Lecture Six

Pragmatic Development

Pragmatics …

• Pragmatics = the part played by language in social situations and relationships.

• Del Hymes: ‘communicative competence’When to speakHow to respond to othersAppropriate registers

Language functions …

• Bottom line: children are motivated to acquire language because it serves certain purposes/functions for them.

• Halliday (1975): seven functions …

Halliday’s taxonomy …

• INSTRUMENTAL

• REGULATORY

• INTERACTIONAL

• PERSONAL

• HEURISTIC

• IMAGINATIVE

• REPRESENTATIONAL

Be careful …

• As with other elements of language acquisition, remember that pragmatic development begins before a child starts to speak.

Early years …

• Children are introduced to important role of language in everyday life.

• Adults speak to them a great deal.

• Routine events are accompanied by regularly repeated utterances.

Conversation preparation …

• Child-parent/carer interactions prepare the child for later participation in conversation.

Bancroft (1996) …

• ‘Peek-a-boo’ parallels:Turn-takingResponseCommon purpose and understand the

sequencePleasure

Other interactions …

• Despite the fact that the child has not yet begun to speak, adults will:

Ask questionsExpress agreementGive approving/disapproving responses

First conversations …

• First utterances: statements (rather than questions) and not always directed at anyone!

• Child will often seem to ignore other speaker.

First conversations …

• Typical conversation:

Initiated by adultDependent on

continued adult input to progress

Later development …

• Age 2-4: significant development in conversational skills:

Turn takingResponse to questionsGreetingsPoliteness forms

Speech Convergence and Accommodation Theory

• Yousef (1991)

• Group of children in Trinidad

• Children responded to different social situations by using different varieties of English

Speech Convergence and Accommodation Theory

• Janet (3, 9): Past tense verb forms:Conversation with mother: 100% SEFamily helper (a Trinidadian English

speaker): decreasing amountsBrother/same age children: decreasing

amounts

After starting school …

• Children develop increased sensitivity to the needs of their listener.

• Greater understanding of language more appropriate to formal situations (register).

Vocabulary test …

• COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE• LANGUAGE FUNCTION• INSTRUMENTAL• REGULATORY• INTERACTIONAL • PERSONAL• HEURISTIC • IMAGINATIVE• REPRESENTATIONAL

Vocabulary test …

• SPEECH CONVERGENCE• ACCOMMODATION THEORY• REGISTER