Single words to combinations: Longitudinal analysis reveals constructive processes integrating lexical and pragmatic development within a conversational context.

摘要

In the period between sole use of single words and majority use of multiword utterances children use several facilitating factors to reach the eventual goal of majority use of multiword utterances. They use utterance lengthening techniques that are not yet mature multiword utterances. These are self-repetition, frozen phrases and various types of successive single word utterances (SSWUs). In addition, use of dynamic event words in this transitional period provides experience with predication thereby also scaffolding eventual production of mature multiword utterances. Use of utterance lengthening techniques and dynamic events words both occur within the context of conversation. Children's use of conversational support is a third factor that facilitates eventual production of multiword utterances. The language development of four children, observed in play sessions with their mothers, was studied longitudinally in the period covering the transition. Results demonstrate a constructive process towards combinatory speech through use of SSWUs and different types of dynamic event words with the support of conversation. The following progressions occurred: (1) the children's sequential utterances became increasingly more integrated, (2) all four children made use of their mother's preceding conversational input to form sequential utterances but their reliance on this decreased over the time period studied and (3) all four children demonstrated a developmental sequence in their use of dynamic event word types, a progression from the most semantically familiar in terms of sensorimotor cognition to the most semantically complex. The developmental sequence shown was: relational words, primal verbs, restricted verbs, complex verbs. It is suggested that instances of differences in the timing of children's development of types of SSWUs and use of conversational support and verbs may partially reflect differences in dyad play interaction.