The Language Processing Hierarchy, conceptualized by Gail J. Richard, PhD, CCC-SLP, is based on decades of research in language development, cognitive-linguistics, and educational psychology showing that complex language skills depend on the strength of underlying foundational processes.
This hierarchical model organizes language skills from more concrete to more abstract, reflecting increasing demands for cognitive flexibility and linguistic processing. Skills such as figurative language, inference, and analogical reasoning place greater demands on abstraction and cognitive flexibility, and are built upon more concrete language knowledge such as vocabulary meaning, categorization, and semantic relationships.
Working on these skills while implementing systematic scaffolding from concrete to abstract skills is both effective and recommended for language learning and intervention.
Language Processing Hierarchy Model
- Richard, G. J. (2017). The SourceⓇ Processing Disorders (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Language Development, Language Abstraction & Cognitive Flexibility
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- Deák, G. O., & Narasimham, G. (2014). Young children’s flexible use of semantic cues to word meanings: Converging evidence of individual and age differences. Journal of Child Language, 41(3), 511–542.
- Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.
