Functional changes in early child language: the appearance of references to the past and of explanations

Abstract

Spontaneous speech samples from children during the period of transition from one word to multi-word utterances in interaction with their French-speaking mothers were explored in order to study the appearance and development of functional changes in their use of language. Two types of such change were noted in the longitudinal records of four children when they were still essentially one-word speakers: the beginnings of references to the past, and the appearance of explanations and justifications, especially in communicative situations of request and refusal. The co-appearance of these behaviours is discussed in relation to two more general developmental changes: a detachment from the immediately perceptible situation linked to a further elaboration of the signifier-signified relation, and a socio-cognitive development leading to a view of the interlocutor as an alter ego, as a person whose psychological states may be different from the child's own.

Talking About the Non-Literal: Internal States and Explanations in Child-Constructed Narratives

“…For example, children may justify their requests or their oppositions (e.g. Dunn, 1991;Eisenberg, 1985;Veneziano & Sinclair, 1995;Veneziano 2001Veneziano , 2009) or talk about past events in co-constructed conversations (Eisenberg, 1985;Lucariello & Nelson, 1987;Miller & Sperry, 1988;Veneziano & Sinclair, 1995;Veneziano, 2009). Clearly these behaviors are still primitive, and become more elaborate only later.…”

The Development of Narrative Discourse in French by 5 to 10 Years Old Children: Some Insights from a Conversational Interaction Method

“…Its development spans over a long time, from the beginnings when familiar partners scaffold children's first references to the past (e.g., Miller and Sperry, 1988;Sachs, 1983;Veneziano and Sinclair, 1995) to the first simple narratives of recurrent events and of personal experience (e.g., Nelson, 1999;Peterson and McCabe, 1991), through child-initiated autonomous personal life and fictional narratives whose structural organization and linguistic expression develop through the school years up until adolescence and even adulthood (Berman and Slobin, 1994;Hickmann, 1995;Berman, 2009). Research has shown that, at a given age, narrative competence may vary depending on the content and on the context in which children produce their narratives.…”

L’influence du contexte sur les pratiques gestuelles du jeune enfant lors d’explications en « comment »

“…L'explication est une conduite langagière qui apparait précocement dans le développement de l'enfant (Colletta et Pellenq, 2005Colletta, Simon et Lachnitt, 2005 ;Veneziano et Hudelot, 2002 ;Veneziano et Sinclair, 1995). Vers 18 mois, le jeune enfant produit des conduites explicatives/justificatives (Veneziano et Hudelot, 2002).…”

“…En effet, si les chercheurs ayant travaillé sur l'explication s'accordent à dire que l'explication s'organise autour d'un explanadum (phénomène ou comportement à expliquer) et d'un explanans (cause, raison, motif = ce qui explique) (Colletta, 2005 ;Colletta et Pellenq, 2009 ;Lund, 2003 ;Veneziano et Hudelot, 2002 ;Veneziano et Sinclair, 1995), ils ne nient pas également que la polysémie du mot expliquer en fait un concept difficilement définissable. Ainsi, Grize (1990) dénombre six définitions : (a) communiquer (expliquer une idée) ; (b) développer (expliquer une maxime) ; (c) enseigner (expliquer une règle de jeu) ; (d) interpréter (ce livre explique bien l'oeuvre de Kafka) ; (e) motiver (expliquez moi ce changement d'avis) ; (f) rendre compte (le mauvais temps explique le retard des trains).…”

“…» La plupart des études portant sur l'explication chez l'enfant se consacrent essentiellement aux explications répondant à la question « pourquoi ? » : elles se concentrent alors sur les explications du type « motiver » et « rendre compte » (Colletta, 2004(Colletta, , 2005Colletta et Pellenq, 2005Lund, 2003 ;Veneziano et Hudelot, 2002 ;Veneziano et Sinclair, 1995).…”