ERIC Number: EJ1163861
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jan
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-0009
EISSN: N/A
Referential Interactions of Turkish-Learning Children with Their Caregivers about Non-Absent Objects: Integration of Non-Verbal Devices and Prior Discourse
Ates, Beyza S.; Küntay, Aylin C.
Journal of Child Language, v45 n1 p148-173 Jan 2018
This paper examines the way children younger than two use non-verbal devices (i.e., deictic gestures and communicative functional acts) and pay attention to discourse status (i.e., prior mention vs. newness) of referents in interactions with caregivers. Data based on semi-naturalistic interactions with caregivers of four children, at ages 1;00, 1;05, and 1;09, are analyzed. We report that children employ different types of non-verbal devices to supplement their inadequate referential forms before gaining mastery in language. By age 1;09, children show sensitivity to discourse status by using deictic gestures to accompany their non-lexical forms for new referents. A comparison of children's patterns with those in the input they receive reveals that caregivers choose their referential forms in accordance with discourse status information and tend to use different types of non-verbal devices to accompany their lexical and non-lexical referential forms. These results show that non-verbal devices play an important role in early referential discourse.
Descriptors: Turkish, Child Language, Language Acquisition, Nonverbal Communication, Linguistic Input, Parent Child Relationship, Role, Language Patterns, Caregiver Child Relationship, Comparative Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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