Chapter 9
Activities and social settings: Their roles in the use of referring expressions
We investigated the influence of activity and social
setting on the use of referring expressions in French-speaking
children. Three groups were observed: 25 children ages 1;7 to 2;6 in
three activities with their mother (picture-based, play, and daily
routines), 15 children ages 3;9 to 7;4 in joint picture-book
storytelling and symbolic play with their mother, and 10 children
ages 3;9 to 7;4 in joint storytelling at home and at school. The
type of referring expression and its position in the referential
chain were coded. The results demonstrated the impact of the
activity on the use of referring expressions in the first two
groups, whereas the position in the referential chain affected the
use of referring expressions only in the second group. In the
home-school comparison, social setting influenced the use of
referring expressions in interaction with the position in the
referential chain.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1Role of activity type in language production
- 1.2Role of social setting in language production
- 2.Method
- 2.1Participants
- 2.2Data collection
- 2.3Coding system
- 2.3.1Selection of referents
- 2.3.2Categories of referring expressions
- 2.3.3Position in the referential chain
- 2.4Inter-coder agreement and statistics
- 3.Results
- 3.1Differences in referring-expression use, by activity and
social setting
- 3.1.1Daily routines, play, and picture-based activities among
the toddlers
- 3.1.2Joint storytelling and symbolic play in the older
group
- 3.1.3Joint storytelling at home and at school
- 3.2Position in the referential chain
- 3.2.1Daily routines, play, and picture-based activities among
the toddlers
- 3.2.2Joint storytelling and symbolic play among the older
children
- 3.2.3Joint storytelling at home and at school
- 4.Discussion
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Acknowledgements
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Notes
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References