Young Children Use Shared Experience to Interpret Definite Reference

Autor/inn/en	Schmerse, Daniel; Lieven, Elena; Tomasello, Michael
Titel	Young Children Use Shared Experience to Interpret Definite Reference
Quelle	In: Journal of Child Language, 42 (2015) 5, S.1146-1157 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0305-0009
DOI	10.1017/S0305000914000555
Schlagwörter	Young Children; Child Language; Form Classes (Languages); Child Development; Vocabulary Development; Learning Processes; Intention; Knowledge Representation; Interpersonal Communication; Educational Experiments + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Frühe Kindheit; 'Children''s language'; Kindersprache; Analytischer Sprachbau; Kindesentwicklung; Wortschatzarbeit; Learning process; Lernprozess; Wissensrepräsentation; Interpersonale Kommunikation; Schulversuch
Abstract	We investigated whether children at the ages of two and three years understand that a speaker's use of the definite article specifies a referent that is in common ground between speaker and listener. An experimenter and a child engaged in joint actions in which the experimenter chose one of three similar objects of the same category to perform an action. In subsequent interactions children were asked to get "the X" or "a X". When children were instructed with the definite article they chose the shared object significantly more often than when they were instructed with the indefinite article in which case children's choice was at chance. The findings show that in their third year children use shared experiences to interpret the speaker's communicative intention underlying her referential choice. The results are discussed with respect to children's representation of linguistic categories and the role of joint action for establishing common ground. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01