Inference exercises
Short texts with inferential questions. Trains implicit understanding, logical reasoning, and world knowledge.
Download📖 Story comprehension
Stories of varying lengths with literal and inferential comprehension questions. Several difficulty levels.
Download🖼️ Everyday imagery
Images to enrich vocabulary and work on lexical comprehension. Organized by everyday themes.
DownloadFrequently asked questions
These two disorders can look similar (the child does not follow instructions, seems “elsewhere”). To differentiate them: a distracted child understands when they are truly attentive (one-on-one, without distractions). A child with a comprehension disorder struggles even under optimal attention conditions. Often, both coexist.
At home, the child benefits from many contextual supports: familiar routines, gestures, a known environment, and individual attention. At school, they must understand group instructions in a noisy environment with fewer visual supports. A mild comprehension disorder may be compensated at home but revealed at school.
Yes, with appropriate intervention. The speech-language therapist works on the areas of difficulty (vocabulary, syntax, inference). The environment can be adapted to facilitate understanding. However, a severe comprehension disorder may have lasting effects and require long-term adaptations.
Consult a speech-language therapist if your child has persistent comprehension difficulties that affect daily life or learning. Do not wait: the earlier the intervention, the better the outcomes. A doctor or teacher can refer you for an assessment.
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Discover all tools →Article written by the DYNSEO team in collaboration with speech-language therapists. Last updated: December 2024.
