In a recent workshop with parents and professionals, I posed the question, “Who feels awkward trying to employ Self Talk or Parallel Talk in the home?” Most of the parents, especially fathers, raised their hands. We had a group discussion about what types of activities might be good places to start when trying to include more of these strategies. First, let’s discuss what Self Talk and Parallel Talk are.

Self-Talk and Parallel Talk are indirect language stimulation techniques that do not require a response from the child. They are different in that the focus of the dialogue is either self oriented or child oriented.

Self-Talk: an adult talks to the child about what the adult sees, does, or hears at any particular moment in time.

Parallel Talk: an adult talks to the child about what the child does, hears or sees at any particular moment in time.

(Fickenscher, S., & Gaffney, E. (2016). Auditory verbal strategies to build listening and spoken language skills. Retrieved from http://www.auditory-verbal-mentoring.com/contact/contact.php) *can also be retrieved from this website using the navigation at the top of the page*

When we use Self Talk, we are narrating our actions. This can be done at any time, no activity is off limits. We want our children exposed to the language of the entire daily routine! Some people refer to this strategy as being a “sportscaster” who is giving a play-by-play of the activity. Remember to keep your narration naturalistic, so that it is accessible to the child.

Parallel Talk is the narration of another person’s actions, typically the child. The adult will describe what the child is doing, seeing, hearing, touching using naturalistic language that the child will become increasingly familiar with (Weybright, 1985).

This strategy provides an abundant source of language input for the child who is deaf or hard of hearing. It challenges the adult who is with the child to remember the need for exposure to new vocabulary and grammatical structures throughout the child’s day. A child’s rate of vocabulary growth is directly related to the amount of time a parent has spent talking to that child (Hart & Risley, 1999).

Maria Montessori taught that play is the work of the child. This means that play is how children learn information and how to navigate social exchanges. When adults engage in the play through Self Talk and Parallel Talk, they can model vocabulary, grammar, and social interactions. These natural language models help enhance the experience children have with something they can see, touch, or manipulate (Ling, 1989). Adults directly label objects and actions the child has joint attention with which then increases the likelihood that the spoken words have meaning attached to them.

The video below is an example of how to employ Self Talk with an infant during a diaper change. Take note of the eye contact, Wait Time, and Acoustic Highlighting.

Click here to download an individual handout for Self Talk/Parallel Talk or download the entire Auditory Verbal Strategies ebook from the navigation at the top of the page. (Fickenscher, S., & Gaffney, E. (2016). Auditory verbal strategies to build listening and spoken language skills.

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