Academic Paper |
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| Title: | The effect of perceptual availability and prior discourse on young children's use of referring expressions |
| Author: | Danielle Matthews |
| Institution: | University of Manchester |
| Author: | Elena V. Lieven |
| Institution: | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |
| Author: | Anna L. Theakston |
| Institution: | University of Manchester |
| Author: | Michael Tomasello |
| Institution: | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |
| Linguistic Field: | Discourse Analysis; Language Acquisition; Pragmatics |
| Abstract: | Choosing appropriate referring expressions requires assessing whether a referent is “available” to the addressee either perceptually or through discourse. In Study 1, we found that 3- and 4-year-olds, but not 2-year-olds, chose different referring expressions (noun vs. pronoun) depending on whether their addressee could see the intended referent or not. In Study 2, in more neutral discourse contexts than previous studies, we found that 3- and 4-year-olds clearly differed in their use of referring expressions according to whether their addressee had already mentioned a referent. Moreover, 2-year-olds responded with more naming constructions when the referent had not been mentioned previously. This suggests that, despite early social–cognitive developments, (a) it takes time to master the given/new contrast linguistically, and (b) children understand the contrast earlier based on discourse, rather than perceptual context. |
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This article appears in Applied Psycholinguistics Vol. 27, Issue 3, which you can read on Cambridge's site . |
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