engleski

Reference to space in (children's) narrative discourse. Bridging the crosslinguistic gap

In learning how to communicate effectively, children have to learn how to convey information about referents and events in unambiguous utterances. They therefore have to acquire linguistic (and language specific!) devices that are necessary to introduce referents and their spatio-temporal frame, as well as to maintain reference to them appropriately in discourse, particularly in situations where the interlocutors do not share mutual knowledge, as is the case with narrative. In fact narrative, as a special type of discourse, involves the description of events which are removed from the listener’s time, space and participation. The present study focuses on the development of narrative skills i.e. story grammars (choosing referents, constructing spatio-temporal frames etc.) on the basis of narratives produced by 5 to 10 year old children and a control group of adults in English and Croatian. It examines how children learn to express spatial information, with particular attention to how they create, maintain, and change spatial frames in discourse. On the basis of the analysis, conclusions are drawn concerning various discourse strategies, their development over time, and the extent to which the language being acquired might also have and influence on this development.

narratives; spatial frames; development of discourse strategies

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