Relationship Between Language Ability and Nonverbal Skills and Verbal and Nonverbal Aspects of Social Competence

Abstract

The main focus of this study was to better understand the relationship between receptive and expressive language ability and verbal and nonverbal aspects of social competence. Verbal ability was positively related to teacher ratings of social competence. Both receptive and expressive verbal ability were directly related to social competence. Both expressive and receptive verbal ability each contributed a significant amount of unique variance in social competency scores. These findings support the idea that verbal ability, both expressive and receptive, is important for social functioning.