When we think about speech and language therapy, we often picture young children learning their first words or practising sounds. But language development doesn't stop at age five — or even at age ten. Some of the most complex and demanding language skills don't fully develop until adolescence and beyond.
These are what we call "high-level language" skills, and they become critically important when children move into high school. If your teenager is struggling academically, socially, or both, it's worth considering whether high-level language might be playing a role.
What Is High-Level Language?
High-level language refers to the advanced language skills that underpin complex thinking, learning, and social interaction. These skills go well beyond basic vocabulary and sentence structure. They include:
Inferencing
Inferencing is the ability to "read between the lines" — to understand information that isn't stated directly. This might mean:
- Understanding what a character in a novel is feeling based on their actions, not just what they say
- Working out the main idea of a text when it's not explicitly stated
- Predicting what will happen next based on clues
Figurative Language
Figurative language includes metaphors, similes, idioms, hyperbole, and sarcasm. In high school, figurative language is everywhere — in English texts, in everyday conversation, and in social media. Understanding that "I'm drowning in homework" doesn't literally mean someone is underwater, or that "nice one" can mean the opposite of what it seems, requires a sophisticated understanding of language.
Abstract Reasoning and Language
As the curriculum becomes more complex, students are expected to deal with increasingly abstract concepts. They need to define, compare, analyse, evaluate, and hypothesise — all using language. Subjects like English, history, science, and even maths require students to reason verbally and express complex ideas.
Persuasive Language
High school students are expected to construct arguments, take a position, provide evidence, and persuade an audience — in essays, debates, and oral presentations. This requires planning, organising, and producing complex, well-structured language.
Social Communication
The social world of high school is linguistically demanding in its own right. Teenagers navigate sarcasm, irony, understatement, in-group humour, and rapidly shifting social norms. Understanding what someone really means — and responding appropriately — requires highly developed pragmatic language skills.
Professor Marilyn Nippold, a leading researcher in later language development, has documented extensively how language continues to grow and change throughout adolescence. Her research shows that skills like figurative language comprehension, complex syntax, and persuasive writing develop significantly during the high school years — and that some students need targeted support to keep pace (Nippold, 2007; Nippold, 2016).
Why Are High School Demands Different?
The jump from primary school to high school is significant — and much of that jump is linguistic.
In primary school, language tends to be:
- More concrete and context-dependent
- Supported by visuals, hands-on activities, and familiar routines
- Delivered by one or two teachers who know the child well
In high school, language demands shift:
- Content becomes more abstract. Students study themes, analyse perspectives, and grapple with concepts that can't be pointed to or demonstrated.
- Reading and writing demands increase dramatically. Texts are longer, more complex, and use more sophisticated vocabulary and grammar.
- Multiple teachers, multiple subjects. Each teacher has their own communication style, and students need to adapt across six or seven different classrooms each day.
- Assessment is more language-heavy. Essays, reports, oral presentations, and exams all require high-level language production.
- Social complexity increases. Friendship groups become more nuanced, and the social currency of wit, sarcasm, and banter becomes more prominent.
The Australian Curriculum explicitly lists language skills that increase in complexity across the secondary years, including interpreting and evaluating texts, constructing sustained arguments, and understanding how language is used to persuade and position audiences (ACARA, n.d.).
How Do High-Level Language Difficulties Present?
A teenager with high-level language difficulties might not look like the classic picture of a "language problem." They may have spoken perfectly clearly as a young child and never been flagged for speech pathology support. But as the demands of school and social life increase, the cracks begin to show.
Academically
- Struggling with reading comprehension, especially inferential questions
- Writing essays that are disorganised, lack cohesion, or don't fully address the question
- Difficulty understanding complex or abstract vocabulary
- Finding it hard to follow lengthy explanations or class discussions
- Underperforming relative to their apparent ability — they seem bright but their marks don't reflect it
Socially
- Missing sarcasm, jokes, or implied meaning in conversations
- Taking things very literally
- Struggling to keep up with fast-paced group conversations
- Finding it hard to "read the room" or adjust their language for different audiences
- Feeling left out or socially isolated, even though they want to connect
In my experience, the high-school-aged young people I've worked with on high-level language are often the ones whose early years looked entirely "fine" — which is exactly why the difficulty catches everyone off guard.
Emotionally
- Frustration, anxiety, or low self-esteem related to school
- Avoiding tasks that involve reading, writing, or oral presentations
- Reluctance to ask for help or participate in class
- A sense that they're "not smart enough," even though the issue is language, not intelligence
These difficulties can be subtle. A teenager might be described as "lazy," "unmotivated," or "not trying hard enough" — when in reality, they're working incredibly hard just to keep up with language demands that others find automatic. Many of these young people quietly struggle for years — compensating, copying peers, and flying under the radar — until the demands of high school outpace their strategies.
Why Does This Get Missed?
High-level language difficulties often fly under the radar because:
- The child may have had no obvious language difficulties in early childhood
- By high school, people assume language development is "done"
- The difficulties look like academic or behavioural issues rather than language issues
- There's limited awareness among secondary teachers about the role of language in learning
- Teenagers may mask their difficulties or avoid situations that expose them
When these teenagers finally get an assessment and someone says, "This isn't about effort — your brain processes language differently, and we can help," the relief on their face is enormous. Many of them have been blaming themselves for years.
When to Seek Support
If your teenager is struggling at school, finding social situations confusing, or seems frustrated despite working hard, it's worth considering whether high-level language might be a factor.
A speech pathology assessment can look at your teenager's inferencing, figurative language, narrative skills, complex sentence understanding, and social communication — and identify whether language is contributing to the difficulties they're experiencing.
If your teenager is struggling and you're wondering whether language might be part of the picture, a speech pathology assessment can give you answers. We work with teenagers across Brisbane and Logan, and our approach is designed to be relevant, engaging, and respectful of where your teen is at. Get in touch to chat about your teenager. Any actual clinical work — assessment, diagnosis, or therapy — happens through a proper consultation tailored to your child.
References
ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority). (n.d.). The Australian Curriculum: English.
Nippold, M. A. (2007). Later language development: School-age children, adolescents, and young adults (3rd ed.). Pro-Ed.
Nippold, M. A. (2016). Later language development: School-age children, adolescents, and young adults. In R. B. Gillam, T. P. Marquardt, & F. N. Martin (Eds.), Communication sciences and disorders: From science to clinical practice (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Ready for practical strategies? Read our companion article: Supporting High-Level Language Skills in Teenagers: Strategies for Brisbane Parents and Teachers
Alexandra Bouwmeester is a Senior Speech Pathologist (MSPA, CPSP) with over 14 years' experience. She is passionate about supporting older children and teens whose language needs have gone unrecognised, and offers mobile speech pathology to families across Brisbane's south side and Logan.
