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Pragmatic Development in First Language Acquisition
Edited by Danielle Matthews
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 10] 2014
► pp. 161–182

The production and comprehension of referring expressions

 | Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, USA
 | Linguistics and Phonetics, University of Leeds, UK
In this chapter, we provide a developmental outline of the emergence of referential skills during early childhood. We first briefly outline the major theoretical frameworks of reference as based on the adult literature and also introduce the growing body of developmental work. In two subsequent sections, we focus on typically developing children’s comprehension and production skills, respectively. Next, we look to clinical populations, summarising research on referential skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. We conclude by outlining a developmental sketch of children’s referential skills, considering some of the current debates within the development of reference.
Published online: 26 June 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.10.10gra
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