If your child communicates with a limited vocabulary, here are some tips to help increase the number of words that they can say. When I work on increasing a child's vocabulary, I am keen to ensure that the words a child learns are used functionally. This means the child can use the word to make a request or comment on something rather than saying it with no purpose or intent. To do this:
Firstly, resist the temptation to ask your child to repeat words, i.e. johnny say apple. If you put a child under pressure to talk it can have an adverse effect. From experience, if communication becomes as pressure inducing experience then the child becomes anxious about communicating and may stop. This is also not teaching them communicative intent.
Instead:
Comment on aspects of the child's environment. For instance, if your child is looking at an aeroplane flying in the sky, you can say it's an aeroplane or aeroplane flying (it's good to include verbs in your comment as this will help your child eventually move on to joining words together).
Add language. If your child says dog you could add some more language, for example it's a brown dog, the dog is drinking.
Follow your child's lead. Join in with the activity that your child is doing and comment and add language. The child will be more motivated to use new words if the words are useful to them or motivate them.
Use visuals where possible. The presence of a picture accompanied with a verbal label will help strengthen the child's understanding of the word. If a child understands a word then they are more likely to use it.
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