ABSTRACT
S TUDIES of children's development of communicative compe~tence suggest that children develop from an inflexible, ego~centric, less differentiated way of thinking and communicating toward a more flexible, decentered, differentiated form of thought and message generation. Much of this research argues that acquiring the ability to communicate effectively is due, in part, to the child's developing ability to assume another's perspective, or to role-take. Therefore, becoming a competent communicator requires the development and application of social cognitive skills.
