8.4 Language Development Tracker (EY–Y3): What Parents Should Expect, Notice, and Support
Language development in the early years follows broadly predictable patterns, but for families moving between countries, school systems, or languages, progress can be difficult to interpret. A child who is articulate in one environment may seem quiet in another; a confident talker at home may struggle to organise thoughts in a second or third language. International schools see this pattern frequently. Research is clear: variation is normal, yet there are reliable benchmarks that help parents understand when development is on track and when additional support may help.
"Multilingual children often distribute their vocabulary across languages, meaning one language may appear weaker even when total linguistic competence is strong. ... Variation is normal, yet there are reliable benchmarks..."
This guide offers a practical, research-informed overview of language development from Nursery to Year 3, with particular relevance for multilingual families in Jakarta. It blends developmental norms with what British-curriculum schools typically observe in early years and lower primary settings.
Understanding the Landscape: Why Early Language Varies So Widely
Between ages two and eight, language development is shaped by many overlapping influences, including home languages, the school language, sibling dynamics, personality, screen exposure, hearing health, and the structure of the learning environment. Children in bilingual or trilingual families often distribute their vocabulary across languages, meaning one language may appear weaker even when total linguistic competence is strong.
International research shows that:
Multilingual children often speak later but typically catch up by age six or seven.
Rich interaction—conversations, shared reading, and reciprocal dialogue—predicts stronger literacy more effectively than the number of languages spoken.
Early school environments that provide structured phonics and explicit vocabulary teaching help children converge more quickly across languages.
Because of this, the tracker below focuses on functional communication, vocabulary growth, phonological awareness, and early literacy rather than counting words or sentences.
Nursery (Ages 2–3): Foundations of Communication
Children at this stage are building the foundations of language, including turn-taking, attention, symbolic play, and the earliest forms of storytelling. In British early years settings, teachers pay attention not simply to how many words a child uses but how effectively they communicate. By this age, children generally follow simple instructions, use an emerging vocabulary—often spanning 50 to 200 or more words across all their languages—and begin combining words into simple phrases. Most children can produce sounds clearly enough for familiar adults to understand them and use gestures and expressions naturally while communicating.
"Daily conversation that invites children to reflect and explain supports language growth more effectively than directive talk."
Multilingual children often mix languages within a sentence. This is known as code-mixing and is considered a normal and healthy sign of linguistic flexibility rather than a difficulty.
Certain signs may warrant attention—not as diagnoses but as prompts for discussion. These include a lack of eye contact or reciprocity, the absence of meaningful words by two and a half, difficulty following simple instructions despite good hearing, or the loss of previously acquired language. In such cases, teachers typically respond by modelling language more intentionally, simplifying instructions, and strengthening routines through stories, songs, and structured play.
Reception (Ages 4–5): Vocabulary Expansion and Early Phonics
Reception marks the point where oral language becomes closely connected to early literacy. British schools introduce phonics at this stage because systematic teaching of letter–sound correspondences accelerates reading accuracy and helps reduce later literacy differences.
Teachers look for evidence that vocabulary is expanding and that children are beginning to use more precise sentence structures. Pronunciation usually becomes clearer, and children start to understand simple stories, including characters, events, and cause-and-effect links. They begin to answer questions rather than simply naming objects, and phonics emerges through activities such as identifying initial sounds and blending simple three-letter words.
Concerns at this stage often relate to difficulty hearing or distinguishing speech sounds, unusually limited vocabulary compared with peers in the dominant school language, reliance on pointing rather than speaking, or struggles with rhyme, initial sounds, or recognising repeated words in print. These challenges typically respond well to targeted phonics instruction, oral-language scaffolding, and regular high-quality reading routines.
Year 1 (Ages 5–6): Moving from Speech to Structured Language
In Year 1, children begin to organise their thoughts more systematically. Their vocabulary expands rapidly—often reaching several thousand words across their languages—and they use language to reason, negotiate, and describe experiences. Children at this age can usually retell stories in a logical sequence, speak in complete sentences that include increasing detail, and follow multi-step instructions. Reading develops through phonics-based decoding with growing fluency, and writing emerges in the form of simple sentences using phonetic spelling.
For multilingual children, it is normal for oral skills to be stronger than literacy skills in the language of school instruction. The important question is whether progress in all areas remains steady.
Cause for concern arises when children continue to struggle to blend or segment sounds after sustained phonics teaching, when their speech remains unclear to unfamiliar adults, when vocabulary remains narrow relative to peers, or when they avoid speaking in group settings. Early intervention is highly effective at this stage, especially in the form of structured reading groups and targeted oral-language support.
Year 2 (Ages 6–7): Consolidation and Literacy Lift-Off
Year 2 is often a decisive period in literacy development. Vocabulary, decoding, and oral comprehension are strong predictors of reading comprehension by age seven or eight. At this stage, children typically begin using joining words such as “because”, “although”, and “when”. Their narrative skills strengthen as they incorporate character motivation rather than just plot. Many begin reading with greater fluency and increasingly self-correct as they go, while writing expands into short paragraphs with basic punctuation. They also start to understand abstract classroom vocabulary, including terms such as “compare”, “explain”, and “analyse”.
