Children are starting primary school with a speaking age of just 18 months and the number unable to form simple sentences is rising, according to the Government’s first speech chief.

The next generation lack basic speaking skills because parents now spend less time talking to their children over family meals or reading them bedtime stories, Jean Gross told The Times on the eve of her appointment as communications champion.

Her comments come as the latest government figures indicate that 18 per cent of children aged 5 (more than 100,000) fail to meet the expected level of speech for their age.

Many white British pupils are like foreigners in the classroom, unable to comprehend simple instructions or to articulate their basic needs, Ms Gross said. “They are unable to understand, so they are quite lost in class. They have to read the cues and find other ways of knowing what’s going on. They have to pick it up from other children.”

The poorest children hear just 600 words an hour compared with 2,000 heard by those from better-off families. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds are also told off more often — hearing only one encouraging comment to two admonitions compared with six to one for more affluent children. A third of pupils who struggle with language go on to have mental health difficulties. They are also more likely to have behaviour problems.

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, has appointed Ms Gross — an educational psychologist and former director of the Government’s primary national strategy — after a review of language in primary schools. Mr Balls said: “Speech, language and communication are crucial to every child’s ability to access and get the most out of education and life.”

“Adults lead increasingly busy lives and many are not able to spend as much time talking to their children as generations before,” Ms Gross warned.

She also blamed an over-emphasis on literacy and numeracy teaching in schools at the expense of language training. She said: “The foundation of literacy and numeracy is being able to talk. Schools have focused on raising standards in these areas but not given as much time to how they teach children to express themselves,” The position of communications champion — funded until 2012 — has been created to improve the language skills of the youngest. Ms Gross wants GP surgeries to play DVDs of adults reading to children and interacting with babies to teach parents how to talk to their offspring. She will also encourage families to eat together and watch less television.

She said: “If we have a generation who have not themselves been read to they are not going to do it when they are parents. It’s a ticking timebomb.”

This will lead to more pupils leaving school without qualifications, with mental health problems and involved in crime, Ms Gross warned.

“It’s a particular problem for the poorest but I think it’s a problem across all social groups,” she added.

Children and teenagers spend on average six hours a day in front of screens, which, studies have suggested, does not help to advance their vocabulary.

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