Listening Comprehension: Assessing and Improving Language Understanding

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Oral comprehension: evaluating and improving language understanding

Oral comprehension is often the "poor relation" of language assessment: less visible than expression, yet it is fundamental. A child who doesn't understand well will have difficulties in all areas of learning. This guide details the different levels of comprehension, signs of difficulties, and effective intervention strategies.

👂 Download our comprehension tools

Instruction comprehension
Inference exercises
Story comprehension

Levels of comprehension

Oral comprehension is not a unitary skill but a set of hierarchical processes. Difficulties can appear at different levels, with different implications for intervention.

Level 1: Lexical comprehension (words)

This is the most basic level: understanding isolated words. Can the child point to an image corresponding to the word heard? Do they know basic vocabulary? A deficit at this level compromises all subsequent levels.

Examples of difficulties: doesn't recognize named objects, poor vocabulary, confuses similar words.

Level 2: Morphosyntactic comprehension (sentences)

Understanding the structure of sentences: word order, grammatical inflections, function words (articles, prepositions, pronouns). A sentence is not just a sequence of words but an organized structure.

Examples of difficulties: confuses "the cat chases the dog" and "the dog chases the cat", doesn't understand passive sentences, relatives, complex negations.

Level 3: Textual comprehension (texts/narratives)

Understanding a text or narrative as a whole: following the sequence of events, identifying characters and their relationships, understanding cause and effect relationships.

Examples of difficulties: loses track of the story, cannot summarize, confuses characters, doesn't understand why events occur.

Level 4: Inferential comprehension (implicit meaning)

Understanding what is not explicitly stated but must be deduced from context and general knowledge. This is the most elaborate level of comprehension.

Examples of difficulties: takes everything literally, doesn't understand humor or irony, doesn't make logical deductions.

Development of comprehension

Comprehension develops before expression: a child always understands more than they can say. Here are the major stages:

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 to daddy")
18-24 months	Understands 200-300 words, two-part instructions, simple questions (where, what)
2-3 years	Understands complex sentences, spatial concepts (on, under), "who" questions
3-4 years	Understands simple narratives, "why" and "how" questions, negations
4-5 years	Understands longer stories, multiple instructions, simple humor
5-6 years	Understands simple implicit meaning, common figurative expressions

Signs of comprehension difficulties

🔍 Comprehension difficulties are often masked

A child who doesn't understand well may compensate by relying on context, imitating others, or giving vague responses. Difficulties can go unnoticed until demands increase. Watch for the following signs:

At home

Doesn't respond correctly to questions
Responds "yes" or "no" without the answer being coherent
Seems "in their own world" or not listening
Needs things repeated often
Executes instructions incompletely or incorrectly
Watches what others do before acting
Responds off-topic
Better with gestures or visual supports

At school

Doesn't follow group instructions
Difficulty answering comprehension questions
Gets lost in texts, cannot summarize
Difficulty with math problems (understanding statements)
Zones out during long oral explanations

Causes of comprehension disorders

Comprehension difficulties can have several origins, sometimes combined:

Cause	Characteristics
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)	Difficulties affecting the receptive aspect of language, often with expression also affected
Vocabulary deficit	Insufficient lexical stock: the child doesn't know enough words
Attention deficit	The child didn't "catch" the information because their attention was elsewhere
Working memory deficit	Information is lost before being processed, especially for long statements
Hearing disorder	Information doesn't arrive correctly (deafness, auditory processing disorders)
Intellectual disability	Comprehension difficulties as part of global delay
ASD	Specific difficulties with implicit meaning, figurative language, social context

Assessment of comprehension

Comprehension assessment is carried out by a speech-language pathologist as part of a language evaluation. It explores different levels:

Lexical comprehension: picture pointing, word definition
Morphosyntactic comprehension: instruction execution, sentence pointing
Narrative comprehension: story listening and questions
Inferential comprehension: deductions, implicit meaning

Standardized tests (EVALO, ELO, ECOSSE, etc.) allow positioning the child relative to age norms and identifying deficit levels.

Strategies to improve comprehension

📝 Simplify the message

Use short sentences, known vocabulary, give one piece of information at a time. Avoid complex structures (passives, embedded relatives). Get to the point.

🖼️ Illustrate and contextualize

Accompany words with gestures, images, demonstrations. Visual context helps understand the verbal message. Use visual supports whenever possible.

✅ Check understanding

Don't settle for a "yes" from the child. Have them rephrase in their own words, ask verification questions, observe if the action matches the instruction.

🔄 Repeat and rephrase

Say it differently, use synonyms, repeat the information in a different form. Repeated information is more likely to be encoded.

🎯 Get attention before speaking

Make sure the child is available and attentive before giving important information. Call their name, establish eye contact, reduce distractions.

📚 Enrich vocabulary

A child understands better if they know the words used. Regularly expose to new vocabulary in varied contexts, explain unknown words, use picture books.

Adaptations for the environment

For parents

Speak facing the child so they can see your face
Give instructions one at a time rather than in series
Use visual cues for routines
Read stories regularly while asking simple questions
Avoid talking while the TV or other noise is on

For teachers

Strategic placement: near the teacher, facing the board
Written instructions to complement oral ones
Rephrase instructions individually if necessary
Check understanding before the child starts
Allow asking for help without stigmatization

Our downloadable tools

📋 Instruction comprehension

Exercises with instructions of increasing complexity: simple, double, with negation, with order to respect. To work on comprehension in situations.

Download

🔍 Inference exercises

Short texts with inferential questions. Trains understanding of implicit meaning, making logical deductions, using world knowledge.

Download

📖 Story comprehension

Narratives of different lengths with literal and inferential comprehension questions. Multiple difficulty levels.

Download

🖼️ Daily life picture book

Images to enrich vocabulary and work on lexical comprehension. Organized by daily life themes.

Download

Frequently asked questions

📌 How to distinguish a comprehension disorder from an attention disorder?

These two disorders can look similar (the child doesn't follow instructions, seems "elsewhere"). To distinguish them: an inattentive child understands when they are truly attentive (in one-on-one situations, without distractors). A child with comprehension disorder has difficulties even in optimal attention conditions. Often, both coexist.

📌 My child understands everything at home but not at school, why?

At home, the child benefits from numerous contextual aids: known routines, gestures, familiar context, 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.

📌 Can comprehension improve?

Yes, with appropriate intervention. The speech-language pathologist works on deficit levels (vocabulary, syntax, inferences). The environment can be adapted to facilitate comprehension. However, a severe comprehension disorder can have lasting repercussions and require long-term adaptations.

📌 When to consult?

Consult a speech-language pathologist if your child has persistent comprehension difficulties that impact their daily life or learning. Don't wait: the earlier the intervention, the better the results. The doctor or teacher can refer you for a speech-language assessment.