Multilingual children often accelerate rapidly at this point as they solidify familiarity with the grammar and vocabulary patterns of the school language.
Concerns may arise when children decode accurately but fail to understand what they have read, when familiar words seem difficult to retrieve, when narratives lack structure, or when writing relies heavily on simple sentences without development. Schools generally address these issues through explicit vocabulary teaching, modelling comprehension strategies, and strengthening grammar instruction.
Year 3 (Ages 7–8): The Transition to Academic Language
By Year 3, children transition into more formal learning. Academic vocabulary becomes central, including subject-specific terminology and more sophisticated sentence structures. Within the British curriculum, this is the stage when structured literacy teaching becomes particularly visible. Children are expected to read more widely, write independently, and contribute clearly to discussions.
By this age, children typically begin using more complex sentence forms such as conditionals and comparisons, read early chapter books with emerging inferential understanding, explain reasoning in subjects such as mathematics and science, and write organised paragraphs that contain both main ideas and supporting detail. They also gain confidence using subject vocabulary such as “evaporate”, “estimate”, and “predict”.
Red flags include difficulty understanding whole-class explanations, challenges in summarising reading material, unclear or disorganised writing, and limited ability to use subject-specific vocabulary despite repeated exposure. At this stage, schools may introduce more formalised support where needed, although progress usually remains highly responsive to intervention.
Supporting Language Development at Home
Parents do not need specialised training to support language development—consistent habits are far more important. Daily conversation that invites children to reflect and explain supports language growth more effectively than directive talk. Shared reading provides rich vocabulary and narrative structures. Narrating routines, describing actions, and telling stories about the day help children internalise expressive language. Rather than correcting errors directly, parents can model improved sentences by restating them. Reducing passive screen exposure also matters, as background screens offer little linguistic benefit compared with interactive dialogue.
For multilingual families, maintaining the strongest home language is beneficial. Deep fluency in one language supports the acquisition of additional languages.
EAL Considerations in International Schools
Jakarta’s international schools serve children from an extraordinary range of linguistic backgrounds. Three insights from British curriculum research help explain how schools typically respond. Strong oral language is the most reliable predictor of future literacy, so schools monitor comprehension, narrative skill, and vocabulary closely. Structured phonics benefits learners of English as an additional language just as effectively as native speakers because it provides consistency and clarity. Finally, EAL learners progress more quickly when academic vocabulary is taught explicitly, especially high-leverage words such as “analyse”, “predict”, “summarise”, and “compare”. A strong school will track progress using benchmark assessments, writing samples, reading conferences, and careful observation rather than relying on impressions of fluency.
A Tool for Parents, Not a Diagnostic Manual
This tracker is intended to help parents interpret early progress with greater confidence. Many children develop unevenly yet thrive by Year 3; others need small, timely adjustments to benefit fully from a rigorous curriculum. The purpose of this guide is to provide clarity, helping families ask informed questions, recognise typical benchmarks, and understand when to seek additional guidance.
About the author
Eileen, PGCE, QTS, BA (Hons)
Eileen is Academic Director at ISJ, leading curriculum, teaching quality and whole-school strategy across the primary and secondary phases. With decades of experience in the UK independent sector and international schools, she is known for compassionate leadership, rigorous academic standards and a strong community ethos. She builds environments where pupils feel supported, challenged and deeply connected to the culture of the school.
FAQ: Language Development (EY–Y3)
How much variation is normal in early language development?
A considerable amount. Multilingual children often speak later, mix languages, and distribute vocabulary unevenly across languages until age five or six. Steady progress is a more reliable indicator than uniform performance.
When should parents be concerned about delayed speech?
If a child has no meaningful words by two and a half, struggles to follow simple instructions, or loses previously acquired language, parents should seek guidance from the school or a specialist.
How does bilingualism affect phonics and early reading?
Bilingual children respond very well to systematic phonics. They often need more explicit vocabulary instruction, but decoding typically develops on schedule.
What are early indicators of strong language development?
Clear turn-taking, growing vocabulary, emerging narrative skills, and the ability to follow multi-step instructions are encouraging signs. In Years 1–3, children should show increasing clarity, organisation, and confidence in speaking and writing.
What counts as a red flag in Years 1–3?
Ongoing difficulty blending sounds after sustained phonics teaching, speech that is unclear to unfamiliar adults, weak narrative structure, or fluent decoding paired with poor comprehension.
How can parents support language without formal teaching?
Through regular conversation, shared reading, descriptive talk, and modelling improved sentences. Strong home-language development supports progress in English.
Do multilingual children eventually “catch up”?
Most do, usually by Year 2 or 3, provided the school offers structured phonics, vocabulary teaching, and strong oral-language routines.
What should parents ask the school if concerned?
Questions about phonics progression, vocabulary instruction, classroom language routines, and how oral comprehension is monitored will provide valuable insight.
