Speaking Clearly

Pragmatics:
The Social Side of Language
by Danielle Moore, MS. EAm CCC-SLP

Pragmatic language refers to language used in social context. More specifically, “pragmatics” means knowing what, when and how to say something in a social situation, and it also can be referred to as “social skills.” When children have difficulty using pragmatic language, additional practice can often result in improvement.

Pragmatic language involves specific communication skills. First, a child needs to be able to use language for different reasons such as greetings, farewells, asking questions and telling stories. Children also need to be able to change their language according to the different needs of the situation, such as providing background information to a speaker, speaking to a teacher or talking to a peer. Following rules of conversation, such as turn-taking, introducing new topics, correcting errors or saying something a different way when a message is not understood the first time also falls under the umbrella of pragmatic language skills.

Children who have difficulty taking turns in a conversation might seem unable to monitor their own vocal volume, as they might respond in a voice that is too soft or perhaps too loud. They sometimes interrupt or talk incessantly about a topic and are unable to “read” the signals that their listener is no longer interested in a subject or wasn’t interested in it in the first place. Often, their behavior seems rude or inconsiderate when, in fact, the child simply does not yet have the skills to take another person’s perspective when talking.

Pragmatic difficulties can have a negative impact on a child’s peer relationships. Often, making friends is extremely hard for a child who struggles with pragmatics. Who wants to be friends with the boy who won’t stop talking about dinosaurs or the girl who can’t remember not to interrupt her friends during every conversation?

Pragmatic difficulties often coexist with other language problems. According to research published in a 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children with executive functioning and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder commonly struggle with pragmatic issues. Specifically, these children might have trouble forming abstract concepts, reading the emotions of other people and “have difficulties in short-term memory, of the kind needed to be flexible and not impulsive in their responses in various social situations,” the researchers wrote.

Pragmatic language skills include:

• The ability to turn-take in a conversation;
• Awareness of having to introduce a topic of conversation instead of just launching into something without giving the listener prior information;
• The ability to maintain a topic and switch topics when appropriate;
• The ability to maintain sufficient eye contact;
• Body awareness, or knowing where your body is in space in correlation to the listener and keeping an appropriate distance from them; and,
• The ability to know how to talk to different groups of people (peers versus adults).

There are several ways that parents can help children practice using language appropriately across social situations.

1. Take advantage of day-to-day happenings where social skills can be practiced. Greetings in the morning at the breakfast table or saying goodbye to friends and family members when leaving for school are naturally occurring examples of everyday pragmatic language. Praise your child or “catch them doing good,” and model how his or her communication worked in that situation. For example, say, “John, that was great how you let Jennifer finish her story before asking her to pass the milk for your cereal.”

2. Role play with your child. Pretend to be a peer or a new teacher and practice greetings, farewells and turn-taking. As difficulties or struggles arise, show your child, instead of just telling them, how to do it differently the next time. For example, “Lisa, if you want the crayons, how could you get them without just reaching over a friend or getting in their personal space? You could ask, ‘Hey Brandon, could I have the crayons please?’ ”

3. Use visual cues to help when sequencing a story. A fun and easy way to practice telling Grandma about an outing to the aquarium would be to use pictures of your arrival, the different sea animals that were seen, your visit to the gift shop and the snack you ate in the restaurant. By providing the story structure in picture format, your child can begin to see the sequence of events that will help their story make sense.

4. Social skills training is also an option for helping children learn the nuances of social language. Children either receive this training in small peer groups led by professionals trained in pragmatic language, or through specific one-on-one sessions with a speech-language pathologist. The purpose of these pragmatic language groups is to specifically teach children how to develop listening skills, read body language and plan out their conversations so their listeners have enough understanding to follow along with their stories.

If you are a parent of a child with pragmatic language deficits, there are things you can do to help. A speech and language pathologist can give you tips and advice on your child’s specific pragmatic language strengths and weaknesses. Also some children might benefit from a social skills group that gives them specific strategies for improving social awareness. There are many such resources in Atlanta, so with a bit of effort, you can help your child find success.

Danielle Moore is a speech and language pathologist with The Language Group. She can be reached at 404-477-9400 or through her Web site at www.thelanguagegroup.org.