NLDline
Language Pragmatics and NLD
It's As Plain As The Nose On Your Face
A Presentation by Susan Diamond, M.A., CCC
Sue Diamond, has created an excellent new video, "Pragmatic Language." This video is for parents, educators and professionals; it provides strategies, activities and assessment ideas to help children make gains in social language skills. ($49. incl. tax, shipping, handling) To order, make checks payable to Sue Diamond M.A., CCC. 2916 San Jose Avenue, Alameda, CA 94501. Phone and FAX: 510 814 0555. Allow four to six weeks for delivery.
NLDline would like to thank Susan Diamond for allowing us to reprint her handout at the 2nd Annual SHARE Support, Inc. NLD Symposium, April 1998.
Susan Diamond is a licensed speech and language pathologist with a private practice in Alameda, California. She specializes in diagnosis and treatment of children with articulation, voice, stuttering and language disorders and delays.
Susan has over twelve years experience in her field. She has contracted her services to hospitals and schools and has conducted workshops for training other therapists and teachers.
Sue Diamond's qualifications include a Master's Degree in Speech Pathology and a state license from the California Board of Medical Assurance. She is also certified by the American Speech and Hearing Association (Certificate of Clinical Competence).
Her memberships included: American Speech and Hearing Association, California Speech and Hearing 'Association, Association of Educational Therapists, and National Education Association. She is a past president of the San Mateo Country Speech, Language and Hearing Association.
Ms. Diamond is the author of Language Lessons in the Classroom ($29.95), which includes the excellent "Listen Up" lesson, a pragmatic lesson for the classroom. The teacher can use the tools from this lesson to obtain the needed pragmatic skills throughout the school year. It teaches students and teachers what listening "looks like". Susan is also the co-author of Webs For Language ($18.95) a publication with exercises which offers students the ability to organize and sequence their thoughts using appropriate language structures in written language. In essence, it teaches them to write a formulated paragraph. (ECL Publications P.O. Box 26, 11121 West Michigan Avenue, Suite A, Youngtown, AZ 85363, 602 974 4560). Both books have been best sellers for four consecutive years.
To order an audiotape of her 1998 presentation, call 800 238 9009.
I. Pragmatic Language
II. Pragmatic Skills
III. Problem Solving
IV. Language Processing
V. Idiomatic Language
VI. Pragmatic Cues
VII. Language Activities
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Pragmatic Language is defined as "the social use of language: Use of language & communication behaviors needed to interact effectively and appropriately with others."
Individual diagnosed with NLD display difficulties with many aspects of pragmatic language skills.
Delayed pragmatic skills need to be individually assessed and addressed. Various cues can be used to develop each skill. Repetition and consistency is the key to obtaining social language goals.
Pragmatic Language Chart
| TOPIC | Yes | No |
| Introduces topic clearly | ||
| Maintains topic across turns | ||
| Changes/shifts topic appropriately | ||
| Chooses appropriate topic for context | ||
| Responds with information on topic | ||
| TURN TAKING | ||
| Waits for a turn to speak | ||
| Uses pauses when speaking | ||
| Uses an appropriate amount of verbiage | ||
| Checks for listener understanding | ||
| Uses responses when listening | ||
| Restates what speaker said | ||
| Asks questions when listening | ||
| SPEECH FUNCTIONS | ||
| Convinces and persuades: no anger | ||
| Accepts peers' opinions: no anger | ||
| Offers and supports own opinions | ||
| Relays pertinent information | ||
| Gathers and requests information | ||
| Gets to the point | ||
| SPEECH PLEASANTRIES | ||
| Uses greetings and farewells | ||
| Uses thank yous and apologies | ||
| Asks permission (asks not tells) | ||
| Asks for help | ||
| Receives and gives compliments | ||
| Uses phone skills appropriately | ||
| PEER LANGUAGE SKILLS | ||
| Asks to play appropriately | ||
| Expresses feelings | ||
| Joins in to play | ||
| Compromises/ negotiates | ||
| Uses cooperative / associative play | ||
| Uses appropriate slang with peers | ||
| SPEECH STYLE | ||
| Uses appropriate volume | ||
| Uses appropriate prosody | ||
| Uses formal or informal context | ||
| Comprehends humor / sarcasm | ||
| Uses appropriate response time | ||
| NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE | ||
| Uses eye contact | ||
| Uses appropriate proximity | ||
| Uses facial expressions | ||
| Understands facial and body gestures | ||
| Uses body language to enhance meaning | ||
| Minimizes distracting movements |