Why is Language So Important for Social Development

Article 5: Why is Language So Important for Social Development and Emotional Growth?

When we think of school, we most often think of it as a place that supports the intellectual development of children. Great schools, however, understand that cognitive development is only one facet of a child’s growth. Other important features include language development, social development, emotional development, and physical development. Each has its own markers and stages of progression. They are all, however, profoundly connected.

“The various aspects of child development are like strands in a braided rope,” says William Harrison, Ph.D., Middle School Psychologist at The Gateway School. “It’s almost impossible to talk about one without referencing the others.”

Intellectual development describes the kinds of cognitive skills that children develop at various stages of life. These include memory, problem solving, creative thinking, and learning.

Physical development describes the growth of a child’s body and the development of fine and gross motor skills. It also marks a child’s ability to move about and interact with the world around them.

Language development describes the process of understanding and communicating. Typically, receptive language skills develop before expressive language skills.

Social-emotional development describes how children develop the ability to express and control their emotions and to interact in appropriate and satisfactory ways.

These last two facets of child development–language and social-emotional growth–are inextricably linked. Social interactions are the basis for language development, and effective social interactions depend on language.

Early language development is primarily based on the relationship between a child and caregiver. Babbling is the initial stage during which a child tries to use verbal sounds to communicate thoughts and emotions. Language is not formally taught. Instead, the adult labels the child’s experiences and emotions, and they learn vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and tone through trial and error.

Lydia H. Soifer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Staff Developer at The Gateway School, recounts the time when upon seeing her sons sitting in a twin stroller, a child described them as “a baby and a co-baby.” On another occasion, a child explained the positioning of a couple of objects as “side by each.’’ Such mistakes are commonplace, frequently endearing and, once gently corrected, fleeting. The exchanges between a caregiver and child, known as reciprocity, teach the child language and how to use it in a social context.

According to American Speech-LanguageHearing Association (ASHA), pragmatics refers to “the rules associated with the use of language in conversation and broader social situations.” In social situations, pragmatic language describes a person’s ability to know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. For reading comprehension, it refers to comprehending the author’s point of view, the audience’s needs, or the intention of a message. Eleni Siderias, Associate Head of School at Gateway, explains, “It is common for students with language-based learning disabilities to encounter conflict due to the misuse or misunderstanding of language.”

Harry will excitedly tell Dylan, “You must go to Space Mountain!” Dylan’s grasp of language is concrete, so he misses tone. He exits the conversation angry and indignant. He believes Harry is bossing him around. Before the weekly art class, Kerry appears in the division director’s doorway repeating, “It’s time for art. It’s time for art.” She sends her on to class where Kerry drops her head to the table and after the teacher finishes giving directions, stands up and storms out. Kerry is so embarrassed and scared, she is unable to explain that she cannot follow the directions and is haunted by the terrible experience she had with last year’s art teacher. A student with a language-based learning disability may misuse language unintentionally, struggle to describe emotions, misperceive others intentions, and more. Not only is language at the heart of social interactions, meeting the child’s need to communicate, to express ideas and emotions, and to engage socially, it also plays a role in their internal development. Language is crucial for the self-reflection that is the basis for self-regulation and maturation. It is the tool a child uses to process experiences and learn new behaviors.

“As a child matures, so do language expectations,” says Heather Ironside, Director of Language and Literacy at Gateway. “There are milestones within language that call for more sophisticated usage as children grow older.”

For example, sarcasm and slang emerge in adolescence alongside the ability to distinguish when it is appropriate or not. Peers, teachers, and

Lauren Feiden, Ph.D. Social Development Psychologist Gateway’s Lower School