Linguists who research infant-toddler development have identified five aspects of language knowledge common to young children: phonetic, semantic, morphemic, syntactic and pragmatic. (See prior posts.)
PRAGMATIC KNOWLEDGE:
Part of language competence, including learning a second or third language, is developing an understanding of the unwritten rules for communication. Children learn to adapt language for different social and cultural contexts. This is called pragmatic knowledge.
Think of all the ways through which children learn language: storytelling, conversations, expressing feelings, book sharing, singing songs, giving and getting directions–the list goes on. Whether with peers or adults, at the playground or at the dinner table, kids learn the conversational rules and social discourses used for different settings through observation and practice. Expose your children to as many “social registers” as possible!
Think of how a toddler imitates adults on a play phone, or how a preschooler engages you with questions. Pragmatic knowledge means not only knowing when to speak and to whom, but also the appropriate topics of conversation and cultural expectations for initiating, maintaining and ending conversations.
By Kindergarten, children understand the various contexts of school: they know that joking with friends during recess play in the sandbox will be different from raising one’s hand to speak out loud in a story circle in class. Young children also learn that language can serve many functions.
According to Preschool English Learners by the CA Department of Education, these include:
- Factual information: identifying things, reporting on things, asking for information
- Intellectual attitudes: agreement/disagreement, giving/seeking permission, accepting/declining an invitation
- Emotional attitudes: wants, interests, preferences, intentions; surprise, hope, satisfaction, fear, worry, sympathy, disappointment
- Moral attitudes: forgiving & apologizing; approval & disapproval; appreciation, regret or indifference
- Initiation: asking, inviting, advising, instructing, directing; offering or requesting help
- Socializing: meeting, greeting, saying goodbye, attracting attention, beginning a meal
Parents and Teachers: What examples of pragmatic knowledge have you observed while your children are learning English, Mandarin or other languages? How do you build sociocultural language skills?
