Cognitive and Social Skills in Language & Communication: Insights from EdQueries Webinar

In a recent EdQueries webinar, Ms. Simmi Vasu (Special Educator, Consultant at EdQueries, Child & Adolescent Counsellor, Play Therapist) guided parents, educators, and therapists through the essential skills children need to develop meaningful communication.

Here’s a summary of the key insights from her session, along with practical strategies for teaching language and communication at home and in classrooms.

The Building Blocks of Communication

1. Understanding the Child’s Perspective

Before teaching, it’s vital to understand how a child perceives the world. Developing Theory of Mind (awareness of others’ thoughts and feelings) helps children relate better to people and situations—especially when parents expect reciprocal communication or a “to and fro” exchange.

2. Cognitive Skills That Support Language

Beyond vocabulary and grammar, children need:

• Visualization – turning words into mental images

• Memory Recall – retrieving past experiences and generalizing them to the present situation

• Cause & Effect – understanding what happened before the current situation or back-tracing steps

• Reasoning & Inferencing – answering “why” and “how” questions

• Problem-Solving – identifying challenges, interpreting clues, and arriving at solutions

3. Social & Non-Verbal Skills

Communication is not just verbal. Children must also learn:

• Facial expressions and gestures

• Tone, volume, and intonation

• Eye contact, attention, and staying on task

• Self-regulation during conversations

• Understanding non-verbal cues and perspective-taking

Teaching Language Step by Step

1. Start with Tangible Concepts

Focus on visible language elements like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions. Use real objects, flashcards, and visuals to make grammar concrete.

2. Teach “WH” Questions in a Hierarchy

Use creative games to teach “WH” questions:

• Where / When → locations & time

• Why / How → higher-order reasoning & problem-solving

3. Use Pre-Math Concepts to Support Language

Introduce pre-math games with concepts like big/small, more/less, long/short, tall/short, heavy/light, same/different. These help children transition from concrete to abstract thinking. This game is available under Size, under Maths course.

For example, if a child understands “big,” then when shown a picture of a truck, car, and bicycle (all the same size in the picture), they should still be able to say the truck is the largest and the bicycle is the smallest. Later, this skill enriches real-life descriptions, such as:

“When I went to the zoo, I saw a huge crowd around a large hippopotamus.”

4. Encourage Visualization & Picture Description

Ask children to describe pictures or sequence images using parts of speech they’ve learned. Encourage complete descriptions instead of relying only on “WH” questions.

When introducing new vocabulary, highlight it:

“Hey, we learned a new word, let’s see what it means.”

Then explain with examples, reinforcing adjectives and age-appropriate language.

5. Generalization is Key

Skills must extend beyond the classroom. Encourage practice in daily settings—markets, libraries, or family conversations.

Activities That Work

• Show & Tell – builds confidence in expression

• Word Webs – connect related ideas for sentence-building

• Fluency Exercises – story narration, poetry reading, timed categorization (e.g., recall as many fruits as possible in one minute)

• Memory Recall Games – describe rooms, toys, or outdoor settings

Conclusion

Language and communication are built on more than words—they depend on a rich foundation of cognitive, social, and emotional skills. By combining structured teaching, visualization, and real-life experiences, parents and educators can empower children to connect, express, and thrive.

📺 Watch demos on YouTube.com/@EdQueries

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