Cognitive Prerequisites for the Acquisition of Grammar in Children Based on the Materials of the MacArthur-Bates CDI and Case Study

Abstract

This article considers the phenomena preceding the development of grammar acquisition in young children. The study is based on the analysis of questionnaires completed by parents (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories). Estimates from 1037 questionnaires on children aged 18–36 months (550 girls, 487 boys) were entered into the database. Additional data were also obtained from a case study. The results of our analysis support the view on the priority of the cognitive component over the linguistic one in young children. At first, they develop the intention to convey certain ideas (about the missing owner of an object, as well as about the future and past) and then learn to express these ideas with specific linguistic means. The hierarchy of mastering utterances by children is determined by cognitive rather than linguistic factors. Most children find it easiest to name the adult who is not there at the moment when they see that adult’s things, and the ability to produce utterances about the objects they do not see or about the near future develops later. The utterances about the past are the most difficult because they are less important to children at an early age. Therefore, the non-morphological ways of expressing the meanings are gradually replaced by the morphological ones as children grow older.