From the Guidelines
The answer is d. Comprehending indirect requests, as it is one of the latest developing pragmatic skills in typical developing children, requiring advanced cognitive abilities and social understanding. Among the pragmatic skills listed, comprehending indirect requests develops later in typically developing children because it requires the ability to understand implied meaning, infer intent, and recognize nuances in language, which are complex cognitive skills that continue to develop through early childhood 1. Children typically develop the ability to comprehend indirect requests around ages 4-5 years, after they have mastered more basic pragmatic skills such as:
- Requesting by using pointing (which emerges around 9-12 months)
- Initiating conversation (develops around 2-3 years)
- Clarifying requests (emerges around 3-4 years) Comprehending jokes, while also a complex skill, is not the latest to develop among the options provided, as it requires advanced cognitive abilities including understanding abstract concepts, recognizing incongruity, and processing multiple meanings simultaneously, but is generally mastered around ages 6-7 years. Pragmatic language skills training, including comprehending indirect requests, is an important aspect of social skills development, and explicit teaching can be effective in addressing impaired pragmatic language skills in children and adolescents with fluent speech 1.
From the Research
Pragmatic Skills in Typical Developing Children
The development of pragmatic skills in children is a complex process that involves various aspects of communication. One of the key skills that children need to develop is the ability to comprehend indirect requests.
- Comprehending indirect requests is a complex skill that involves understanding the implied meaning behind a request, rather than just the literal meaning of the words used 2.
- Research has shown that children as young as four years old can understand some types of indirect requests, but their ability to comprehend more complex requests develops later, around the age of six 2.
- Other pragmatic skills, such as requesting by using pointing, clarifying requests, and initiating conversation, are also important for children to develop, but the ability to comprehend indirect requests is a key aspect of pragmatic development 3, 4.
- The development of pragmatic skills, including the ability to comprehend indirect requests, can be influenced by various factors, such as language impairment or autism spectrum disorder 4.
- Recent research has also highlighted the importance of prosody in disambiguating indirect requests, suggesting that speakers and comprehenders can use prosody to overcome the pragmatic ambiguity inherent in indirect requests 5.
Comparison of Options
- Option a, comprehending jokes, is not directly related to the development of pragmatic skills in typical developing children.
- Option b, requesting by using pointing, is an early developing pragmatic skill that is typically mastered by children before they develop the ability to comprehend indirect requests.
- Option c, clarifying requests, is an important pragmatic skill, but it is not the latest developing skill in typical developing children.
- Option d, comprehending indirect requests, is a complex skill that develops later in childhood, around the age of six, making it one of the latest developing pragmatic skills in typical developing children 2.
- Option e, initiating conversation, is an important pragmatic skill, but it is not the latest developing skill in typical developing children.