Pragmatics and Social Communication

What is Pragmatics? 
Pragmatics is using social communication when we interact with other people. There are norms that we follow when we talk to people. We use facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, and words to convey our thoughts and feelings to our communication partner. 
 
When children or adults have difficulty understanding social conventions, it makes it difficult to socialize.  
  
According to the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, social communication includes three skill sets. 
1. Using language for different intentions such as: 

• Greetings. Saying “hello” and “goodbye” 
• Informing. “I’m going to get a cookie” 
• Demanding. “Give me a cookie” 
• Promising.  “I’m going to get you a cookie” 
• Requesting. “Can I have a cookie, please?” 

 
2. Following social conventions when conversing with a communication partner: 

• Taking turns when talking 
• Letting others know the topic when you start talking 
• Staying on topic 
• Trying another way to say something if another person doesn’t understand you 
• Using gestures and body language (e.g., pointing, shrugging) 
• Knowing how close to stand near someone 
• Using facial expression to convey thoughts and eye contact 

 
3. Changing language and tone depending on the listener or situation 

• Talking differently to a baby versus an adult 
• Giving more information for someone who doesn’t know the topic or less information for someone who already knows the topic 
• Talking differently in the classroom than on the playground 

What are some signs that my child has difficulties with social communication? 

• Difficulty remaining on topic 

• Not trying to gain the attention of an adult 
• Decreased eye contact 
• Unaware of personal space 
• Dominating conversations and not asking their communication partner relevant questions 
• Difficulty making friends 

• Difficulty understanding another person’s perspective 
• Unable to understand or use various voice tones 
• Difficulty understanding and using different facial expressions 
• Does not ask for clarification when they don’t understand something  
• Use language in limited ways (e.g., may not greet a person or ask a question but will comment on a topic) 

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Helpful tips to work on social communication  

• Use visual supports such as pictures  
• Model communication skills 
• Role play situations (e.g., going to the supermarket, asking a friend to play, etc.)  
• Use puppets, dolls, action figures, stuffed animals to role play 

• Create social stories 
• When reading stories, talk about how the person may feel and what their facial expressions mean ​ 

​References: 
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Social Communication. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/social-communication/.