This article contains everything you need to know to write expressive language goals for speech students, and an expressive language goal bank! Expressive language is how our speech students can share their thoughts, feelings, needs, and ideas in and out of the classroom.
What is Expressive Language?
According to ASHA, expressive language is our ability to communicate our thoughts and feelings through verbal or nonverbal communication. There are 5 expressive language domains, which can be grouped into the following 3 components: form, use, and content.
· Form – phonology, morphology, syntax
· Content – semantics
· Use – pragmatics
5 Expressive Language Domains
Expressive language can be broken down into the following 5 expressive language domains: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Below is a quick description of each of these expressive language domains (ASHA, n.d.)
· Phonology – the ability to use phonological patterns while communicating.
· Morphology – using the correct morphemes while communicating.
· Syntax – using the correct sentence structure while communicating.
· Semantics – using words in a meaningful way when communicating.
· Pragmatics – communicating socially
What’s the difference between Expressive and Receptive Language?
Before diving into the expressive language goal examples, let’s look at the difference between expressive language and receptive language.
👉 Expressive language is a person’s ability to produce language by using words and sentences to convey meaning.
👉 Receptive language is the ability to comprehend language produced by others.
How to Write Expressive Language Goal Examples + Expressive Language IEP Goal Bank
In this blog post, we are going to talk about how to write expressive language goals, and specifically focus on 3 of the expressive language domains:
⒈ Morphology speech goals
⒉ Syntax speech goals
⒊ Semantic speech goals
The expressive language goal examples listed below can be found on the SLP Now expressive language goal bank!
How to Write Expressive Language Morphology Goals + Morphology Goal Examples
What is Morphology?
ASHA states that morphology is “the system that governs the structure of words and the construction of word forms”. In order to have strong morphology skills, speech students should have an understanding of root words and how affixes and prefixes can alter the meaning.
3 Morphology Speech Goal Examples:
Below are 3 IEP expressive language speech goal examples for increasing students’ morphology skills.
Morphology Goal Example 1:
By the end of the IEP, given an image of an action being completed, Student will produce regular past tense verbs (-ed), given 1 verbal model, with 80% accuracy, across three consecutive sessions.
Morphology Goal Example 2:
By the end of the IEP, given items or an image, student will produce irregular plural nouns at the word level independently, in the speech classroom, with 80% accuracy, across three consecutive sessions.
Morphology Goal Example 3:
By the end of the IEP, given an image of a person/people completing an action, Student will produce present progressive (-ing) in sentences, given no more than 1 model, in 4/5 opportunities, across three consecutive sessions.
I find the chart below super helpful when determining which morphology expressive language speech goals my students’ will target. Below is a chart of grammatical morphemes in order of acquisition based on Brown (1973).
| Grammatical Morpheme | Example |
| · Present progressive (-ing) | Dog barking. |
| · in | Water in cup. |
| · on | Toy on table. |
| · Plural regular (-s) | My toys. |
| · Past irregular | I ate food. |
| · Possessive (‘s) | Mommy’s book. |
| · Uncontractible copula (uses as main verb) | This is Daddy’s. |
| · Articles (a, the) | A toy. |
| · Past regular (-ed) | I looked. |
| · Third person (-s) | She runs. |
| · Third person irregular | Dog has a bone. |
| · Uncontractible auxiliary | He was talking. |
| · Contractible copula | It’s Tuesday. |
| · Contractible auxiliary | Sister’s laughing. |
🎧: This SLP Now Podcast episode has easy and applicable strategies you can use to target morphology goals!
How to Write Expressive Language Syntax Goals + Syntax Goal Examples
What is syntax?
Syntax is the system that governs the meanings of words and sentences, and the relationship among the elements within a sentence (ASHA, n.d.).
I like to think of how the word order impacts the overall meaning of the sentence. When children are learning expressive language, it is more typical to see phrases and sentences with the words in an incorrect order. However, as our speech students get older, we expect the word order to be correct.
3 Syntax Speech Goal IEP Examples
When speech students have expressive language syntactic deficits, this might look like words out of order, full-word omissions, or using simplified sentences.
Syntax Goal Example 1:
By the end of the IEP, Student will produce complex sentences using conjunctions (e.g., because, before), given 1 example, in 7/10 opportunities, in the speech room, across three consecutive sessions.
Syntax Goal Example 2:
By the end of the IEP, given images, Student will produce complex sentences containing causal conjunctions (e.g. because, yet, so), independently, in 4/5 opportunities across three consecutive sessions.
Syntax Goal Example 3:
By the end of the IEP, given two simple sentences, Student will combine the sentence using conjunctions (e.g., and, but, so), independently, in the speech classroom, with 80% accuracy, across three consecutive sessions.
How to Write Expressive Language Semantic Goals + Semantic Goal Examples
What is Semantics?
Semantics is the content of the student’s expressive language. ASHA states that semantics is “the system that governs the meanings of words and sentences”.
3 Semantic Speech Therapy Goal Examples
In order for our speech students to increase their semantic skills, they need to increase their vocabulary. By increasing our speech students’ expressive language vocabularies, we are giving them the tools they need to express themselves clearly and accurately.
Semantics Goal Example 1:
By the end of the IEP, given an items or images, Student will expand their vocabularies by describing the item with 3 descriptors (e.g. category, function, appearance, parts, location), in 4/5 opportunities, in the speech classroom, across three consecutive sessions.
Semantics Goal Example 2:
By the end of the IEP, given 2 items, Student will state 2 differences between the items, given no more than 1 verbal model, in 7/10 opportunities, in the speech classroom, across three consecutive sessions.
Semantics Goal Example 3:
By the end of the IEP, given a vocabulary word, Student will provide a synonym for the vocabulary word, independently, with 80% accuracy, in the speech classroom, across three consecutive sessions.
Check out this blog post for more vocabulary/semantic speech therapy goal ideas!
How Do I Write Expressive Language Goals for Students Who Use AAC?
When a speech student uses an AAC device, it does not change the importance of targeting expressive language skills. In fact, the goals in this article can all be used with our AAC users! The main difference is the language output, as well as the guided language stimulation, which is modeling language on the speech student’s device. Other than that, we still reference expressive language development norms when choosing expressive language targets!
How to Target Expressive Language During Speech Therapy Sessions
Now that you’ve gotten your amazing expressive language goals for your speech students, it’s time to start thinking about how we are going to target the expressive language goals in therapy.
Lucky for you, SLP Now has thousands of ready-to-use materials to target expressive language goals!
Expressive Language Morphology Strategies and Materials
SLP Now has hundreds of therapy plans and materials you can use to target morphology!
→ Here are evidence-backed strategies you can use to target expressive language morphology goals!
Expressive Language Syntax Strategies and Materials
SLP Now has hundreds of therapy plans and materials you can use to target syntax!
→ Click here for evidence-based strategies for complex syntax intervention!
Expressive Language Semantics Strategies and Materials
SLP Now has hundreds of therapy plans and materials you can use to target semantics!
→ This article dives into how to track & evaluate students’ progress in their expressive language goals!
Start your FREE trial today! Take a look through our 1000+ materials and data collection tools to use in your speech therapy sessions to target and track expressive language goals!
Expressive Language Goal References
Berko Gleason, J. (2005). The development of language (6th ed.). Pearson Education.
Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Language in brief. (n.d.). ASHA. May, 2024, https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/spoken-language-disorders/language-in-brief/
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