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More Than Asking Questions: How Responsive Talk Can Create Richer Language Moments
When adults want to help a child communicate, it can be tempting to ask lots of questions.
“What’s this?”
“What color is it?”
“What does the dog say?”
“Can you say truck?”
Questions can absolutely have a place in conversation. But some of the most valuable language opportunities can happen when adults do something a little different:
Notice what the child is interested in, respond to what they communicate, and build on it.
This type of interaction is often described as responsive talk.
And new research is taking a closer look at how speech-language pathologists use it during interactions with children.
What Is Responsive Talk?
Responsive talk is less about testing what a child knows and more about creating a meaningful back-and-forth interaction.
Imagine a child points toward a truck and says:
“Big truck!”
An adult might respond:
“Yes! That’s a huge red truck. It’s driving up the hill!”
The adult has taken what the child communicated and added vocabulary and language without requiring the child to repeat anything.
Another child might point toward bubbles without saying a word.
An adult could respond:
“Bubbles! You want more bubbles. Let’s make BIG bubbles!”
The child’s gesture was treated as meaningful communication—and the adult added language around the experience.
ASHA describes responsive language strategies used in early intervention as including techniques such as self-talk, parallel talk, imitation, expansions, and recasts. These strategies can be incorporated into natural interactions rather than turning every communication opportunity into a question-and-answer exercise.
What Did the New Research Find?
A newly published 2026 study by Laura M. Justice and colleagues examined responsive talk among speech-language pathologists and graduate clinicians. Researchers observed 11 clinicians interacting with 11 typically developing preschool-aged children during structured intervention sessions.
During the first session, clinicians used their usual practices.
During the second, clinicians received either brief education about responsive talk or real-time prompts delivered through a tablet-based feedback system called GENIE.
Researchers found considerable variation in how frequently clinicians initially used responsive talk.
After the additional support, responsive talk increased in both groups. The increase was particularly large in the clinician-education group, although the very small sample means these findings should be interpreted as preliminary.
The researchers concluded that clinicians’ use of responsive talk appears to be both variable and modifiable, and that education and real-time support warrant further study.
That distinction matters.
This study examined clinician behavior. It did not test whether these changes caused improvements in children’s language development.
Still, it raises an interesting question for clinicians and families alike:
How can we become more intentional about the way we respond when a child communicates?
Responsive Talk Can Happen During Everyday Life
One of the nice things about responsive interaction is that communication opportunities already exist throughout a child’s day.
You don’t necessarily need flashcards or a special activity.
During play:
Child: “Baby sleep.”
Adult: “The baby is sleeping. Shhh… she’s so tired!”
While getting dressed:
Child points to shoes.
Adult: “Your shoes! You’re putting on your blue shoes.”
During snack:
Child: “Apple.”
Adult: “Crunchy apple! You want another piece.”
While reading:
Child points to a dog in the picture.
Adult: “You found the dog! He’s running really fast.”
On a walk:
Child looks toward an airplane.
Adult: “I hear it too! That airplane is way up in the sky.”
These interactions follow the child’s attention and provide language connected to something meaningful in that moment.
Try the “Notice, Respond, Add” Approach:
Parents and caregivers can think about responsive interaction in three simple steps:
1. NOTICE:
Pay attention to what your child is looking at, doing, saying, pointing toward, or trying to communicate.
2. RESPOND:
Acknowledge that communication.
Words aren’t the only way children communicate. Depending on the child, communication may include speech, sounds, gestures, facial expressions, signs, or AAC.
3. ADD:
Add a little language without overwhelming the interaction.
Child: “Car.”
Adult: “Fast car!”
Child: “Dog running.”
Adult: “Yes! The dog is running outside.”
The goal isn’t to make every sentence longer.
It’s to create natural opportunities for children to hear useful language connected to what they’re already experiencing.
It Doesn’t Have to Feel Like a Quiz
Adults naturally ask children questions—and questions aren’t inherently bad.
But imagine having a conversation in which someone repeatedly asked:
“What is that?”
“What color is it?”
“What does this say?”
“What comes next?”
Eventually, it might feel less like a conversation and more like a test.
Sometimes simply commenting, waiting, responding, expanding, and sharing the moment can create more room for genuine interaction.
ASHA’s guidance on spoken language intervention describes child-oriented approaches in which clinicians follow a child’s lead and use techniques such as expansions and recasts. ASHA also describes focused stimulation, in which targeted language is modeled repeatedly in meaningful contexts without requiring the child to produce it on demand.
Parents Don’t Have to Become Speech Therapists
Perhaps one of the most important messages for families is this:
You don’t have to turn your home into a therapy room.
Parents and caregivers already have countless opportunities to communicate with their children during routines, play, meals, books, errands, and everyday adventures.
An SLP can help families identify strategies appropriate for an individual child’s communication profile and show caregivers how those strategies can fit naturally into daily life.
Every child is different. A strategy that is helpful for one child may need to be adapted—or may not be appropriate—for another.
If you have concerns about your child’s speech, language, or communication development, a speech-language evaluation can help identify their individual strengths and areas where additional support may be helpful.
Speech & Language Support at TuLIPS Speech Therapy
At TuLIPS Speech Therapy, we believe communication support should recognize the individual behind the words.
Our team provides speech and language services for children and families in the San Francisco Bay Area, with teletherapy options available throughout California.
If you have questions about your child’s communication development or would like to learn more about speech-language therapy, we’d love to hear from you.
TuLIPS Speech Therapy
Works Cited:
Justice, L. M., Duval, J., Jhuo, R.-A., & Sun, J. (2026). Investigating variability and malleability of speech-language pathologists’ responsive talk with children: An early-efficacy trial. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_AJSLP-26-00100
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Early Intervention. ASHA Practice Portal.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Spoken Language Disorders. ASHA Practice Portal.
Responsive Talk: Helping Create Richer Language Moments With Your Child | TuLIPS Speech Therapy
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