The relation between receptive language development and social skills among 4-to-6 year-old Persian-speaking children

Language and social skills، the two distinctive characteristics of mankind، play an important role in human life. The acquisition of speech and language، which is regarded to as one of the most important developmental factors، is totally dependent on social interaction. The aim of the current study was to determine the relation between the development of receptive language and selected aspects of social skills in 4-to-6 year-old Persian-speaking children. 123 normal Persian-speaking children with the age range of 4 to 6 years (76 boys and 47 girls) who met the inclusionary criteria were recruited from Shiraz kindergartens via a multistage random selection method. The Test of Language Development was first administered to evaluate the subjects’ linguistic skills and the Social Skills Rating System، which includes two teacher and parent questionnaire forms، was then employed to complete the assessment. Data were statistically analyzed via Pearson’s correlation coefficient using SPSS software version 16. Significance level was set at less than or equal to 0. 05. The correlation between receptive language and selected dimensions of social skills was significant (P < 0. 01) while the correlation between receptive language and parent forms was not (P > 0. 01). Moreover، there was no significant correlation between teachers and parent forms (P > 0. 01). These findings showed a positive significant correlation between the development of receptive language and selected aspects of social skills. However، it was only the case for teachers’ form. It is maybe due to the differences in home and educational environment when it comes to teaching children social skills. Considering this difference، crucial training in both environments should be provided for children because of their role in improving the development of receptive language.