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Some cues are stronger than others: The (non)interpretation of 3rd person present —s as a tense marker by 6- and 7-year-olds

University of Puget Sound, tbeyer{at}ups.edu

Carla L. Hudson Kam

University of California, Berkeley

This article describes two experiments examining how 6- and 7-year-old Standard American English-speaking children interpret 3rd person present —s as a tense marker, as compared to lexical items and past tense —ed. Because —s corresponds to multiple meanings, unlike —ed, it may result in later acquisition. Using an offline picture-choice task (Experiment 1), the study found that while all children successfully comprehended —ed, only the 7-year-olds successfully comprehended —s. Eye-tracking measures (Experiment 2) revealed that the 6-year-olds are actually sensitive to —s, but that it is not yet a particularly strong cue for them. The article argues that offline tasks may underestimate children's developing knowledge.

Key Words: Comprehension • cue strength • eye-tracking • tense morphology • 3rd person present —s

First Language, Vol. 29, No. 2, 208-227 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723708101678


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