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Children's communicative strategies in novel and familiar word situations

Susan A. Graham

University of Calgary

The present studies investigated 3-year-olds' ability to adapt their communication based on their parents' knowledge state when requesting familiar and novel objects. Children participated in a toy retrieval game during which their parent was present or absent during toy introductions. In Study 1, children used more specific requests and cue combinations in the parent-absent group versus parent-present group when requesting familiar labelled objects. In Study 2, a similar game was administered with adaptations to reduce cognitive demands. Children produced more specific requests in the parent-absent group compared with the parent-present group when requesting an unlabelled novel object. The results indicate that three-year-olds have an emergent ability to adapt their communicative behaviours based on their parents' knowledge state.

Key Words: Children's communication • language development • perspective-taking • pragmatic development • requesting behaviour • theory of mind • word learning • common ground

First Language, Vol. 26, No. 4, 403-420 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723706064834


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