The Relation between Language and Cognition in 3- to 9-Year-Olds: The Acquisition of Grammatical Gender in French

Autor/inn/en	Seigneuric, Alix; Zagar, Daniel; Meunier, Fanny; Spinelli, Elsa
Titel	The Relation between Language and Cognition in 3- to 9-Year-Olds: The Acquisition of Grammatical Gender in French
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 96 (2007) 3, S.229-246 (18 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-0965
DOI	10.1016/j.jecp.2006.12.003
Schlagwörter	Semantics; Cues; Nouns; Language Acquisition; French; Classification; Grammar; Children; Schemata (Cognition); Pictorial Stimuli; Language Processing; Morphemes; Form Classes (Languages) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Semantik; Stichwort; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Französisch; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Grammatik; Child; Kind; Kinder; Cognition; Schema; Kognition; Fantasieanregung; Sprachverarbeitung; Morphem; Analytischer Sprachbau
Abstract	The French language has a grammatical gender system in which all nouns are assigned either a masculine or a feminine gender. Nouns provide two types of gender cues that can potentially guide gender attribution: morphophonological cues carried by endings and semantic cues (natural gender). The first goal of this study was to describe the acquisition of the probabilistic system based on phonological oppositions on word endings by French-speaking children. The second goal was to explore the extent to which this system affects categorization. In the study, 3- to 9-year-olds assigned gender categorization to invented nouns whose endings were typically masculine, typically feminine, or neutral. Two response conditions were used. In the "determiner" condition, children indicated the gender class by orally providing the determiner "un" or "une" marked for gender. In the "picture" condition, responses were given by pointing to the picture of a Martian-like female or male person that would be best called by each spoken pseudoword. Results indicated that as young as 3 years, children associated the determiner corresponding to the ending bias at greater than chance levels. Ending-consistent performance increased from 3 to 9 years of age. Moreover, from 4 years of age onward, sensitivity to endings affected categorization. Starting at that age, pictures were selected according to endings at greater than chance levels. This effect also increased with age. The discussion deals with the mechanisms of language acquisition and the relation between language and cognition. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10