Discusses nominal-pronominal reduplication (NPR) in the language of children ages seven and nine in four situations. Younger children produced more NPR; all children produced little NPR talking to their peers and increasing amounts talking to adults. Examples are given and analyzed. (EJS)

Reports on an investigation of the surface forms used by mothers to direct their children's behavior, and of the ways in which these forms are modified as the children grow older and their comprehension of indirect speech acts increases. (AM)

Measures of pragmatic development for children in the second year of life were developed based on a 30-minute language sample drawn from 20 children. Results support the view that the range of pragmatic functions grows steadily during the one-word and early two-word stage and that it is measurable. (Author/AM)

Inferences about linguistic competence in children are typically based on spontaneous speech. Children's use of complex object and adverbial noun phrase is seen as a reflection of pragmatic factors. Similar adult patterns indicate children's lack of subject clauses may be due to the nature of spontaneous speech. (CHK)