Introduction
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Ludovica Serratrice
Abstract
This chapter serves as an introduction to The Acquisition of Reference. The volume brings together influential recent research on the study of children’s comprehension and production of reference, with a focus on discourse-pragmatic approaches and cross-linguistic comparison. In this chapter, we first provide a brief historical overview of the research on referential choice from syntactic, processing, and discourse-pragmatic perspectives. We then highlight the major themes of the volume including the role in referential choice played by factors such as accessibility, type of interaction, amount of cognitive load, prosody, caregiver input, age, language ability, cognitive ability, language typology, and cognitive prerequisites including theory of mind. We conclude with directions for further research.
Abstract
This chapter serves as an introduction to The Acquisition of Reference. The volume brings together influential recent research on the study of children’s comprehension and production of reference, with a focus on discourse-pragmatic approaches and cross-linguistic comparison. In this chapter, we first provide a brief historical overview of the research on referential choice from syntactic, processing, and discourse-pragmatic perspectives. We then highlight the major themes of the volume including the role in referential choice played by factors such as accessibility, type of interaction, amount of cognitive load, prosody, caregiver input, age, language ability, cognitive ability, language typology, and cognitive prerequisites including theory of mind. We conclude with directions for further research.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The acquisition of nominal determiners 25
- Mapping information structure and word order 51
- Children’ use of intonation in reference and the role of input 83
- The role of gesture in referential communication 105
- The role of cognitive accessibility in children’s referential choice 123
- Acquisition and use of pronouns in a dialogic perspective 155
- From early to late mastery of reference 181
- Online evidence for children’s interpretation of personal pronouns 213
- Children’s sensitivity to caregiver cues and the role of adult feedback in the developmentof referential communication 241
- The cognitive underpinnings of referential abilities 263
- Production and comprehension of pronouns and reflexives in atypical populations 285
- Referential expressions in bilingual acquisition 311
- Language index 335
- Subject index 337
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The acquisition of nominal determiners 25
- Mapping information structure and word order 51
- Children’ use of intonation in reference and the role of input 83
- The role of gesture in referential communication 105
- The role of cognitive accessibility in children’s referential choice 123
- Acquisition and use of pronouns in a dialogic perspective 155
- From early to late mastery of reference 181
- Online evidence for children’s interpretation of personal pronouns 213
- Children’s sensitivity to caregiver cues and the role of adult feedback in the developmentof referential communication 241
- The cognitive underpinnings of referential abilities 263
- Production and comprehension of pronouns and reflexives in atypical populations 285
- Referential expressions in bilingual acquisition 311
- Language index 335
- Subject index 337
