What is Colourful Semantics?
Colourful semantics is an approach created by Alison Bryan. It is aimed at helping children to develop their grammar but it is rooted in the meaning of words (semantics).
Colourful semantics reassembles sentences by cutting them up into their thematic roles and then colour codes them.
The approach has 4 key colour coded stages. There are further stages for adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions and negatives.
- WHO – Orange
- WHAT DOING – Yellow
- WHAT – Green
- WHERE – Blue
This is an example of a child working at level 4. The approach helps children to organize their sentences into key levels. The approach is used in stages and helps children develop language and vocabulary in addition to grammatical structure. It can be used to help children who are starting to develop language and have limited vocabulary to confident talkers who struggle to organize the grammatical content of their sentences.
Who can use Colourful Semantics?
The approach can be used with children with a range of Speech, Language and Communication Needs including:
- Specific Language Impairment
- Developmental Delay or Disorder
- Autistic Spectrum Condition
- Down Syndrome
- Literacy difficulties
Why use Colourful Semantics?
There are a range of benefits to using this approach, including but not limited to;
- Encouraging wider vocabulary
- Making sentences longer
- Helps children to answer questions or generate responses to questions
- Developing use of nouns, verbs, prepositions and adjectives
- Improves story telling skills
- Can be transferred to written sentences and written language comprehension
- Can be carried out individually or in small groups
Who can deliver Colourful Semantics?
Colourful semantics can be delivered by teachers and support staff who have received training and advice from a Speech and Language Therapist to support their use of the approach.
