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Using Language to Share Information

Have you ever asked a sick child to tell you “where it hurts” only to receive a vague and unhelpful answer? This is because young children are still developing the next functional competency, informing—using language to give and receive information. As an adult, if you’ve ever been asked for directions, you know that providing people with information that they can understand and being able to understand the information they convey to you are equally important skills.

There are four important aspects of informing: questioning, describing, reinforcing, and withholding.

Questioning is something we learn at a young age and use throughout our lives. Young children hungry for information about their world quickly learn the power of the simple, one-word question “Why?”
Describing helps us communicate our world to others. Parents and teachers may ask children to repeat directions to their school or their home or to detail the specifics of a story they’ve heard.
Reinforcing information can help us become competent listeners. We might take notes or simply repeat the information (to ourselves or to the other person) to confirm our comprehension.
Withholding information or opinions may be the right thing to do in some situations. For example, you may choose not to express your opposition to your manager’s plan because you want to keep your job. Or you may elect not to reveal a piece of information that might embarrass a friend.